A Rookie Mistake

One of the many things I will struggle with when the real estate market eventually turns is showing homes that are occupied. You see, in the current market most listings are vacant, making them extremely easy to show. Having started in this market, I'm used to just walking into a place without the hassle of calling the owner first. For me, it's very uncomfortable walking into an occupied home, snooping through closets, and stepping around someone's underwear.

A short time ago I had a client who wanted to see a listing that was owner occupied. The deal was a short sale, and the MLS asked that you "Contact the owner...then go!". I sucked it up, made the call, left a message stating that I was on my way, grabbed my clients, and headed over to the house.

Driving up I noticed that there were no cars in the driveway, and finally relaxed when I confirmed that no one was home. I opened the door, waved my clients inside, began to show them the home, and then started to have second thoughts.

I was reluctant to close the door, feeling that I might shock the owners if they were to return and find three strangers walking through their home. I was also reluctant to keep the door open as I worried about bugs getting into their beautiful home. I chose the latter, figuring it was the lesser of two evils.

I don't know what other agents do, but I tend to rush my clients through occupied homes. It's crazy, but I just feel like we're imposing. These particualr clients were notorious for taking their time at each listing, without a care as to whether or not the owner's were home.

I was stressing!

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, we exited the master bedroom at the rear of the home, and headed toward the front door. As we were leaving I pointed out a beautiful white cat that was sleeping on the livingroom sofa. My client's immediately went over and began to pet the cat, and commented on how well groomed it was. I swear...that cat looked very expensive.

Just as I was shutting the front door, it struck me; "Was that the owners cat, or had a stray just wandered in and made itself comfortable?" I asked if my client's had noticed it before, but neither had. I looked around for any cat paraphenalia, but could find none.

What to do?

If I kicked the cat outside I risked losing the owner's cat, which had escalated, in my imagination, to become the world's most valuable feline. On the other hand, if I left it inside I risked letting a strange cat tear up furniture, or worse, crap inside the house.

I left the cat in the house!

About an hour later, after dropping off my clients and heading to the office, I received a message from the homeowner. She was sorry she had not gotten back to me sooner, but wanted to assure me that it was fine to show the house. Her message ended with ..."Don't worry, we don't own any animals."

I instantly spun round, raced back to the house, and began the search. It took me about 30 minutes, but I finally found that damn cat curled up at the back of the master closet. The cat's exit from the house was pretty abrupt, with the last view being the ass-end cart-wheeling over the neighbor's fence.

I learned a valuable lesson that day; one which I will never forget. I'm sure that it won't be the last!

The Rookie