Behind the Scenes · May 2026 · 5 min read
Things I've Seen at Showings That I Can't Unsee 😂
Ten years. Hundreds of showings. I have seen things. Most of them I've kept to myself out of professionalism. But today? Today I'm sharing. Because if you've ever bought or sold a home, you deserve to know what your agent is silently processing while keeping a completely straight face.
No addresses. No names. Just the pure, unfiltered reality of what happens when you open a lockbox and step inside a stranger's life for 20 minutes.
1. The Pet Situation 🐾
I love animals. I really do. But when you've been told the home will be "pet free" for the showing and I open the door to seventeen cats staring at me from various heights around the room — that's a lot to process. I've learned to keep my expression completely neutral while internally calculating whether my buyer noticed the scratching on every single door frame. They noticed. We all noticed. Nobody said anything.
2. The Seller Who Did Not Leave 👀
Sellers are supposed to leave during showings. This is the rule. It is a good rule. It exists because buyers cannot comfortably picture their life in a home while the current owner is standing in the kitchen giving them a room-by-room narrated tour they did not ask for. I have gently redirected many a well-meaning seller. Some of them followed me back outside. One of them did not. He was still there when we left. In the kitchen. Waving.
3. The Smell That Had No Explanation 👃
I have walked into homes that smelled like lavender and fresh cookies and thought "this is going to sell in a weekend." I have also walked into homes where the smell hit me before I fully opened the door and I had to make a split-second decision about my face. You learn to breathe through your mouth. You learn to open windows casually. You learn to say "interesting" a lot.
4. The Décor That Was... A Choice 🎨
I will never yuck anyone's yum. People decorate how they want and that is their right. But I have stood in rooms where every single wall was a different intense color and calmly said "paint is an easy fix" more times than I can count. I have seen taxidermied animals arranged in what appeared to be a dinner party scene. I have seen a bathroom tiled entirely in a pattern I can only describe as "ambitious." I smiled. I said nothing. I meant it when I said paint is an easy fix.
5. The House That Looked Nothing Like the Photos 📸
Professional photography is a gift to sellers. It is also occasionally used as a superpower of deception. I have arrived at homes where the "spacious living room" was photographed with a wide-angle lens that made it look three times its actual size. I have seen "cozy" mean something I was not prepared for. I have watched buyers walk in, look around, look at me, look back at their phone, and then look at me again. This is why I always tell my sellers — list it right. The showing is the truth. The photos just get them in the door.
6. The Moment a Buyer Fell in Love in the First 30 Seconds ❤️
This one isn't funny — it's actually my favorite thing in the world. When you open a door and watch someone's whole face change. They stop talking. They slow down. They start touching the walls. They're already moving in. I've seen it happen in a tiny bungalow in St. Pete, in a brand new Wesley Chapel build, in a waterfront condo with a view that made a grown man go completely quiet. That moment — after all the cats and the smells and the waving sellers — that moment is why I do this.
The bottom line? Showings are unpredictable. Markets are unpredictable. But having the right agent in your corner — one who can keep a straight face through anything and still negotiate you the best deal — that part you can control.
If you're buying or selling in Tampa Bay and want an agent with a decade of showings under her belt — and a very well-practiced poker face — let's talk. 😄
"Ready to find the home that makes YOU go quiet in the doorway?"