LEAF ME ALONE! THE NEIGHBOR & THEIR SHRUB SHENANIGANS:

It’s Monday. An anonymous ID flashes on the phone. Shannon answers in her typical way, “Hello, this is Shannon with the Katina Hunter Team. How can I help you?”

The voice of a grouchy lady asked for me, but I’m luckily not in the office at that moment. Shannon offers to take a message. The woman gets huffier as she asks the following question:

“Are the bushes on Oak Street included with the house?”

Shannon pauses. I don’t think we’ve ever been asked anything like that before. To make sure she’s understanding correctly, she requests the woman to please repeat the question.

The caller’s level of annoyance is now at a 10. “ARE THE BUSHES INCLUDED WITH THE HOUSE ON OAK STREET?!”

Shannon calmly replies, “Yes. The bushes are included.”

The woman’s snippiness continues, “Are you the listing agent?”

“No,” Shannon responds, “Katina is, but she’s not here right now. I do know, though, that the bushes at the property will be staying at the house. The owners have no intentions on removing them. If I can have your name & number, Katina will be back in just a few minutes, & I can have her call you.”

“No, thank you. You talk to her & make sure, & I’ll call back tomorrow.”

Click.

That was pretty odd. True to her promise, the woman does call back the next day.

Now, I promise that I am in the office most of each day, but I doubt that I can convince the caller of this. I had just stepped out again & Shannon kindly asked to take another message. Refusing, the testy woman wants to know if she spoke to me about the bushes on Oak Street. Shannon assured her that we indeed had discussed the bushes & confirmed that they are included.

The woman then goes off on a rampage insisting that we tell the new owners that the bushes are THEIR responsibility & that they had BETTER take care of them because the current owners don’t.

Ah, this isn’t a crazy buyer who is obsessed with shrubbery – this is a neighbor who has nothing more to do than fret over the care of her neighbors’ bushes. It all makes sense.

No, I will not be grilling the new buyers on the do’s & don’ts of lawn care, but I WILL be passing along the contact information for a good fencing company.

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker

724-888-9020

Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com