It’s that time of year for ghosts, goblins, and home-selling frights! As List With Elizabeth prepares for Halloween, Elizabeth shares home-selling frights from listing events that might have turned into horror houses but instead ended up being frightfully fun to sell.

Home-Selling Frights: A Scary Surprise

It wasn’t in the attic; it was in the curtains. And it was terrifying. Elizabeth remembers a preliminary listing meeting before placing a lovely family home on the market. What drew her eye immediately were some beautiful custom-made fabric curtains with a valence.

“I specifically walked over to look at and admire them,” Elizabeth said. As she was standing there, holding the curtains and looking up at the valence, she also happened to notice the face of the Seller standing a couple of feet behind her. 

Grim, drained of color, and slightly trembling, she stopped dead in her tracks and said, “Elizabeth, there’s something up there.” And then Elizabeth slowly turned back, cringing, to see for herself. 

There was something small and black and fuzzy curled up in the fold of the valence!  

Backing away from the curtain as stealthily as possible, the two ladies stopped frozen for a few moments trying to determine what to do.  But when the creature started stirring, their indecision became frantic.

“I called my husband to come rescue us,” said Elizabeth. “I told him there was something fuzzy in the curtains. Come over now!” And he was there in a flash with a bucket and a bat. 

He could tell immediately that the fuzzy foe was actually a bat. The Seller had left her garage door open all day while moving items out of the house, which was likely when the creepy creature made his way in.

But as the trio thought through about twenty ways to evict the unwelcome guest, the situation eventually solved itself. Given enough open doors and windows to have an opportunity to head back outside, the wayward wanderer took off never to be seen again. 

Looking back it may have been one little bat that turned things upside down for a few hours, but for Elizabeth, the scary surprise was sheer terror.

Bee-ware of These Home-Selling Frights

It was an out of the way house, not exactly remote, but definitely back in the thick of the woods. Elizabeth arrived about mid-day and parked a little away from the house, on an unpaved driveway extension. 

It was her first visit to the house, so Elizabeth jumped out of the car and bounded up to the house quickly, excited to see inside. Never would she have imagined that at this charming home she would later have to be rescued from stinging, biting predatory insects!

What Elizabeth hadn’t noticed as she parked her car was that she had disturbed the in-ground nesting area of a bed of yellow-jackets by parking directly over them, and in retaliation, they were angrily flooding out of their home and swarming her vehicle.

After a few minutes touring the inside of the home, everyone headed outside to see the expansive yard. And that’s when they saw the chilling scene. 

The Sellers, horrified, ran into the house to grab a broomstick to swat away the invaders.

Even after completing her home tour, the nightmare scene wasn’t dying down, and it was looking like Elizabeth wasn’t going to be able to leave without carrying a few flying fiends with her. Luckily, with the help of the homeowners, Elizabeth evaded the onslaught, squealing and slashing her way into the sedan. And while dreadful, no-one got stung. 

Also thankfully, the pests were eradicated before her next visit. 

Don’t worry! These home-selling frights may seem alarming, but everything turned out alright in the end. And even when things seem scary, List With Elizabeth knows how to handle any potential horrors. 

Happy Halloween!