Haunted Real Estate Blog

 This has been a great week for my mailbag!! I do not know Cynthia but received this email from her and thought the loyal readers of the Haunted Real Estate Blog would enjoy reading about her experiences and insights. Thank you, Cynthia, for your post!I have had encounters before I landed into the business of selling homes. Then, I got into real estate, once in a while I can feel when the house is ‘occupied’ whether it’s vacant or not once I open the door. If I am alone previewing homes, I do not enter the property when I feel ‘something’ is telling me not to enter, then I don’t go inside out of respect. If I have clients with me, saying a little prayer seems to work although the feeling that someone is present stays with me.

  Jackie Colson-Miller is another friend of mine from the Blogosphere. Like Ines (post a few days ago), Jackie was another particpant in Project Blogger. This post of hers is pre-Realtor days, when she was a college student in Providence, RI. Interesting stuff. Thanks, Jackie!

Anyone who has lived in “off campus” housing in college can appreciate a great house, in a great location (out the front gate) at a great price…the tagline is…there’s always a “catch”…

Many years ago, as a college senior, just back from my Junior Year Abroad in Switzerland, my roommates and I rented this “prime” property just off-campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Several groups of students had lived there over the previous years and it was considered THE place to live. We considered it a “coup” to have been the chosen tenants.

Just days after moving in, some weird things started to happen. The back door would suddenly open. We would hear footsteps on the porch and heading up the stairs to the storage room. Salt and pepper shakers would be found under the sink….WEIRD stuff. After three visits by the local police, they assumed we were just a little crazy and told us not to call them again. We chalked it all up to the “home for troubled girls” next door and figured they were just pranks.

About 6 weeks into the adventure, at a homecoming event, one of the previous tenants, a guy who had graduated the previous year, couldn’t wait to pose the question. “Hey Jackie…how’s life with Mrs. Walsh?” “Who”, I said. Jimmy was quick to tell me the story of the landlord’s mother, Mrs. Walsh, who died in the house. She sat on the porch every day and watched the students walk to campus. “She said she would never leave the house”, he said ”when I knew it was you who moved in, I couldn’t wait to ask you about it”. So much for disclosure among friends! Just that afternoon, I had been in my closet, choosing something to wear for this momentous event, and one of my roommates was sitting on the bed. “Something” touched her arm…it was just the beginning of our wild adventures with “Mrs. Walsh”.

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 Cecil Duarte is another Realtor buddy of mine. He works the Phoenix metro area market and he shared the following story of an unusual open house. Wow! Thanks for sharing, Cecil! Great story. Below is his unedited tale.

I took a listing several years ago from a long time client in the Phoenix area. When I met him at the property which was an occupied townhome- He never mentioned anything about a ghost.

It was during an open house later into the listing that I was in the living room and saw an image or what I thought was the client coming into the home and since I was just busy with my work on the laptop- had not heard him come in. I shouted- “ Gosh David- you came back to check on me so soon?” I got no answer so I thought he had gone into the bedroom (since the door was now closed). I do not close and actually go around any property that we are holding open to give it a more open feeling and this was no different. It was open earlier when I had started the open house.

Assuming that he was either in the bathroom or had come back from fighting with his soon to be ex-wife- I just left it alone and knew he would come out and talk with me once his emotions had calmed down.

I continued working on my laptop and also conscience that no prospects had walked through the house so I thought – “GREAT- the small kids in the neighborhood- have either kicked or turned my open house signs around”. I locked up and left to check- still thinking that David needed some time alone.

When I returned- the bedroom door was wide open but no Client. I looked for a note from David and seeing none, went into the bedroom and saw no signs of anyone having laid down earlier. I gave it no more thought and just waited for another 2 hours till the open house was scheduled to close down.

I was supposed to close the open house at 2 pm before it got too hot here in Phoenix but about 45 mintes or at 1:15pm- My client David and his two daughters walk in and say “WELL did you sell our place yet”. I laughed and said- David, you were here earlier and saw that no one was coming through- so why the questions? He looked at me and with a look of bewilderment said “Cecil, I did not come home but went to pick up my kids and took them to Lunch. Oh NO- you were visited by the GHOST!!”

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Ines Hegedus-Garcia is a Realtor I “know” from the blogosphere. She and I were in the Project Blogger, both as novice or apprentice bloggers in a long, 14 week competition. We’ve never met but I really feel like I know her! In response to a request I sent out to some of my agent friends for stories about haunted encounters, she wrote me the following (with permission to post it here). Enjoy, and take a peek at her blog, Miamism! Ines was just listed yesterday as one of the Top 12 Women Bloggers in the country. Congrats, Ines!!

I have been known to be sensitive to energy left in homes (if there was a death, if there was violence, if there are pleasant remains…..add twilight zone music).

I had a vacant listing where the owner had passed away and I could feel her presence in a particular area of the house.  One day, while showing it to some customers, one of them turns around to the area where I “feel” her and says, “bye grandma!”

My eyes opened really wide, we all looked at each other and started laughing.

It ends up that he felt her too and was playing with my head (but I had not told them about it) – insert twilight music again.

Ines Hegedus-Garcia
Coldwell Banker Residential RE, Inc.
305.758.2323 office
305.758.2324 fax
305.206.9366 mobile
OUR NEW BLOG SITE:  www.Miamism.com
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