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Mark Your Territory
Years ago, I got a call from a competing agent who was laughing out loud over the phone, along with the rest of his office in the background. He told me to look at the description I had written on my new online listing. I took a look, and the last letter of the last word was cut off. So instead of saying, “Come take a peek!” it said, “Come take a pee!” I made that correction quickly.—Leland Boutwell, Boutwell Real Estate, Pelham, N.H.
A Real ‘Pet Sematary’
A seller of mine had recently lost her beloved cat, MuMu, and was devastated. She said MuMu was her pride and joy, and she didn’t know how to go on without him. I tried to console her, saying that MuMu is in heaven and she will one day be ready to get another cat just as special. That’s when the conversation got weird. “Are you kidding? MuMu is coming back!” the seller said. She explained that she had gone to see a pet psychic in Michigan—which cost her about $5,000—who supposedly was able to communicate with MuMu. The cat told the psychic from beyond the grave that in one year, his owner should go to the nearest animal shelter, where she would find a black-and-white cat that looks like him. “Then, my MuMu will be reincarnated within the cat I choose and come back to me.” I nodded and steered clear of any more pet talk for the rest of our transaction.—Myka Allen-Johnson, StarPointe Realty, Killeen, Texas
Ulterior Motives
I had a buyer client who was referred to me by a mutual friend. The buyer said he wanted a house with a wraparound porch. I must have shown him 20 homes with wraparound porches over the course of several weeks, and he didn’t like any of them. I asked him to show me a house that he had previously lived in and liked a lot. It was a two-story Georgian colonial—with no wraparound porch. I was getting frustrated and confused by this process until he came clean about his true reason for looking at so many places: He was just looking for an excuse to spend time with me and get to know me. We did end up closing on another Georgian colonial, and then he asked me out on a date. Now, we’ve been married five years, and we live in the house he bought.—Anne Meding, Alliance Realty Team, Woodstock, Ga.