Today, I’ll continue with the topic where I’ll share some experiences of open homes that have gone horribly wrong.

Here’s two ‘interesting’ experiences that I encountered…things that I wasn’t exactly expecting when I arrived at each respective home…

• Around five years ago, I listed a home that belonged to a friend of mine. After the home went live online, we were inundated with enquiries and I knew the first open home was going to attract a good number of buyers. In this instance, I would normally arrive at the home at least 15 minutes early to get ready but on this day, I arrived with only a few minutes to spare because I had a buyer refuse to leave the property of the previous open home that I ran (that’s another story). I drove up the long driveway to find several buyers already waiting. The owner hadn’t yet provided me with a key so I knocked loudly on the door but there was no answer. I knocked again…still no answer. I knocked a third time and this time, the door actually opened a little with the force of my hand. I realized that the door wasn’t properly shut in the first place so I naturally presumed that the owner had left it opened for me and had left the home. I hurried inside, started turning lights on and checking the home rather quickly. All was good. I proceeded to the master bedroom where I turned on the lights and suddenly the ensuite door swung open and there was the seller standing there stark naked with a toothbrush in his mouth as he was brushing his teeth. I don’t quite recall my exact reaction but I do remember me having a discussion with him about the open home time (he mistakenly thought it was one hour later than it actually was). In the background, I could hear buyers already start entering the home and he dressed himself so quickly, he put his shirt on inside out as he left.

• About four years ago, I turned up to an open home (again, the very first one for this particular property) and couldn’t believe the huge number of cars in the street. Since the home had just come onto the market, I was excited to think that so many people were there to see this home. As I drove up to the home, I quickly realized that the next door neighbours were having a family gathering on their front lawn. Without exaggeration, there must have been about 70-80 people (I tried counting) in attendance. As I approached the home, they said ‘hello’ and invited me in – they were very friendly. They explained to me that they were of African heritage and were celebrating an important date on their calendar (not sure what it was) and as such, they were roasting an animal (not sure what the animal was either). There was loud music playing, plenty of dancing and lots and lots of children everywhere (and it was only 9:00 AM in the morning). Almost everyone who turned up to the open home (and there were plenty) slowed down in their car, looked next door and just kept driving. It was an interesting lesson for me as it really looked quite confronting (from a distance) but when I looked closer, there was no alcohol to be seen, everyone was very friendly and they were having a great time. It showed me how quickly we are to judge a situation and place a stereotype on it. From every open home and inspection after this day, the neighbour’s home was peacefully quiet and you would barely know that anyone lived there at all ….but at the first open home, the first glance was certainly quite intimidating I must admit.

Next week, I’ll share some more interesting experiences and I’ll share with you some weird experiences that have happened to other agents that I know.

Until then, Happy Listing & Happy Selling!