Crazy Realtor Wanted to go Deep Sea Fishing . . .

Our group charter adventure (without the crazy agent)

I started my first real estate company in 1978, while a junior at Houston Baptist University.  I

mentioned that in a recent RE/MAX "Broker/Owner" meeting, and my young friend Eric (also owner of a RE/MAX franchise) stated, "1978?  That's the year I was born!"  Really, Eric?

Anyways . . . in 1980 I purchased an ERA franchise (remember them) from Dale Climer (then ERA's regional owner, now a RE/MAX agent) and my friend Helen Perry, who now owns a real estate school and I'm sure she's reading this.  So, I had this ERA office and was recruiting and hiring agents right and left, but they came and went very quickly.

But a local title company and our ERA group chartered an all-day fishing trip out of Surfside via Captain Elliott.  We planned it for weeks, and had to get up the morning of the fishing trip about 3am to get to Surfside to go out on the boat about 100 miles.  I believe we had room for about 25-30 people, and we had no space left for anyone else......we were excited!  One of our newer agents (I'll call him Jack Spiller, though that's not his real name) was a middle-aged man who wore a full wig.  He had probably worked with us about 3-4 months or so, and he had himself a "trophy wife."  (A beautiful, younger blond who was clearly not matched with Jack based on looks.)

Jack hadn't had much success as a real estate agent, and seemed to be a "bumbling" type . . . but he seriously wanted to make his trophy wife very happy.  They lived in a high rise downtown (very chic for early 1980's).  Jack and the trophy had planned to go deep sea fishing with us, too.

As Rachel and I were getting ready to go to bed early the night before the big fishing trip, as we had to be at Captain Elliott's by 5am, we got the strangest phone call from Jack and the trophy.  Jack mumbled to me that his wife wanted to speak to me, and she tore the phone away from him and shrieked into the receiver:

"WHY WON'T YOU LET MY HUSBAND SELL HOUSES???"  (she was crying and screaming)

"WHY WON'T YOU LET MY HUSBAND LIST HOUSES???"  (Rachel could hear her across the living room)

She screamed her questions through (what I believe to be seriously drunken) sobs over and over again. Rachel and I were horrified and just stared at each other!  What in the world???

We had a great time deep sea fishing the next day . . . Rachel put her line out and caught a 75 pound ling fish and won the prize (the first catch of the day)!  Mitch Gaspard, my long-time friend, attorney, and avid fisherman, caught many king fish.  (He's gone fishing this weekend to Louisiana.)  Our friends Ronnie, Tanya, and Eddie Cheese caught so many red snappers we had to divide them up so as not to be over our limit.  We had a marvelous time!

We never saw Jack and the trophy again.  He never came back.  However, about 3 months later, he called me one day and said that he'd gotten a job working for Mac Haik Chevrolet, and wanted to bring a fleet of new Chevys over to demo to our agents.  Really, Jack?  No thanks . . . (now if he'd been selling Cadillacs . . . hmmmm . . . )

So it's Memorial Weekend and I wish I was fishing; thus, I'm remembering "the one that got away!"  Yes, there are lots of "crazy agent" stories out there.  I know that much of my reading audience is Realtors . . . so what's your craziest agent story?  (Rachel and I laugh about this one to this day!)