Peeping Tom

Our house has been on the market for a month and a half now, and though we had seven people come through our house for showings last weekend, but we still haven't had any offers. However, I have a lead on a prospective sale.

Yesterday afternoon I was working at my desk and I heard voices that sounded like they were in my living room. I walked out of my office and saw a couple with their faces literally pressed against my living room window, like kids looking into a candy shop. They were oohing and aahing over the house. I quickly stepped back into my office so they wouldn't see me, because obviously they thought no one was home, and while I don't think I'd ever walk up and squish my face against someone's window, they weren't really doing any harm--and they seemed really interested in the house. The lady kept saying, "Oh my god, look at it," while the guy said more practical things like, "Looks like it has a new roof."

After a minute they walked away and I started calling Joe to tell him this crazy story, and then I heard these scuffling sounds coming from the dining room. I walked into the kitchen and saw the woman's head emerge in the dining room window. Because our house is on a hill, the window to the dining room is about seven feet off the ground on the outside, which means the man was hoisting the woman up so she could see in the window, and once again she was saying "Oh my god, it has a new kitchen. Oh my god!"

At this point I was beyond weirded out and just plain pissed. I decided I'd better let them know I was home before they decided to scale the fence to the backyard, so I starting walking up to the window and said, "Hey" (the fact that all of this discussion could be overheard so clearly between the windows indicates just how well insulated they are). The lady's eyes got really big and she said, "Oh my god, there's someone in there" and quickly climbed back down.

They started walking to the front of the house and I went out the front door and said, "Can I help you?" in a tone that clearly indicated I didn't want to help them whatsoever. They said they had just been driving by, saw the house was for sale and just fell in love with it, and saw the lock box on the door and so didn't think anyone was living here. This is of course crazy because they'd spent ample time looking in all the windows and obviously saw all our furniture and stuff sitting out. They started asking me why we were moving, what the basement was like, and whether we'd had many people looking or making offers. I think they wanted me to invite them in, but no way was I inviting crazy people in for a tour. I answered their questions and then the lady (who was more apologetic than the dude) said multiple times that they'd call to schedule a showing.

I haven't gotten any calls about a showing yet, but that seems like a pretty positive lead. I guess I haven't really been around when the 20-odd other prospective buyers have been through the house, but I doubt anyone else was motivated enough to climb up the exterior walls and say "Oh my god" 64 times. We'll see what happens!

PS--Joe's reaction to this story was not quite what I expected. His first question was "Did you feel safe opening the door to them?" Well, had they knocked on the door like normal humans I might actually have thought twice, but given that they were climbing my walls like monkeys, yes, I felt more safe walking out and being politely confrontational than I did sitting here letting them peep in my windows. I suppose Joe wanted me to walk out casually swinging a bat or something.