Wednesday, April 21, 2010

That Unexpected Surprise!


It was a second showing of a home in Franklin. I'd made the appointment the day before and, as scheduled, met my buyers at the house. Even arriving on time, I managed to get there a few minutes before they arrived.

Promptly at 1, I rang the bell, but no answer. I knocked loudly, and still no answer. I opened the lock box, took out the key, and opened the door. When I get inside, the TV was on, dirty dishes were piled into the sink, and some of the lights were on. Of course, my first thought was that they were in such a hurry to get out that they forgot a few things. Or they were still home. I called out, "Anybody here?" several times; again, no answer.

After turning on all the downstairs lights, my clients pulled up and came inside. We started at the back of the house, talked about the space, and moved to the front of the house. While in the foyer, we noticed a man in a black leather jacket running across the front yard. He jumped on the front porch, pushed the front door open, and as quick as a flash, lept into the front office. When he came into the foyer he was loading his pistol and shouted, "Who the &$%# are you people and what are you doing in my house?!" Needless to say, all of us were caught off guard.

My clients and I left the house as I explained I was a real estate agent showing his house. He said he'd checked with his agent who said there was no showing at that time. After a phone conversation with the listing agent, we excused ourselves and left.

After countless apologies for the misunderstanding by the listing agent, things got better. We went back to the house an hour later ... and my client bought the house! All is well.

Yesterday the listing agent discovered what had happened. Her appointment center (not Crye-Leike's appointment center) called the owner of another listing she had and received confirmation to show that house, but called me back and confirmed this listing for me to show at the appointed time. The appointment center rep even gave me the correct alarm code for the correct house. Go figure ....

When all of this happened on Sunday, I was definitely stunned - not afraid. Now, I can say that I really have seen it all and done it all in real estate ...
___________________________________________
If you're looking for an agent who provides exceptional customer service and will even show you a house at near gunpoint, give me a call. I'm more than happy to assist you with all of your real estate needs.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Stranger Than Fiction


You just can't make up some things. It seems impossible, but Tracy City, Tennessee elected a dead man mayor because they didn't like the incumbent. Go figure .... You can read the entire story HERE.

Think they'll put this in the Guinness Book of World Records?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Attack of the Shopping Cart ... and a Little Insight Into Child Rearing


Hovered at the $1 Spot at a local Target store the other day, I came in contact with an unexpected shopping cart. Not more than three years old, the driver's aim was spot on. I was totally lost in looking at $1 gifts for my daughter, Annie, but was interrupted by the crack that I heard and the pain that I felt at my ankle. I looked up to see a petite little blonde boy who was hurriedly moving his parents' shopping cart faster than they could keep up with him.

Stunned by the sudden attack, I looked up and saw him there, oblivious to what had happened. Parental instinct told me that it was nothing more than an accident resulting from an over-eager little boy who was excited about going to Target.

Almost immediately, the parents rushed over and began fussing with him about hitting me with the cart. They fussed about his not listening to them, and swatted him on the side of his head. Finally, their attention turned to me and they asked, "Are you OK?" I was fine, but barely listening to my response, they proceeded to force the little tike into apologizing to me. Why was he apologizing? My insistence that they didn't need to hit him went ignored, and they finally just walked off, the little boy still unaware of what had happened.

A few seconds later, a Target employee greeted me as I rounded the corner of the $1 Spot asking if I was OK. After a brief conversation with the employee I was soon on my way to get a birthday card for my sister. While walking the aisles, I saw the parents and the little boy once again. I thought about my own children and how their mother and I decided to deal with them in times of crisis like these.

Before Annie and Hunter were born, we decided early on that there would be many times when they would "mess up". The test, however, would be in their motivation. Was the mess up an accident, something that could not avoided? Or was it the result of disobedience? After many discussions, their mom and I decided that punishment was warranted only when disobedience was the root of their choices. Correction for an accident would not result in punishment.

Had that incident been caused by one of our own children, we would have handled it a little differently. First, we would have apologized to the shopping for the accident. Second, only after we were assured the shopper was OK would we deal with our child. Calmly taking the child aside, we would have explained that he/she caused an accident with the shopping cart. Third, we would have punished him/her only if he/she had ignored our direction to not take the cart and walk with it without an adult.

The parents of this child were probably mortified by the accident and took the situation personally. After all, what parent doesn't see their child's behavior as a reflection them?! But, then again, how does a parent, in what they perceive as a safety violation, deal with a child expediently?

One of our goals was to raise our children to respect people, property, laws, and authority. If we react with haste without providing respect in our correction of our children, are we also disrespectful of them?

Studies have shown that parents have more influence on their children far more than any other source or person. And since no day with our children can ever be repeated again, why would we not make the very best of it?!