After Years in Real Estate These 10 Moments Still Shock Me
I’ve been in real estate long enough to see everything from life changing moves to Mansion foreclosures. Some great decisions, lessons learned and scary showings. Today, I’m sharing the top 10 stories from my real estate career! Some have lessons behind them, and some are just crazy stories! Read until the end because I saved some of my best stories for last!
Story # 1 – The $100,000 Appraisal Swing
I had a listing about a year ago that was an older home built in the 1950s. Now for Las Vegas, that’s considered old. I know in other parts of the country that might not sound unusual, but here it definitely stands out. The seller had done a full remodel. The home was updated, upgraded, and showed beautifully. The challenge was that most of the surrounding homes in the neighborhood were not updated.
Based on the condition, upgrades, and market activity, we listed the home higher than the recent sales at $650,000 and we quickly received a full-price offer. The buyer was getting a loan, which meant an appraisal was required. That’s where things took a turn. The appraisal came in at $550,000 a full $100,000 lower than the agreed-upon price.
We immediately disputed the appraisal and sent in additional information to the lender. What was frustrating is that we had already provided the appraiser with a detailed list of upgrades before he even went to the property, and he was unwilling to make any adjustments. So we pushed for a second appraisal. Less than a week later, the second appraisal came back at $650,000, essentially $100,000 higher than the first.
The lender accepted the second appraisal, we stayed on track, and we closed escrow on time about two weeks later. This is a perfect reminder that appraisals are subjective and can vary depending on the individual appraiser and much weight they give to upgrades. And this is exactly why experience and persistence matter knowing when to push back and how to support the value properly can make or break a deal.
Story # 2 – The fresh start
This story will always stick with me because it is about so much more than selling a home. I had a past client contact me saying that her son needed to sell his home. He had a startup business that failed. Now, he had to sell his home. I initially met his young wife and 8-month baby. The wife told me that he was very depressed and suicidal. They had a pretty high mortgage on the home and were delinquent. We looked at the figures, and they were going to be able to pay off the mortgage and still have around $50,000. I am Endorsed Local Provider with Dave Ramsey, and I gave them his living Debt Free book. They had this big house and fancy cars, but they had loans on everything. The husband read the book and met with me. They paid off credit cards, purchased less expensive cars and were debt free. They were starting over but with no debt and it felt like a relief to him. They had so much still ahead of them, and I was happy to help!
Story # 3 – Repairs almost killed the deal
A couple years ago, I was helping a young family buy their first home here in Henderson. They found a house they absolutely loved; the home was zoned for great schools which was a priority for them. The home is in Green Valley Ranch, so it is a master planned community with walking trails, and a true family feel neighborhood. We got a pretty good deal and then the inspection report came back and they panicked.
There were a few things listed: an older water heater, broken roof tiles, and some electrical updates that weren’t up to current code. They called me and said,
“Leslie, we think this house is a money pit. We want to cancel.”
I said let’s really get some bids and get a contractor out to see what the cost would be and take it one step at a time. Most inspection reports look scary at first. Most items aren’t “deal breaker”. Items of concern are things that affect safety, structure, and long-term cost. We brought in a contractor to get real estimates (not guesses). The bid came in about $4,500 in legitimate repairs. My clients met with the contractor and felt much better after he talked to them about these matters. We went back to the seller, negotiated a credit at closing, and had the repairs completed before they even moved into the home. I spoke to them last week and they are so happy. The kids love it there!
Story # 4 – Holiday closing that almost became a nightmare
This happened recently. I had listed a home for my clients in early December; we received an offer right over Christmas with a 2-week closing on a VA loan meaning we would be closing between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Right away, I told my sellers:
“That is extremely fast especially during the holidays and VA loans normally take closer to 30 days.”
So, I called the lender. He was a mortgage broker, not the direct lender. And instead of saying, “Yes, that’s tight timing,” he went straight into ego mode: “I’ve closed millions of dollars. I can get this done in two weeks.”
Now, if you know lending, you know mortgage brokers are basically third-party middlemen they still have to place the loan with a direct lender. So, I asked him very directly:
“Do you already have this buyer fully approved with a specific lender and file ready to go?”
That’s when things get uncomfortable. I said, “If you’re confident, put it in writing that you’re committing to this two-week closing.”
Suddenly… he wasn’t so confident anymore.
At that point I told my sellers exactly how I felt. I said:
“I don’t want you packing up your house, moving during the holidays, and then finding out the loan can’t close.”
So, we countered back with a 30-day closing instead and I kept tabs on the lender to make sure he was submitting the file and moving forward. And here’s the part that matters most…Within just a few days, the buyer’s agent called me and said: “The buyer just found out he doesn’t qualify at all.”
Oh my god, my sellers were SO relieved. They didn’t rush. They didn’t uproot their holiday. And we found out quickly about a contract that was never going to close anyway.
Story # 5 – The Seller with COPD and the Mold house
This happened recently. I met an older client who had bad COPD and breathing problems. He was on oxygen and not doing great. Well as I looked around at his home, I noticed immediately that he had a leak in the kitchen cabinet and there was mold even on the back wall on the island. He had breathing problems and was sitting right next to mold. The house had a smell and couldn’t be good for him. The daughters came in town, and we got him moved out. I got my mold remediation company out. They had plumbers and painters they work with that are familiar with the process. The seller wanted to save money and use his own plumber. All the repairs were made, everything looked great and we got the home on the market. Unfortunately, the garbage disposal was old and probably needed replacement. Less than a week later, the garbage disposal leaked everywhere. Luckily, we caught it quickly and the remediation company brought fans to dry it out, but the drywall was damaged and had to be replaced again costing about another $1,000. Sometime saving a dollar can cost a lot more. The good news about this one is that we sold quickly, and he is doing way better now that he is out of that house with the mold!
Story # 6 – The bank foreclosure mansion
I have been in business for 30 years. We were lucky enough to be one of the top agents working with banks on foreclosures. My husband joined me around that time, and we have some crazy stories! One of them was a huge custom mansion in Lake Las Vegas. The home was in foreclosure for some time. We went to check on the property. It was occupied and they said they were tenants with a lease in place. They weren’t paying rent and they didn’t have the power and water on the property. It looked like a large group of people living in this home. They were using buckets to go to the restroom, the landscaping was dead and the house was in huge disarray. It was grouse. This was happening a lot back then. People would see vacant homes and just move in. The bank was working on getting them evicted but back then it would take months to do so. Well, apparently a pretty well-connected star lived right next door. She made some calls and the police showed up evicted the people, we had out locksmith change locks and lock them out and they were banned from the community and couldn’t get through the guard gate. That was one way to get things handled quickly!
Story # 7 – I still have nightmares
I had clients that wanted to purchase an investment home in one of the areas of town that are not necessarily the best area. I work in all price ranges and areas, I was born and raised in a small home in small town, Elko Nevada! I had found several homes that fit their needs. We were looking at the 3rd property and this home was vacant. I have a habit of still knocking on the door even when the home is vacant. It is just a good idea and I yell “hello, real estate agent” as I open the door. We are walking through and I am slightly ahead of the buyers. I walk into this bedroom and open the closet, and a homeless man jumps out at me. I screamed and the buyers jet out of the house quickly. I am running but they are long gone. We were fine and I called the listing agent to let them know there was a homeless man at the home, but it really scared me at the time. I still get nervous looking at vacant homes.
Story #8 – The Probate Problem
I met this client several years ago. Her father had passed away almost a year earlier. During that time, she worked incredibly hard getting the home ready to sell. She went through personal belongings, had the personal property removed, painted the home, made repairs, and had everything professionally cleaned.
When I met with her, the home was held in her father’s name and not in a trust. She had to go through probate to be able to sell the home. It took about three months just for the attorney to get a court date so the judge could officially appoint her as the administrator of the estate so she could legally sign the paperwork to list the home. Her dad still had a mortgage on the home, so she was paying that monthly payment while doing all this work and she was ready to get the home on the market and get it sold. If she had reached out to me earlier, we could have started the probate process faster and I could have helped her with some of the repairs. I have vendors, painters and cleaners. I have landscapers that do inexpensive trash haul away. That would have saved her months of waiting, extra mortgage payments, and a lot of unnecessary stress.
Before you spend money fixing up an inherited home, make sure you have the legal authority to sell it. Call me early even if you’re not ready to list yet. Planning first makes everything smoother later.
Story # 9 – Wrong agent can cost you time and money
This story literally just happened. I currently have a listing in Terra Bella. The seller reached out to me after being listed with another agent for eight months. During that time, they went into escrow twice… and fell out of escrow twice. So the first thing I asked her was:
“Walk me through what happened on those deals.”
The First Escrow was a Home Sale Contingency. The first buyer’s offer was contingent on the buyer selling their home but the buyer’s home wasn’t even under contract yet. I almost never recommend this to my sellers. What you’re really doing is taking your home off the market and just… waiting. You’re hoping their house sells while your listing sits. In a strong market, sellers don’t accept these offers because there’s no reason to. In a slower market, sellers think,
“Well at least I have something.” But here’s the reality:
Even if you get non-refundable earnest money, if that buyer’s home never sells it, you may get the deposit, but you lose time, momentum, and buyer interest.
And sure enough… that buyer never sold their home. Escrow canceled.
Second Escrow — The second deal was supposedly a financed buyer.
Now here’s the important part. This is an age-restricted condo community with an active construction defect lawsuit. Because of that, most traditional lenders cannot lend in this community right now. I’ve sold multiple homes here. I actually have more closings in this neighborhood than any other agent. There has only been one lender to close any financing deals in here in the last 2 years. I know the ONE lender that can make these loans work — and I also know most lenders will say “yes” at first… until underwriting shuts it down. And that’s exactly what happened. The financing fell apart. Escrow canceled again. At this point the seller was frustrated, exhausted, and honestly losing hope. When I listed the home, we changed the strategy. She accepted a solid cash buyer with no financing issues, no contingency drama and we’re now closing successfully. Not all offers are equal — and not all agents understand the hidden risks.
Experience matters and knowing the community matters.
Story # 10 – Buyer Who Almost Overpaid (Until We Slowed Down)
This one still sticks with me. I was working with a buyer who found a house they loved. They were so excited. It was exactly what they were looking for and they wanted the house. They were emotional.
“Leslie, we want this house. Let’s offer full price and waive everything.”
I slowed them down. Instead of rushing, I pulled the data. We looked at what had sold and not just what was listed. The home was priced aggressively and had been sitting longer than similar homes in the area. That told me something. So, I said: Let’s write a offer but still protect you. We offered under list price, kept the inspection contingency and due diligence period. The seller countered. We negotiated. In the end, my buyer got the home for less than list price, with seller paying for home warranty and other items. Which was good because we did find items during the inspection and negotiated for those to be repaired. I rarely recommend waving the inspection. After closing, the buyer told me: “I’m so glad you helped us and protected us.” And that’s the part I care about most.
These 10 stories shaped how I approach every single client today. If you’re thinking about buying or selling and want someone who’s seen it all and knows how to navigate it, reach out, I would love to help!
