I am not a Realtor but I have looked at hundreds of properties.

I saw someone use the bathroom in an open house, not even a private showing.

But I also looked at a house where there were people who looked hungover slouched on the sofa watching cartoons and eating cereal out of the box. They got up, walked around, yawned, scratched and pretended there were not people in the house looking

I looked at a house where I opened the door to a small back room and there was someone sitting in there quietly in a chair: I guess he thought no one would open the door.

I looked at a house where there was an appointment and the tenant in the rental portion said if we didn't go away he had a gun, because he had changed his mind about letting us look.

I looked rental unit with about 8 TVs, The largest and newest was set up on a kitchen chair directly in front of the toilet.

I looked at a house that had no furniture except giant TVs. When the Realtor opened the bedroom doors, there was a girl in bed under the covers in each room with her boyfriend.
They had a passing conversation with the realtor but I stayed in the hall. (So I guess there was a mattress in each room)

speaking of sh*t:
I once met a couple at a brand new house;
they brought their poodle inside, assuring me that the little princess was *perfectly* house-trained, &...

script in case it ever happens again:
"Regrettably, the mean old builder/homeowner has forbidden pets (an allergy no doubt), so Fifi has to stay in the car.
You might leave the engine running & the air conditioner on."

More problematic are the inhabitants of the homes:

I once encountered an indignant man wearing a towel around his waist & nothing else;
I had rung the bell, banged on the door like I was a SWAT team, stuck my head inside & hollered, but he hadn't heard me.

Years ago, an agent scheduled a property for Realtor Tour & either forgot to warn the owners, or they had forgotten, or something.

A big group of us went into this home, tromping around, making noise, exclaiming over the kitchen or whatever, & yet the lord & lady of the manor, who were upstairs watching a naughty movie, said they had no idea we were there until someone opened the master bedroom door.

& one summer, on another Tour, a bunch of us went into a home & were absolutely raving about the owner's Yorkshire Terrier, an adorable dog who was sooo happy to see us.

When we went into a child's bedroom, the dog jumped onto the bed & continued to bounce & wag & smile, & some of the agents were petting her.

One of the agents remarked that it was too bad the bed hadn't been made; the rest of the house was immaculate.

at which point the dog's bouncing uncovered the foot of the child who had been told to get up early & make his bed & who had forgotten & who had hidden under the covers when we rang the bell.

We went into a foreclosure in a nice neighborhood. Despite being a foreclosure, the house was in pretty good shape. We walked into the master bath and saw muddy raccoon tracks all over the white counters. Huh?

We went into another owner occupied, seemingly empty house, with our realtor. We walked downstairs and were surprised to see the owner's ancient Grandma quietly sitting in her basement apartment by herself.

I have ended up going into a house when the people in there were in the middle of a 'naughty something'. Wonder why that couple had left the main door open? To let us assume that nobody was in there and to get ourselves embarrassed thereafter? LOL

When I went with DD to an open house for a house she was considering, DD told the owner there was a dead mouse in the basement. "Oh, is that thing still there? The cats bring them in."

The reason I remember it so well is my DD actually bought the place. Nice neighborhood, big fixer upper.

I was a broker for 17 years.

I've stepped over human faeces in the entry hall. (The tenants' way of objecting to the sale.)

When showing a sample apartment in an entire apartment building for sale, the male resident was sprawled on the couch watching TV--in the altogether. "Ah, Mary, you may not want to see this room." That was in the '80s. Now, in a Province with regular parades of naked gays and bike riders and legal toplessness, this is probably no big deal anymore.

I once showed a biker club owned home. Handcuffs on the doorknobs, a three-foot long crescent wrench with one end honed to a sharp point propped against a wall, hot chicks nodding out in a couple of rooms. (Women really do like bad boys!)

okay, I vote worthy wins!

Sometimes listing agents put homes on Tour so they can get comment sheets back to the sellers, so the sellers will realize that the listing agents aren't over-reacting or making things up.

On one memorable Tour, we went through a tenant-occupied house in which the listing agent wasn't allowed a key, tenant refused to sign authorization for a keybox & refused to let anyone see the house unless the tenant was present.

Tenant met us at the front door & handed every one of us a 3-page list of faults, sanctimoniously telling us that he didn't want anyone to get "screwed" buying the house, & he certainly didn't want any Realtor to get sued for selling it.

Then he followed us through the whole house, pointing out defects...
I guess just in case we couldn't read.

We all dutifully wrote on our comment sheets that the house would never sell with that tenant in residence.

I am no longer a realtor, but I did have one rather creepy, gross experience that sticks out.

I was showing a place out in the country, 5 or so wooded acres. I suspected it was a foreclosure given the listing agent but wasn't certain. We went into the house which appeared to be vacant except for a few odds and ends here and there. There were a few clothes and some food so we were not sure if it was vacant or not. There were also boxes of ammunition in the bedroom. The living room had a few mounted deer heads, but that is not uncommon in this area.

The house had a finished walk-out basement. We went into a back room of the basement. Piled in a heap in the center of the room were literally dozens of deer antlers. It was creepy.

My client was a career army something or other and had recently retired. Even he was anxious to leave after seeing the pile of antlers. I recently ran into his wife. Guess what we talked about--the deer antlers.

rrah, I never have run into anything that bad, but...

Last week I showed a house to a buyer;
in addition to deer heads, there was a stuffed bobcat, stuffed fish on plaques, a couple of ducks "flying" over doorways, horns & antlers made into lamps & a chandelier, cowhides & deerhides on the floor, an owl perched on top of a computer desk.

My buyer said, "I've seen enough; it looks like a serial killer lives here."

I'm not a realtor, but I came across this house for sale locally. I think it'll be a hard sale. Make sure you look at all the pics to see what I mean. The house itself is nice, but...

You'll have to click on "search by mls" and type in 161222 to see it.
http://www.portcitiesrealty.com/Duluth_MN,_Hermantown_MN,_Proctor_MN,_Cloquet_MN,_Esko_MN,_Carlton_MN,_homes_for_sale.shtml

frozenelves8, that is creepy. I don't get why anyone would surround themselves with dead animals (presumably having killed them too). And what realtor would allow this?

It has a trophy room! Ahahahahaha it looks like Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops.

I think the wine cellar helps you deal with the dead things.

As a buyer, I don't understand why someone would run away if they liked the house (but not the contents). All that stuff leaves with the seller (most of the time).

Yes, I think it's a mistake to show a house like that. Put all that stuff in storage for when you move.

The house does look like the inside of a Bass Pro Shop or some lodges like Big Cedar I have visited. I'm not sure that it really off putting to potential buyers. Most of us here are not potential buyers for this particular house. There is a market for this sort of house. The decor may reflect the attitudes of the area.

forgot to mention the stuffed coyote...

I don't know that buyers "run away", but it seems to me that the "serial killer" comment was pretty perceptive;
why get into negotiations with someone who keeps trophies commemorating his kills?

It's in Duluth, MN. It's not uncommon for people in that region of the country to have "hunting trophies." It's definitely not the best way to show a house, but I don't think it's "creepy." I agree with the poster who said it looks like Cabela's! :)

Have you ever worn a leather jacket? If so, you have "surrounded yourself with dead animals," too.

"why get into negotiations with someone who keeps trophies commemorating his kills?"

I guess it depends on where you live and how you were raised. While my father did not hunt, we had neighbors that did. DH was raised to hunt & fish, so it's not unusual for me to see trophies on the walls. His prize smallmouth hangs on the wall in our family room.

If a house was perfect except for the pile of antlers in the basement I would not let it deter me.

Those trophies looked like they were in excellent condition and that's not an easy task. I'm guessing that the person in charge of animal maintenance probably keeps a darn clean house. I have an insect collection so I'm not going to judge someone else for keeping a buncha dead critters.

It's just funny to see so many displayed in a home. Mine are in a closet.

I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the house because I'd be so distracted by the contents, and I'm usually able to overlook most stuff. I'm guessing many men would be mesmerized at all those animals. That is a very expensive home for our area for the buyers in that price range and it should be staged to look like a normal home and not a huge trophy room. I don't care for hunting or stuffing animals, so to me it is creepy, like the way I'd feel if I had a bunch of human sized wax people all over the house.

Frozenelves, one of the Realtors said the same thing;
she couldn't concentrate on the house because of all those eyes "looking" at her!

Deer shed antlers every year and grow new ones. Take a walk in the woods sometime and you may find some.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why deer shed their antlers

I am an animal lover, and if I walked into a house like that with all the "trophies" I would walk right back out. I would not reward them with my money, there are other houses out there. It's one thing to hunt to put food on the table, it's an entirely different thing to hunt for the thrill of the kill. I never understood these people's mentality - they keep trophies and pictures as if they think these animals are beautiful - but their first instinct is to kill them. Then they also seem to think highly of themselves and think they're some tough guy because they were able to outwit the animal. Well duh, it's not that hard when you have a gun and the animal's instinct is to run away from you. This guy even had a tiger - aren't tigers on the endangered species list? What a jerk.

Oh I also liked the picture of the bedroom - with the upside down horse shoe hanging over the bed. Hopefully it won't be too long before his luck really does run out.

Well said, cas66ragtop! It has nothing to do with hunting for food - we allow responsible deer hunters on our rural acreage.

Trophy-guy has issues.

Some of these responses make me laugh. I doubt the owner of this house is some sort of psychopath. Attitudes toward trophy hunting have been more of a recent change. I doubt these are fresh kills. People who live in parts of the country where big game hunting is accepted aren't going to be alarmed by it. The house has a museum like quality to it, but it appears to be really nice other than that. I'd love to have a house on the lake or in the mountains like that.

I just sent that listing to a friend of mine -her husband would LOVE a house like that..she? not so much (I told her she could claim the wine cellar). I'm thinking the owner is single....

My brother has a huge house with many trophies...2buffalo heads, a moose head, several large mounted and stuffed fish. They are all estate sale and antique store purchases. He bagged not one himself. His house is so funky and eclectic that they sort of fit in.