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Three Horrifyingly True Stories from Real Estate Agents

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[Photo via Robert Körner]
Real estate agents have it hard, and not just because of the housing market. Sometimes, a real estate agent finds homes that can only be described as horrifying. These aren't haunted houses from your everyday horror film. These are absolutely true stories that Redfin real estate agents provided to Curbed DC. See why these three stories range from disturbingly distressing (what's that smell?) to absolutely alarming (the police were called!). If you have any stories of your own, feel free to add them in the comments.

Skeletons in the Closet
Stuart Naranch: My clients we're looking for a fixer upper and wanted to tour a Victorian home that we knew needed a lot of work. We were told the house did not have power, so we brought flashlights. It was dark inside, but we were still able to make out the remains of a decomposing raccoon in the hall. Grossed out, but undeterred, my clients headed up the stairs. About half way up, we encountered another raccoon carcass. Needless to say, they didn't buy that home.

An Unwelcome Guest
Katie Scire: I was helping a couple find a home in DC. The husband really liked one of the homes we had toured in Woodridge, so we headed back a couple days later to show the place to his wife. The house was vacant. When we'd come the first time, the pull-down stairs to the attic were open, and we'd looked around. The stairs were up on this second tour, but the husband wanted to show his wife all of the storage up there. They pulled down the stairs and headed up. They were shocked to find a young woman sitting in the dark attic. We asked if she was OK, and she said yes, but she wasn't forthcoming with answers and said she didn't want to leave the house with us. We called the police and met them outside to let them know what had happened. I let the police take it from there.

Nude and Vulnerable
Kas Divband: I had called a listing agent to set up a tour for a downtown property and was told the house was vacant and that we could visit it that afternoon. I arrived at the home a couple of minutes before my client to unlock and turn on the lights. The home was dark and didn't have any furniture, but curiously, I heard water running. I walked toward the sound and saw a completely naked woman coming out of the bathroom. She was just as startled to see me as I was to see her. Turns out it was the owner. She had already moved to a new place, but was in the neighborhood and had stopped to take a shower and didn't tell her agent that she would be home!
· Redfin [Official Website]
· 10 Horrifyingly True Real Estate Stories from Curbed Readers [Curbed DC]
· 10 More Spooky Real Estate Stories From Curbed Readers [Curbed DC]