Baby It's Cold Outside.

My dial down program is over. I only lasted 3 days before I began cranking the heat back up. But even though the thermostat is set higher I can't get warm today. The outside temp is so cold the furnace just doesn't seem to be able to make heat fast enough.

This cold weather keeps reminding me of my real estate days and I thought I'd share this story.

I was scheduled to do my very first Open House one Sunday afternoon.

I was a real newbie, and I'd only just gotten my license.

The day before the open house was to be held, our company received a fax asking us to be very vigilant. The previous week a man dressed in camouflage clothing had walked into an Open House being held at a vacant home and hosted by a women Realtor.

The man supposedly stayed for a long time and walked around until all other customers had gone and the woman was all alone. He then beat and raped her.

This took place in a different part of the state so I thought I was probably okay, however the home I was holding open, was vacant.

Everyone told me I would be fine, but just in case, they said to be careful and if I had follow any single men into a room, I should stand in the doorway.

It was a below zero day that Sunday and only 2 or three couples showed up, but just before it was time to go, a single guy walked in.

No camo on, however, the guy was acting very weird.

He didn't say much but kept slowly meandering around. Keep in mind these were the days when all we had was a bag phone to use in the car, and there was no phone in the house b/c it was vacant.

I stood in the living room with my back practically plastered to the front door. Finally, the guy left and I calmed down.

I happened to tell that story at a company meeting one day, and our office manager decided we needed a system in place for scary things like that.

She decided that if we were ever in a situation were we felt uncomfortable, we should call the office and say " Hi this is Luanne, Hal Meade please."

Hal Meade was code for Help ME.

Years later I received a phone call from a man calling wanting someone to show him one of our listings right away. Since I was just getting off phone duty, I told him I would leave right away.

It was another sub zero day and I was in a suit and high heels with no boots, and oh man, this house was way way out in the boondocks. Not only was it way out in the boondocks but the house was vacant, and the closest house was over a mile away.

By now, thank goodness, I did have a regular cell phone.

There was a red pick up truck with only one person sitting in it when I pulled into the driveway. Just as I started to turn off my engine the man stepped out of the cab of the truck and walked towards my van.

The guy was decked out from head to toe in camouflage clothing!

My heart started racing as he walked up. I rolled down my window and told him to go ahead and walk around the grounds because I had to make a quick call.

I was so relieved to find out my phone worked way out there and I quickly dialed the office number.

"Hi this is Luanne Hal Meade please."

It was my friend Dick on the other end. Stop kidding around he told me.

I told him the story and he replied with , "So whaddya want me to do about it."

I guess he couldn't tell by the panic in my voice that I wanted at the very least some understanding of how frightened I was. Finally I sputtered,

"Call my cell phone in 10 minutes and if I don't answer call the police and tell them where I am."

I got out of the car and crunched through the snow and got to the side door of the house and began putting in the code to open the lock box that held the key. I was so intent trying to get the lock box open that I didn't see the man come around from the side until he said something to me.

It scared the living daylights out of me and I jumped a foot and dropped the set of keys. I could feel my hand shaking as I picked them back up and tried to unlock the door.

Thinking quickly I said "I am expecting a very important phone call and I am afraid I may not get a signal inside. Why don't you go in and take a look around and I'll be in as soon as the call comes through."

He didn't seem to mind one bit. It took him along time to look around that little house and my toes were getting frost bitten standing out there in the cold. Every so often I'd call in to the house and say, "Can I answer any questions?"

The camo man finally came to the door. "Okay I think I've seen enough" he told me.

I turned the lock on the doorknob, pulled the door shut, and turned to the man and asked "So what did you think?"

"I think I want to make an offer"

I was pretty upset that Dick had never bothered to call back to see if I was okay, but you should have seen the hangdog look on his face when I walked in the office with camo man right behind me.

I wish I would have held my hands in the air and had camo man pretend to be holding a gun at my back as we walked in, but my brain was still thawing and I couldn't think that fast. But then again, Dick would have probably ignored that too.

End of the story is this. The buyer wrote a full price offer for cash, and the deal closed about a week later. Except for the near heart attack, it was my easiest sale ever, and I did it without ever stepping foot inside the house.

Turned out that camo man was an Army Recruiter.