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This was not the liveliest showing of my career

SUMMER DAYS DRIFTING AWAY

One of my favorite posts.

In an online piece that turned up yesterday in the Real Deal, a clutch (flock, bevy, herd?) of brokers related some horror stories from open houses, among them:

  • “How about a five-year old breast-feeding?”
  • “A half-naked, sleeping couple.”
  • “When the listing broker invited my client and myself into an open house, showed us around the apartment and when we go to the master bedroom, the seller and his girlfriend were in bed — awake [and] reading the paper [with] no clothes on.”

Such accounts are demonstrably livelier than mine, which concerns an experience I had a few years ago when I was showing a buyer of mine a one-bedroom condo in Washington, D.C., where I sold real estate before moving back “home” to Manhattan.

I got the apartment key from the concierge (common practice there) and went up to the unit. Opening the door, I shouted our presence and couldn’t quite shake a feeling that the place wasn’t empty.

Spying an open purse on a table near the entrance, I announced our presence two more times, shrugged and went inside. We toured the living room and kitchen and went down a hallway to the master bedroom.

There we saw on the bed a massive motionless body lying on its side and facing away from us.

My buyer, a seasoned dentist who obviously had undergone extensive medical training, turned tail and fled, However shocked I was, I just walked out and then hurried to catch up with my white-faced buyer.

Yes, I did eventually sell him an apartment, but I never found out whether the body was dead or alive.

I think he lives in California now.

Please note: You won’t find any previously unpublished posts during my blog’s annual August hiatus, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading some of my favorite ones. Although I’m not publishing new posts right now, I am continuing to assist buyers and sellers with their needs. Feel free to be in touch, and I hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

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Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201

Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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