A month ago, a new client came to me and asked for help finding a property to lease with his two buddies.

I have had many, many clients over the past five years, some good, some bad.

But never have I had so many laughs and such “experiences” as with these three young men…

With the advent of sites such as Craigslist.com and Viewit.ca, many people don’t acquire the use of a Realtor to assist in their search for rental properties.

In my experience, sites such as Craigslist & ViewIt aren’t held to as strict standards (or any standards!) as MLS and the listings represented by Ontario Realtors.

It is a little known fact that Realtors work on leases every single day of the week, and I personally do at least a dozen leases a year or more.

A month ago, a friend of a friend, named Devon, contacted me and asked for help finding him and his two current roommates to find a new place to live.  They wanted a three-bedroom house, preferably in the downtown core.

When I meet a new client for the first time, I never really know what to expect.  You might have talked to this person on the phone, or perhaps you’ve communicated via email.  It may be somebody that was referred to you by a mutual friend, or it might be a “cold-caller” who found your name on the Internet or your listing in the newspaper.

I met Devon and his two roommates, Barrett & Roy, at a 3-bedroom house on Oriole Parkway that backed onto Eglinton Park.  They stepped out of the car, all wearing trench-coats and looking like business professionals, and had serious looks on their faces.  They didn’t say much as we walked through the main floor of the house, and I asked them a few questions about where they were living now and what they wanted to find moving forward.

Devon commented that the price ($2600/month) seemed high given the mediocre condition of the house, and I told the guys that this was a family area and that it would likely rent to a family, possibly a job-transfer, who are looking to send their kids to private school.  It really was a kid-friendly neighborhood.

That’s when Barrett turned to me and with a straight-face said, “Well….that’s a good thing.  Because the three of us are looking at raising a child very soon.”

I actually thought he was serious.

And then much to my surprise, the three of them broke out in laughter.

That was the ice-breaker, and from that moment forward, every minute I spent with these three guys was non-stop laughs.

We continued on to view a unit in a triplex down the road that was listed at only $1800.

It was a basement unit, and as Devon stood in the hallway—all six-foot-four of him, with his neck bent towards the floor and knees slightly bent, he said to the rest of us, “I’ll give you guys one reason why this isn’t gonna work.”

We moved on to a unit on Poplar Plains just west of Avenue Road, where we were unsure of the exact unit number.  We thought the unit was “main” instead of “upper,” but through the window we could see a lady sitting on her computer in the living room.

“She looks nice,” said Troy.  “Let’s knock on the door, maybe she’ll invite us in for supper!”

The unit at Poplar Plains was absolutely gorgeous, with a renovated kitchen complete with granite counters and stainless steel appliances, and original features such as the vaulted ceilings and rounded arch-ways separating each room.

The lady and her husband were overly helpful and talkative, while their young daughter diligently completed her homework in the background.  They were the perfect family.

As Barrett sarcastically put it, “We’ve been looking at houses.  This place….is a home.”

The last place on our schedule that day was in The Annex; a semi-detached house on Wells Avenue, listed at $2600/month.  As soon as I walked up to the front door I knew something was wrong.

“Hey guys,” I said, “What do you notice about this house that doesn’t seem right?”

Each of the three guys gave sarcastic, hilarious answers that were punishment for my asking such an open-ended question, and then I pointed out the front door…..which was unlocked, and wide open.

The Annex is a safe neighborhood, but I’m not so sure any neighborhood is that safe…

We browsed through the first and second floor of the house, making note of the pungent smell of stir-fry, and then Barrett pointed out that the door to the basement was locked.

“Can we check it out?” asked Roy.

I unlocked the deadbolt and as I opened the door to the basement, the smell of stir-fry got slightly stronger.

The three guys looked at me and motioned, “After you!”

The stairs to the basement were completely covered in personal items—a tool box, suitcases, stacks of magazines, etc.  Devon said, “Who would put all this crap on the stairs?”  The three guys followed my lead, stepping over an empty aquarium and avoiding the hoola-hoop, and as I reached the bottom of the stairs and poked my head around the corner, all my questions were answered…

What smells like stir-fry?  Why are the stairs covered in all this crap?  Why was the door dead-bolted?

I stood at the bottom of the stairs, and found myself locking eyes with a middle-aged man, who sat on the couch eating stir-fry and watching So You Think You Can Dance.

The saddest part was not the condition of his abode, nor the dinner-for-one, but rather the way he looked at me; “Oh…..hello there,” he said in a kind and cheerful manner.  He didn’t even seem upset that we intruded to his sad little basement apartment, which must have had a separate entrance at the back of the house.

I kept a straight face as I began to apologize, but I was interrupted by the sound of six feet scurrying up the stairs, and cackles, howls, and gut-bursting laughter.

“Sssssssooooo…..sorry….” I managed to utter while turning bright red and gently chuckling under my breath as I was three seconds from exploding into full-out laughter.

I reached the top of the stairs, and Devon, Barrett, and Roy were standing at the front of the house, just as red-faced as I was, and began to applaud my ascent from the basement.

“THAT…..was awesome!” said Devon.

“Did he at least give you a bite of his stir-fry?” asked Roy.

We left the house (and actually locked the front door), and parted ways with four huge grins on our faces.

We had a ton of fun and some wicked laughs, but we were 0-for-4 with the rental properties, and it was back to square one.

Two weeks down the road, and ten crummy rental properties later, we found a house that was perfect.

All our eggs were in this basket, and what proceeded was easily the most memorable experience I’ve had in this business in a long time…

(To Be Continued…)