I Screamed and Ran, Called 911.’ Three Home Showings That Went South Real Fast
We asked three real-estate agents if they’d ever feared for their lives while on the job
3 min
Q: Have you ever feared for your life while showing a home?
Elizabeth Thompson, real-estate agent, The Agency Los Altos, Los Altos, Calif.
I was representing the seller of a townhome under contract for $1.2 million. A day before the closing, he called to tell me a window was missing. When I arrived, I found that a small sliding window was completely gone, both frame and glass. I thought that my stager had accidentally broken it and took the frame out in order to have the glass repaired. But the seller also mentioned that there was a stain on the carpet in one of the bedrooms. We went upstairs and saw a bright yellow stain next to the closet. I got on my hands and knees to smell the stain. It was not the colour of urine and didn’t smell that way. We went downstairs to discuss a solution for the missing window and then heard a bang upstairs. We went up to check, going from room to room. We finally got to the bedroom with the stain, and when I slid the closet door open, I saw an aluminium container on the floor, like the kind takeout food comes in. I looked to my left, and there was a man standing in the closet. My client and I screamed and ran, called 911 and the intruder was ultimately arrested after he climbed down the balcony to escape. He turned out to be a homeless guy with a 20-page rap sheet, but the scariest part is that when I was kneeling on the ground smelling the stain, he was about 6 inches away from me on the other side of the closet door. To this day, when I open a closet, I still have a gut reaction.
Lindsay Jackman, real-estate agent, Century 21 North Homes Realty, Gig Harbor, Wash.
I am a policeman’s daughter, and now a policeman’s wife, so I have a very thorough process to vet buyers. I never meet a stranger at a vacant house, for example, and always perform public records searches on sellers before going to a listing appointment. But I was about to take a listing on an older four-bedroom home that was used as a rental property, and the sellers were acquaintances of mine. The house had the potential to be listed for upward of $1 million, and I was fairly new in the industry, so it was exciting. I was meeting the sellers at the house for a walk-through to determine its value and whether any updates were needed prior to listing it. During the tour, I learned that the tenant was an ex-police officer with substance abuse issues and a mental-health problem. He also wasn’t paying rent. When we got to the primary bedroom, the door was closed. The seller knocked and opened it, and the tenant, wearing just underwear and a tee shirt, was standing inside the doorway, holding a gun and demanding that we leave. The seller at first tried to calm him down, but then he pulled out a gun from his waistband. The situation was unraveling, and I was petrified. I bolted for the door. I can still remember the pounding in my chest as I fumbled for my car keys. The seller came out a few minutes later, and we all drove to the nearest public place. The seller had known it would be a volatile situation, but he put me in danger and never apologised or gave me the listing. Now I have a new rule for safety: No tenants present in the house, ever.
Eli Faitelson, real-estate agent, Compass Florida, Miami Beach
About three years ago, I was working with the sellers of a single-family home on the water in Miami Beach that was listed for about $1.5 million. I got to the home an hour early to set up for a showing, and I noticed that the ceiling near the kitchen had a huge bubble in it. There was water all over the floor. The air conditioner was up on the roof, and it was leaking, so it had rotted all the wood. The sellers had been in Spain for about a month, so they had no idea what was going on in the house. I started cleaning up, and I was also playing with the AC, trying to figure it out, when I heard the water start to drip a little faster. Then the whole ceiling collapsed on my head. There was wood and AC equipment all over the floor. I was pretty close to getting really injured. I was terrified. I had debris all over me, and I was freaking out. My arm was injured, and I was in shock, but I was still able to cancel the showing.
—Edited from interviews by Robyn A. Friedman
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More than 10,000 homes, an expansive central park and a mix of hospitality, retail and wellness facilities will form Azizi Developments’ first master-planned community in the emirate.
2 min
Sharjah is set to receive one of its largest new residential communities, with Azizi Developments unveiling plans for a US$8.1 billion master-planned precinct containing more than 10,000 homes.
Named Azizi Florence, the freehold development will comprise 1,130 villas, more than 6,000 townhouses and 3,500 apartments. Three-bedroom townhouses will start from US$515,000, with an indicative rate of US$231 per square foot of saleable space.
The project marks the Dubai-based developer’s first move into Sharjah, expanding a portfolio that includes the planned Burj Azizi skyscraper and the Azizi Venice community in Dubai.
A park at the heart of the community
Rather than treating landscaping as an afterthought, Azizi Florence will be organised around a 1.7 million sq ft central park.
The wider precinct is planned as a self-contained neighbourhood combining homes with retail, hospitality, education, leisure and wellness facilities.
Six residential clusters will sit within the development, each with its own park, clubhouse, community centre and landscaped gardens. The approach reflects a broader shift across large Middle Eastern developments, where greenery, recreation and everyday convenience are increasingly central to the residential proposition.
The scale of Azizi Florence suggests it is intended to function as a neighbourhood rather than a collection of housing estates. Its mix of housing types should also give the project broader appeal, accommodating apartment buyers alongside families seeking townhouses or standalone villas.
Azizi expands beyond Dubai
Azizi Developments has delivered more than 45,000 homes to buyers from over 100 countries and says it has approximately 150,000 units under construction.
Much of its growth has been concentrated in Dubai, where its portfolio extends across Palm Jumeirah, Mohammed Bin Rashid City, Dubai South, Sheikh Zayed Road and Downtown Jebel Ali.
Its most prominent current project is Burj Azizi, which is intended to become the world’s second-tallest building. Azizi Florence represents a different type of undertaking: a low-rise, family-oriented community built around public space and daily amenity.
For company founder and chairman Mirwais Azizi, the Sharjah project also carries a personal connection. The emirate was his first home in the UAE more than three decades ago, adding a symbolic dimension to the developer’s expansion.
Sharjah’s residential ambitions grow
Although Dubai and Abu Dhabi have traditionally captured much of the international attention directed at the UAE property market, Sharjah has been steadily broadening its residential offering.
Large freehold communities such as Azizi Florence have the potential to attract both local families and international purchasers looking for comparatively accessible entry points into the Emirates’ property market.
At a starting price of US$515,000, the project’s three-bedroom townhouses will sit well below the cost of equivalent family homes in many of Dubai’s more established luxury communities.
The ultimate appeal, however, will depend on execution. At this scale, the quality of the public realm, connections between residential clusters and delivery of the promised supporting infrastructure will be as important as the homes themselves.
If those elements come together, Azizi Florence could help establish a new benchmark for large-scale residential development in Sharjah—and give buyers another option beyond the UAE’s better-known property markets.
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