In the Trenches captures the odd and funny incidents that invariably happen in real estate. Here are the stories submitted this month from real estate professionals all over the country. When you're done reading, submit your own story.

The Disappearing Two-Flat

I had an appointment to show a vacant brick two-flat in a fast-appreciating area of Chicago. I met the client on a Friday and showed him the property, and he said he would like his partner to see it on Monday. When I returned on Monday, the partner was already there walking around the front of the property. When I walked over to him, he asked, “Where’s the house?”

To my amazement, the house was gone. All that was left was the foundation. I called the police, and when the police officers arrived, they said it wasn’t unusual for someone to come by with a bulldozer and level the house and haul away the bricks to resell—a crime that’s hard to investigate or prosecute. My parting comment to the client was, “I guess you don't want to buy it?” Ironically, the property sold for more than asking price as a vacant lot three months later.

— Chuck Stuparits, a sales associate with Imagine Realty in Oak Brook, Ill.

‘What Does That Stand For?’

I was working with two different clients. One worked at a local company called NCS Pearson and the other worked at another local company called ACT. These are common acronyms in our fair city.

Later on I was showing a property to relatives of another client who lived 300 miles away. As we were parting, I casually asked the husband what he did for a living. He said he was retired from the CIA. Without hesitation, I said, “Oh, and what do they do?” thinking that this was another local company acronym that I had not heard of. He laughed and said, “Most people know what the CIA does.”

— Rick Gienapp, a sales associate with Dick Davin Real Estate in Iowa City, Iowa

Surprises Behind Doors No. 1 and 2

I was showing property to first-time buyers, and I set the appointments two days before the showing. The first couple of showings went well and I pulled up to the third property. I rang the doorbell and, not hearing it, also knocked. Assuming the tenants weren’t home, I used the lockbox and opened the door, while sticking my head in to make sure there were no dogs or cats that would come bailing out. I announced, “Hello, REALTOR®!” With no response, I proceeded to show the home.

We started with the upstairs of the bi-level. “This is the kitchen … this in the living room ... this is the bathroom … this is the master bedroom.” As I opened the door to the bedroom, there was a naked man passed out on his stomach from a full night of partying the night before. I closed the door quickly and said, “Maybe we should look at the rest of the house instead.” By the time we got downstairs, I had regained my composure.

“This is the den ... this is the bathroom … this is the downstairs bedroom…” Thinking surely nothing else could happen, I opened the door. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn the naked fellow upstairs had moved himself downstairs and was sprawled in the same position. We decided maybe we could go look at other houses. My buyers purchased another home that same day … but we did get a chuckle out of that showing.

— Randy G Morley, an associate broker with The Home Brokers Inc. in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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