Found A Butt-Naked Squatter In My Listing....

I have a field team of 3 that are awesome. One of the field people, Ida, is a lady in her late sixties that doesn't have to work, but just loves the hustle of driving around and being out in the field. For 60+, she's in great shape and is the kind of woman you wouldn't want to cross (I almost lost an arm-wrestling match to her a few years back!...Like I said ALMOST...LOL).

Anyways, a while back she went to check one my vacant REO properties in a sketchy part of town. She made her way through the house checking the living room and bedrooms to make sure all was okay when she heard the shower running at the rear bathroom. She opened the door and found a squatter in the shower, butt-naked, ding a ling out and all!! Now if this was me, I would have backed out fast, went out to my car, and called the police. Ida took a different approach and scolded the man for trespassing. He pulled on his boxers quickly and as he was angrily stomping towards her yelling at her "Get out!", she whipped out her camera and started taking pictures of the squatter!!! (I posted photos to my website: http://wp.me/p1yiuo-2o) He ended up grabbing his stuff and running off, but I couldn't believe this story!

Of course my staff's safety is my top concern and we discussed better ways for her to handle this the next time....but HOLY CRAP!! I don't know if Ida was crazy, stupid, or just a bad-ass 60+ female version of Braveheart.

If this was you, what would you have done? Anyone have any scary run-ins with squatters on your listings/showings?

I went to a supposedly vacant reo to do a bpo a few months back, when I opened the door I heard footsteps and noises coming from a dark hallway. I left and had my husband check it out thinking a dog got left in the house and was making the noises I heard. So he goes in, hears footsteps, and tells me thats a person not an animal. He yells hello and we can hear footsteps coming down the hall towards us,,,so I go outside, he stays in cause he's curious to see who it is(crazy, I know) and out pops this guy with a baton held over his head. After a brief conversation on what he is doing in this house, he agrees to vacate by the next day. He was pretty harmless, baton withstanding, but you never know what you'll run into..

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Comments

Jessica Klein RDCPro August 30, 2011 at 1:13pm

OMG - rule #1 in these cases -like you said should have ---- backed out fast, went out to my car, and called the police. ...... I used to tell my team get OUT of the house before you even start dialing that phone!
Justin Richards August 9, 2011 at 5:28am

haha - love the "footsteps story".

This story has been passed around our agent community like an old folktale already. Makes me laugh everytime.
Monica Dehnert August 9, 2011 at 3:10am

I had a bad day yesterday and reading this blog this morning cheered me up. Ida is a person after my own heart. But next time, get back in your car and call the cops.
Mark Allen August 8, 2011 at 8:47am

I went to a supposedly vacant reo to do a bpo a few months back, when I opened the door I heard footsteps and noises coming from a dark hallway. I left and had my husband check it out thinking a dog got left in the house and was making the noises I heard. So he goes in, hears footsteps, and tells me thats a person not an animal. He yells hello and we can hear footsteps coming down the hall towards us,,,so I go outside, he stays in cause he's curious to see who it is(crazy, I know) and out pops this guy with a baton held over his head. After a brief conversation on what he is doing in this house, he agrees to vacate by the next day. He was pretty harmless, baton withstanding, but you never know what you'll run into..
Vanessa Calhoun August 7, 2011 at 2:31pm

That's too funny! Way to go, Ida....but next time be a little more careful!
Francine Williams August 6, 2011 at 5:25pm

Love it!!!!! Way to go Ida!!!!! Thanks for sharing, this just made my Day.
Justin Richards August 5, 2011 at 12:23pm

You're right....with all these vacant houses nowadays....you gotta be careful. Packing some heat if you've got a level head (and are in a state where you can) isn't a bad idea!
Steve Adkins August 5, 2011 at 9:14am

LOL, now that's funny and scary at the same time. I cannot help but laugh at the situation but also understand the risk of the situation. This has been something I have feared since I started working REO's and HUD listings. So I finally broke down and got my concealed weapons permit and carry when I'm checking properties. This is something I do not recommend everyone to do, but I had a career in law enforcement before getting into real estate so I very well trained with firearms.

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