In the Trenches

Kidnapper or Client?
Trapped at a Listing
An Accidental Buy

Kidnapper or Client?

Recently on a Saturday afternoon, I realized I had about 15 minutes of free time and pulled into a Rally's fast food drive-in to devour a sandwich and read the paper. As I sat reading an article about a young woman who was kidnapped and killed, I noticed that a car pulled up right behind me and stopped. I could see the car blocking me in my rear-view mirror and thought, “Surely that car is not … yeah, it is blocking me in.”

Then a man got out of the car and started towards my car. He was wearing a hat just like the kidnapper’s, as it was described in the newspaper article, and my heart began pumping twice as fast as the nearest gas station.

I reluctantly rolled my window down just enough to hear him say, “You don't know me, do you?” “No, I don't believe I do,” I said softly. "I get your mail all the time," he said. Now, I thought, “What is he doing stealing my mail?!” Then he took off his hat, told me his name, and I could see his wife whom I recognized behind him—my past clients! I was so embarrassed by my overactive imagination.

—Marlene Shelton-Giles, ABR®, GRI, associate-broker with RE/MAX 1st Olympic, REALTORS®, in Lynchburg, Va.

Trapped at a Listing

I was hosting a morning brokers’ tour for my new listing, located on a private lane off a busy main street. Several real estate professionals stopped by for the tour, but then the traffic dropped off. I noticed that it had been awhile since anyone came by, so I looked down the lane and saw that city workers had placed a pile of gravel across the end of the lane while working on the main road.

I called the office to let them know that I was not going to be able to get back to the office until the pile was removed. My manager told me to “march down there and tell them that they could not block me in.” Unfortunately, I decided to use the restroom before I spoke to the city crew.

When I tried to get out of the bathroom, I discovered that I couldn’t get the door open. My cell phone was on the kitchen counter, and the bathroom had no windows. I was trapped! No one was coming to my open house because of the pile of gravel, and the office didn’t expect me to be back for awhile. As I tried everything I could think of to try to open the bathroom door (including bobby pins and nail files in the lock), I realized that this was a very bad situation.

After several hours, I heard someone in the other room. I yelled for help. It was Dick Smith from my office. He had missed the tour because of a dental appointment but he saw my sign and decided to stop in. He actually had to take the door off the hinges to get me out. He was my knight in shining armoire.

—Susan Mead, GRI, broker with Prudential Northwest Properties, Hillsboro, Ore.

An Accidental Buy

I was on a second showing with clients who wanted to show their family the two homes they were considering buying. We toured the first home, which was vacant, and stopped in the kitchen to discuss a potential offer. The clients’ brothers walked away to take another look while we were talking. Within a few minutes, we hear a very loud noise. I walked around the corner and saw a mess on the floor, and then I looked up to see the legs of one of the brothers hanging out of the ceiling! Apparently, the brothers decided to go into the attic and didn’t know that they weren’t supposed to step on the Sheetrock.

It was a $700 “accident” that I was told was his most expensive step. After paying for the repair, the brother said they had to buy the house now since he had an investment in it! And they did!

—Joyce Crane, a sales associate with ZipRealty, Dallas.

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