After a few issues about the business of real estate, we’ve decided to present real stories from the world of buying and selling homes from homeowners, realtors and clients. Each column will feature stories from the participants themselves.
Now a couple of stories. First, one from my friend Wendy Phillips, a Real Estate Salesperson from William Raveis Legends Realty Group in Briarcliff.
Strange Visitors
I was hosting an open house with a colleague in a lovely condo complex. A woman walked in and I asked her to sign in and tried to engage her in conversation. I wasn’t getting much response and she seemed to want to zip through the home at her own pace. I escorted her to the second floor where I began pointing out all the wonderful features of the home when she became oddly distracted. A group of people had come in the home and she hurried into the hallway to listen in. I could tell something was wrong. “Someone just walked in who I REALLY don’t want to see. Could you go downstairs and distract them? Perhaps take them into the garage while I scoot out?”
You don’t hear that every day. I was torn, she looked desperate but this was such an odd re-quest I wasn’t comfortable leaving her upstairs alone. I motioned to my colleague to come up stairs while I went down to distract the group of people while the “mystery lady” scooted out. In all my years in real estate, this was the strangest scenario I’ve witnessed. I guess I’ll never know if her plea for help was genuine, but I sure was happy to have a colleague with me to help with the situation. Stay safe out there!
From the bizarre to the scary. Here’s one of my own stories.
I had an open house on a $1.3 million home in Purchase. The house was vacant as my clients had relocated. I arrived about 30 minutes early to prepare when the bell rang. I rushed to the door thinking maybe it was a neighbor but instead it was a man who said he knew he was a little early but wanted to see the house. Normally, I walk buyers through the house but since the house was empty, I told him he could walk around the house and I would be here if he had any questions.
Within 5 minutes he came downstairs, looked at the door and said, “You should re-ally lock the door, you never know who can come in.” Panicked, I tried to remain calm and said my colleagues would be there any minute. Thankfully, he left but I realized that being there alone, left me very vulnerable. If the locks aren’t that secure anymore, you can look for services such as change lock.
Suzan Zeolla works for Houlihan Lawrence in Briarcliff Manor. She is a realtor with over 21 years of experience. You can reach her at szeolla@HoulihanLawrence.com.