Leasing Agent Nightmare: The Worst Apartment Tour Ever

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A Day in the Life...

This true story presents a worst case scenario that leasing agents and others can only hope never happens to them. Find out what happens when, while you're showing a prospect around, you run into unexpected house guests. We thought it would be fun to share this crazy story from the book, I Have A Complex, But I'm Managing It!

This One's A Real Stinker

The washer/dryer connections on our property are housed in large, double-door closets located on the patios.  This requires residents to go “outside” to do their laundry.  Unfortunately, due to shifting foundations, we were always having issues with the doors not staying latched and it wasn’t uncommon for them to swing open.

I was showing a vacant apartment one afternoon when I noticed the doors to the laundry closet were slightly ajar. My prospects and I stepped out onto the patio for a little “show and tell” as I continued to rave about the advantages of having your washer and dryer outside.

Sidenote: Personally I thought who’d ever decided putting washer/dryer connections on the patio was nuts! You see, I lived onsite and had battled wasps, mice and heavy side-ways rain on my way to retrieve my clothes from the dryer. In the wintertime I had to put on a jacket to do my laundry and in the summertime it was miserable!

However; being the leasing superstar that I am, I’d always find ways to make it sound like an amazing feature.

“It’s great!” I’d declare. “You won’t be bothered with the noise of the machines. It’s really quite convenient!”

Let Us Spray

I had one of my hands on each of the doors, and without missing a beat, opened them wide to expose the washer/dryer connections. At the same moment I was doing so, a large animal emerged from inside the closet—it was a skunk!

I shrieked, and before we knew it, the animal turned and sprayed me along with my prospects, filling the air with the most atrocious odor I’ve ever smelled.

I’d disrupted a den of baby skunks and their very unhappy, startled mother. This little family had made the washer/dryer closet their home.

I’ll never forget the look of horror on my prospect’s faces. And no, this superstar did not secure a lease that day!

Contributed from San Antonio

From the book "I Have a Complex, but I'm Managing It!"  Stories from property managers compiled by Monica E. Simmons.

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