I was reminiscing the other day about some of the very strange things that happen to you when you're a real estate agent. Sometimes you find yourselves in the most unusual circumstances.

This one particular occasion had me out in the middle of virtually nowhere in a tiny little subdivision meeting with an inspector on a home my clients were planning on purchasing. The house was occupied by an owner who had this furry little pet ... a ferret. Now, I can handle most pets ... I've seen snakes and all forms of reptiles, plenty of dogs and cats, even a pig or two ... but I'm a little squeamish around rodents, and this certainly fit into that category. It wouldn't have been too bad had this little feller been caged, but he apparently had the run of the house.

So, I was aware of this upon entering the house, so I put my hand down to catch him before he made his escape to the outside world, got a hold of him and carried him to the master bedroom where I trapped him for the completion of the inspection. After viewing the house and noting the "rodent droppings should be cleaned up behind the free standing stove" ... we went to make our exit. Having pushed the locking mechanism on the door so the door would lock behind me, I silently (or so I thought) opened the bedroom door to allow the littler critter out and then made a mad dash to the door before he escaped and slammed the door behind me.

Turning around, I see the Inspector standing by his car doubled over with laughter. He says to me. "Well you almost made it"; and, upon looking down, I see the little bugger at my feet with just the very tip end of his tail caught in the door ... flapping around trying to get away. Luckily it didn't hit bone, I guess, as he wasn't squealing. So, I quickly found the key again, inserted it in the door, opened same and deposited the critter into the house as far away from the door as possible.

So, note to home Sellers: When expecting a showing or inspection and you're not home ... cage the little critters somehow. Would make it easier on everyone.

My Co-worker and I were discussing the changes we’ve seen in real estate in the past 30 plus years that I’ve been listing and selling homes. Some changes are good … some not so good. When we started way back when … only Real Estate Agents had access to all the information on a home. If you wanted to Sell or Purchase a home, you had to contact an agent and trust that they would search high and low for your perfect house. We had huge books we could comb thru and read every little word to see if it was even worth our and our client’s time and effort. It took a huge amount of time to put together a tour for the client. But, there were no preconceived notions about what they were seeing.

Now, the client can go to any number of websites, key in their price and area preferences, and come up with literally hundreds of homes to choose from. And, because most of the agents are now using professional photographers to help sell their product, pictures can be beautiful … the reality can be disappointing, to say the least. I’ve had many clients find their perfect house on line only to be truly discouraged by the actual home.

Also, way back when … Sellers were protected from every Tom, Dick and Harry driving by or scoping out their property. Granted there were still signs in the yards, but addresses were not available with a click of a mouse. No Good Doers had to actually get in their cars and drive around to spot their targets. Now they can sit in front of a computer and even see if a house is worth targeting by the furnishings inside. Hmmm. Not so good.

As far as real estate agents … we spend most of our time in front of the computer now, winnowing down the choices our clients have sent us to make a tour of 5-8 homes instead of 100. Depending on the area of the search, that’s as many homes that are possible to see in a half or whole day tour. Consequently, they almost always want to see all those other homes, too, and if they’ve found one they like on the first day … frequently it will be sold by the time they want to come back to it and make an offer. I’ve had many clients disappointed because the one and only house that makes their heart go pittie-pat is gone too soon.

So what’s the middle ground? Not sure there is any. I still believe the best way to hunt for your home is to contact an agent who will put your needs and concerns first on their list of priorities. They can tweak a search better than the client. They can send you out ONLY houses that meet your priorities. And they still have the access to the houses you want to see. I have found thru the years that most of the Real Estate Brokers I work with are highly knowledgeable, very ethical and extremely professional.

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