It’s not uncommon in for real estate agents to encounter strange, disturbing or even supernatural situations in their line of work, especially because it involves properties that have a long history, or occupants with unusual habits. This time around, we scoured through popular Q&A site Quora to find anecdotes of people who have a tale or two to tell about situations or scenes that they walked into, which will make you exclaim “what the h***” for good reason.
So… do you have any interesting stories to tell if somebody asks you this question:
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever encountered when entering other people’s homes?
#1 Of indoor farms and strange surfaces
[Not a realtor.] I train individuals on adaptive equipment sometimes in their homes, or sometimes interpret for colleagues who provide related in-home services. The strangest experience for me was when a client housed farm animals – inside her house. She had pigs, chickens, etc walking around indoors like it was no big deal. The whole place smelled intensely of urine and livestock. That client visit is definitely seared into my memory forever.
Coming in a close second was a client who didn’t necessarily have strange objects in his house, but every surface had a weird texture. I don’t know what he used to “wipe down” his surfaces, but it definitely wasn’t whatever cleaning product he seemed to think it was. It felt kind of like if you spread a thin layer of wet cement or sandy paint with a sponge. He had also wiped down his phone and computer with this substance. It was pretty unsanitary. (Naï Damato)
#2 Unsavoury things of all sorts
#1: Was looking for an investment property for myself and my father. Went to see a potential and noticed a cat urine odor as soon as we walked in. Turns out, cats smell like urine as they decompose. We found poor kitty in the bedroom.
#2: Was showing a home and found a pornographic calendar on display in the main bedroom. Since I was in there before my buyer (mother with kids), I quickly moved the calendar to the laundry bin. Seller complained to his agent that I had messed with his stuff! My broker said I should have left it hanging. (Ross B.)
#3 DIY works just as well (I guess)
I once showed an old farm house that was originally from the 1850s, but had most recently been renovated around the late 1990s. It still needed a lot of work as it was now a bank-owned property, and my clients were pursuing it as a renovation project of their own. Overall the house was in pretty good shape aside from it smelling like 15 wet dogs had lived there. One of the primary supports of the house was starting to crumble, so instead of fixing it the right way with a new footer and replacing the beam, they just took a car jack and jacked the wall right up! (Molly L.)
#4 Just… *facepalm*
I used to buy a lot of houses to fix and flip. I was in this house in a low income area and there were about 4 generations of people living in the house. A couple in one room was busy [doing the deed] and had to stop so I could look at the room. Then in another room a lady with 3 small kids was busy watching porn on TV with the kids in the room! Ever since then I have referred to that house as the porn house.
I was in another house that had been paid for by Elvis Presley for a buddy. It had a red bathroom where everything including the toilet was red. Another bathroom was all blue. The house also had a racquetball court where Elvis and the homeowner played frequently. (David N.)
#5 Nope, that’s not how you sell your home
Had an appointment with my client who was a middle aged single man who weighed about 350 lbs. (That’s an important fact.) I showed up, no answer, but his motorcycle was out front. We were selling his deceased mother’s home. I opened the door and called his name, no answer. Looked around and couldn’t find him. Then I thought I heard him talking upstairs, so I started upstairs. Came around the corner and he was lying on his mom’s bed, stark naked, watching TV. I left. (Judi Bland S.)
