(Click on the photos for some true terror…)

This time of year you tend to see a lot of ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and witches on the streets of the Lakes Region of NH. There are also a lot of haunted houses and scary mansions with dark and dusty dungeons full of cobwebs, musty smells, and sinister shadows. It kind of reminds me of Halloween, but I am talking about real estate and the buyers, sellers, and agents involved in this frightening business.

We find buyers coming to the Halloween home buying party with many different costumes on. Sometimes they try to hide their true identity, but most of the time their costumes reflect who they really are. One popular costume this holiday season is that of the outlaw legend Jesse James. Cowboy outfits have always been popular for kids and buyers, but this year they are focusing in on one of the greatest robbers ever. Most of these buyers are from south of the border (the flatlands) and I think that the popularity is a result of reading too many articles in the Tombstone Gazette about people stealing property all over the country. While there are some great deals out there, these outlaws need to learn that they can’t steal everything.

It seems that the number one outfit is the old fashioned ghost costume. Buyers this year usually materialize right before your very eyes and then disappear just as quickly like mist on Lake Winnipesaukee early in the morning. Equally as popular this year is the costume of the NFL great, Brett Favre. I’m not just talking about a cheese head Green Bay Packer uniform. It could be a New York Jets or Minnesota Viking uniform or combination thereof. He can’t make up his mind if he really wants to play or for whom. Buyers this year have the same problem deciding what and if they want to buy which explains the rising popularity of this scary get-up.

Sellers, to our dismay, often dress up as riverboat gamblers thinking they can bluff their way to a higher sales price with poker faces and sly grins. Many don’t realize until it is too late that the buyers hold the best cards right now. The morbid result is another bludgeoned deal to be off hauled to the cemetery.  I could say some sellers dress up as ghouls or witches, but that wouldn’t be nice! Fortunately, there are other sellers dressed up as princes, princesses, damsels in distress, or Monty Hall saying “Let’s Make a Deal”.

Like buyers, real estate agents have gravitated toward the ghost costume this season. Many sellers unfortunately have unknowingly listed their property with one of these phantom agents. Their picture in the company brochure looked worldly and real enough, but it seems that many agents are caught in that eerie netherworld between the living and dead. Half in the business and half out. Although I didn’t believe in ghosts before this year, I visited many of the dark, foreboding, and genuinely haunted real estate offices in the area and saw the empty, deserted desks of agents departed and felt the overwhelming odor of dead deals and expired listings.  Really spooky.

You might also see some new agents dressed as babies and some well seasoned ones as the old standby Father Time. There are a few agents dressed as medicine men or sorcerers. But the ones that are likely to win the top prizes for the best costumes are the many strong agents who are out there every day as Fairy Godmothers or Super Heroes fighting the darks forces on All Hallows’ Eve. It may take a while for them to be recognized. It usually occurs after a long, persistent battle through dark times that culminates with a home sale to a very nice lady dressed as Little Red Riding Hood.

And finally, just remember that the cold feeling you get in your parlor is probably just a drafty window, that the banging sounds on the middle of the night is probably air in your hot water pipes, and that the blood curdling moaning you hear in the basement is probably your spouse lamenting about the 673 days your home has been for sale! Have faith though, Christmas is coming. That’s another holiday entirely and you know, I still believe in Santa Claus. Do you?