I had a property listed in January on Lake Ontario. It was a business relocation and vacant. The home had been winterized which meant the toilets were not operational and the water turned off to avoid freezing up in the winter temperatures. I arrived to do an open house and the vacant home stank! Someone who had viewed the home with their agent apparently had used the toilet. Unable to flush the toilet, the treasure sat in the home for days! I had to flush that toilet before the open house. It was a bitter cold day and i decided to get a bucket from the garage to fill with water from the lake to enable me to flush the toilet. I trudged through three feet of snow in my dress shoes about 200 feet to the water’s edge with my bucket. The shoreline had huge slabs of ice which i had to get around to get to the open water. Success i had filled the bucket and was about to head back to the home. At this point, the neighbour’s dog decided to join me and play in the lake on the frozen slabs of ice. He fell into the lake and could not get out on the ice. I had to wade into the water up to my knees to grab him and pull him out of Lake Ontario. I spent the next two hours at an open with my shoes and pants soaked from the knees down but the toilet was flushed.
Now that is dedication! Saved the day and the dog. That’s full service realty!
I’m wondering how common it is to do an open house while the place is still winterized?
Well it is really about the market. Obviously if it is anticipated that the home will be on the market for awhile because it is a rural property and vacant …. it is prudent to drain the waterlines and shut off the water supply in the winter to prevent pipes from cracking.
This is really very embarrassing. I couldn’t imagine what I would be doing if I was on your shoes. Gosh!
Can I just tell you how awesome you are? LOL, This is one of those “Am I being filmed, right now?” moments. I probably would’ve looked over my shoulder every five minutes looking for a camera crew. You went above and beyond the call of duty with that experience! Inquiring minds would like to know: After all of that, did your open house end successfully?
LOL it was a “chilly” experience!!
Being a cold winter day at an exec waterfront on Howe Island, i actually had no attendees outside of the neighbour’s dog!
You were a hero to the dog and the owner should have commended you for staying through the open house with wet clothes. Not funny you having to wade in the water, but having as you say a treasure in the toilet was funny. Glad there was a lake nearby.
LOL the owner was the bank but it was a dank, cold open house standing around in wet trousers!!