For the past six months I have been submitting articles on several real estate topics. Every time I open a newspaper lately, there are real estate articles from the mayvin to the lawyer. The most popular one that I wrote was the humorous vignettes that I wrote about last month. With that in mind, here are a few others.

I had a listing in Teaneck from a cat lady. She had six cats, six water bowls, six food bowls and six litter boxes lined up throughout the house. I wish I could describe the stench. Every time I went to show the house to a prospective buyer I would go there early with a can of lemon Pledge and polish all the furniture, the counters and the banister. One of my customers was highly allergic to cat dander. She was still outside on the walkway when she started having a reaction. Needless to say, we did not enter the house.

I was opening up a house in Fair Lawn and, as soon as I opened the door, a cat ran through my feet into the street. I tried to catch up with it but the cat disappeared. I was very upset. I continued to show the house. In the kitchen there was a note on the refrigerator, “Don’t Let The Cat Out.” All you sellers out there, don’t take it for granted that we know you have a cat.

How about the house that had a 2-foot parrot perched on a swing? I thought it was plastic. As we neared the swing, the bird went into a frenzy, flying, squawking and trying to grab our hair. My client and I ran out of the house and did not look back. Tell your real estate agent to put a note about this in the remarks section of the listing.

I showed a listing of mine in Englewood to another Realtor and his customer. They followed me around the house from room to room. That night, the homeowner called to accuse me of taking $60 off of her dresser. I assured her that neither I nor the other Realtor or his clients took anything. I knew there was nothing on her dresser. I never heard from her again. To all you sellers out there, don’t leave money or jewelry in plain sight. In addition, if you’re preparing your taxes don’t leave the paperwork spread out on the dining room table, with your Social Security number for everyone to see. I saw this in a house and when I called the homeowner to advise him of this situation he was very annoyed at me instead of being grateful.

Last but not least, I had a client who had a phobia of dogs. I had a key to a house that I wanted to show. As we walked up to the landing, strong barking came from the inside of the house. It sounded like a very large, angry dog. My client ran to his car and I never showed the house. The next day the listing Realtor called me to get some feedback about the showing. When I told her what took place she started laughing. She told me that when anyone steps on the 2-foot rug at the door, an electronic barking dog goes ballistic. It certainly was a deterrent for anyone trying to get into the house.

Martha (Malkie) Aaron is an agent for Anhalt Realty LLC.

By Malkie Aaron