The Showing Where the Cat Escaped
I had a showing with a young female professional at a condo recently that started out completely normal. Until I opened the door and a cat ran out.
I unlocked the door, opened it, and as soon as we stepped in, a cat ran straight out of the unit and into the hallway. I started sweating instantly - this was bad.
The cat made its way to the end of the hallway and stopped there, watching us. We tried to approach it slowly, but obviously…. it’s a cat so it just kept moving to all the places where we weren’t.
I only booked 15 minutes to check out the condo, so I told my client to do her own tour of the unit. Really just so that I could wipe the sweat off my face without her noticing, and to figure out a plan.
I stayed in the hallway trying to get close enough to grab the cat. When my client finished her tour, she came back into the unit with some cat toys she found by the sofa. We were following, coaxing, cornering, and chasing this damned cat around the hallway, just praying that it wouldn’t dash into the elevator when the doors opened.
When that didn’t work…for 25 stressful minutes, I went back into the unit to see what else we could use.
I searched through the kitchen cabinets and found some cat food. So here’s the thing…as real estate agents, we’re not supposed to touch, take, use anything in units that we’re showing. But, clearly, this was an emergency! Losing my real estate license because I moved some cat food around be damned!
I cracked open a can of wet cat food and went into the hallway. The smell of whatever’s in cat food got that cat excited — it perked up, turned toward it, and started to follow me ever so slowly into the unit.
Eventually, that ca — desperate enough to risk its safety to two random strangers just for the taste of sweet sweet cat food — came back inside the condo.
I placed the can of cat food, now dripping out the sides and onto my fingers, onto the kitchen floor, and me and my client bolted out the door 30 minutes later and closed it behind us.
And the lesson here? Realtors need to be ready for just about anything, and it probably doesn’t hurt to keep a few pet treats on hand just in case.
Just kidding. The real takeaway is that details like “pets in the home” should always be included in the MLS notes so other agents know what they’re walking into and can be prepared.
