I finally decided to write my first post. Why not? But what could I possible write about that is interesting and educational as well. I can write about the market, mortgage rules, down payments, etc

Or read the newspaper and write a well digested post.

So, here we go, I remember that day as if it was an hour ago! It has scarred me forever and ever. Every time a client asks me to run an open house, I sweat and swallow super hard. Even after having lots of successful “open houses”, this one still manages to make me run to the bathroom and grab the famous Pepto-Bismol.

So, long ago, when I became a licensed real estate agent, at the beginning of my time as a Realtor. The new challenges I was facing, a bit anxious but super excited at the same time. Knowing what I am made out of, a very hard working, honest, reliable, ethical individual couldn’t wait to run my very first open house!

Since I had no listing of my own and couldn’t just run an open house on my own house and tell anyone entering through the entrance: “thank you for coming, but this house is really not for sale! It is just for me to practice my new skills”

So I asked a few fellow agents in my office and at last, after 2 months of trying, one of our broker asked me to help him out!

I was so excited that I had a hard time falling asleep! I did a CMA, I looked up all the past, present sales in the area; looked up all the schools from public, private, catholic, French, etc in the neighborhood. I had so much info on the area that I felt like a walking Google!

I asked myself so many questions that people could come up with and I had the answer to every single one of them memorized!

The day of, I put on my super tailored suit, make sure nothing was stuck between my teeth, etc. I just wanted to run it as professionally as possible.

Anyhow, after opening the lock box to the unit, I realized that my suit had no pockets! And I didn’t take my purse with me, so the only secure place I could come up with storing the property’s key for 2 hours was my bra. No big deal, who would find out, after all, I showered and my bra was super clean and my suit just came out of the dry cleaners. I could use a bit of water and soap after and put it back in the lock box. Problem solved!

Open house was over at 4 pm, not too many people showed up but I had everything under control. I was extremely happy with the outcome. It was GREAT, except for the key stored in my bra and started to be a little uncomfortable.

So, I lock the property’s door, made sure it was actually locked, put back the key in the lock box, shuffle the combination, get in my car with a huge smile!

Contact the listing agent and thanked him for the opportunity and that everything was left in its perfect condition.

The next day, I had a fund raising event to attend. 5KM walk for a children’s hospital. So, on that Sunday, I am walking and thinking of yesterday’s open house. I am going to call those few individuals that came in. Asked them for feedbacks and take it from there. At exact same moment, my phone ran and it was the listing agent asking me where the key to the property is?!

He asked me to look in my pockets or purse, just in case, by mistake I forgot to put it back in the box. I told him that was not possible. And I had to tell him where I stored the house key for 2 hours the day before (super embarrassing!) and the silent after that.

I drove to the property just to see it for myself, and yes, sure enough, no key… I couldn’t believe my eyes! Being new to the business, new to this brokerage, my very first open house experience that I wanted it so badly and wanted to be “perfect” just got destroyed. No key, no house key a scheduled open house and we couldn’t get in.

The property had no showings after my open house. Key just gone, nowhere to be found, did not fall out of the box when I was putting it back. A total mind blowing experience.

It was obvious that it was stolen, by whom? No one knows. They’ve changed the lock right away and took all necessary security action, but… I felt terrible for the owners! There is nothing worse than feeling unsecured in your own home! Just the thought of knowing that some stranger might have the key to your property made me sick! I put myself in their shoes and I couldn’t fall asleep just thinking of it.

I can’t describe how I felt on that day and still do. Every single time I have to open a lock box and close it again, I get this weird feeling (even today). It just feels like time stops for a split second and it slows down.

I get a little more anxious when clients ask me to run an open house for them. I do it, but there is something, some weird feeling that surface.