On a recent listing/property management appointment, a peculiar scent hit my nostrils upon entering the home. This was the second visit at this home with the first one completed weeks before. I came prepared to take the photographs needed to activate the virtual tour on our website. The outdoor air was clear and crisp after a previous snowfall which aided to my keenness and sensitivity of smell.
The warm greeting by the owners who were in expectation of getting the home markete
d, helped me to know they were ready to start the proceedings after having been given months to ponder their decision. Me? I looked forward to the challenge, for this particular home was full of charm, in excellent shape, and showed pride in ownership!
UH OH!!! Once again, my faithful olfactory organ sent up an unmistakable siren to my brain! Without missing a beat, and moving full speed ahead, my question after the polite greetings were over was.... "Mr. & Mrs. Client, do you smell gas?"
They had not! I proceeded to the oven, checking the positions of the knobs, and pried answers from them with my multiple other questions. With assurance, they escorted me to the fireplace, allowing my sniff test to go into action. Being responsible, they have annual inspections performed, and have preventative maintenance service plans in place.
No longer displaying my cool demeanor, and not convinced of their absolute safety, i suggested they call Ni-Cor Gas Company.... immediately! A representative did come, analyzed pertinent areas, and did find leakage, though small. Grateful were the owners!
Being "NOSEY" can save lives!
"Where the RIGHT Price is the RICE Price!"
Rice Property Management & Realty, located in South Holland, Illinois, does residential and commercial Property Management in Indiana & Illinois.
Diane,
Way to go girl. I was not blessed with a good nose, so really appreciate those that do have one. The LAST thing that anyone wants to have is a gas leak.
All the best, Michelle
Whew Diane! You were meant to be there at that time and place to help your clients! The best to you and glad to see you too!
Lucky you have a sensitive nose or that sale might have blown up!
Thankfully you were able to detect this. I have a crazy nose too famous for sniffing out mold wherever it might be.
Diane * you reminded me to order more Citrus Magic from Amazon as well as Carpet Fresh!!!
Natural gas does not have a smell. They put the smell in and when they put in a new batch of the "rotten egg/sulpher" smell it is POWERFUL especially if a property has been closed up.
Kudos to you for identifying the problem!!!
Now that is the best and only way to be "nosey." Good thing for your clients you've got a good sniffer.
Fortunately you can smell the sulpher they put in gas as naturally it is oderless. The nose knows by a mile
Diane, That is frightening....to say the least. One thing I can do is smell things as I'm overly sensitive to ANY types of odors (even good ones). Most of the time it's a pain but in this case you probably saved some lives!
I know that the Seller were very grateful that you stop by when you did..... What a nose?????
Diane good thing you noticed that or consequences could have been very bad. some times it pays to be a little nosey :)
Diane this is a post that could save lifes. Just this morning we came back into our house and it smelled funny. It turned out not to be gas but at first we thought it was. Scary stuff. Better to be safe at all times.
Featured in BananTude!
Lucky for them and you that you caught that. It is a never ending chore to be a property manager.
Michelle: I am sure you have other fined-tuned gifts to aid your clients with!
Wanda: You would have all done the same... Good to see you too...
Mike: Snout sense is good sense!
Stacey: You too? Ah! welcome to the "Nosey Club"
Wallace! It just goes with the job - no problem.... we do it without a blink don't we? Yes, i did know that they had to place a scent to it for it to be detected.... thank God for that! Citrus Magic? Hmmm is it good stuff?
Carol: Hi! Sniffing away i go! I think i am a better smeller than spailler...(smile)
Claude: The smell is distinctive! How are ya doing? Say Howdy to Jane for me!
Carole: I knew you had to be sensitive in this area to excel in your profession.... it's needed isn't it? My nose though, has nothing on my husband's.... he has a SNOUT on him... nothing passes his scrutiny! LOL!
Donna: They were so filled with gratitude!
George: Sticking ones nose in other folks' business at times is a good thing... when it produces this - good to see you!
Anna: Goodness!! This is not anything to play with is it? I am glad you took precautions and had a favorable outcome! Thanks for the feature also.... hopefully others will become more nosey and carry out their sniff tests without being embarrassed about it! Appreciate YOU Anna... AND the group!
Robert: And it requires ALL of our senses to be fine tuned!
Diane, Late...but better than never:) So, I had a neighbor whose daughter was suffering....suffering from severe migraine headaches, and after several doctor's visits...including specialists, the figured out it was a slow gas leak! Good nose!
Diane, It was very fortunate that you were aware of the smell of gas. Friends thought an odor in their home was a dead mouse, turned out it was a gas leak. Good call!
I guess it's a good thing you are a bit nosey. :-) Great job.
Diane, is that really you?? How awesome to see you again! I hope you are well. I've been in and out of the Rain myself.
Good job for being so darn nosey!
Keep taking care, my friend.
Diane whether it was big or small,they would've never known that they had a gas leak if it wasn't for you. Its funny because I showed a house to a client of mine yesterday and she said the same thing. I better tell the real estate agent of that listing about that. And thank you for being so darn nosey my dear friend. Great post.
Hi Everyone! Rushing in to acknowledge.... off to 3 listing appointments... will be back to personalize.... thanks for your love and support.... I feel it all over here!
Jane: Thank goodness the specialists did not give up searching for the problem with your neighbor's daughter!! There is no telling how many others are suffering from something like this! No need to worry about responding.... this busy season has me hardly coming in.
Debbie: Hello! This nose of mine... sure comes in handy! It's strangely true that a dead mouse odor is similar to the smell of gas!!
Irene: Yes... it's does more than poke around where it doesn't belong!
Deena: It's me... nose and all! HAH! Good to see you too... and everyone!
Hi Lanre! It's important... do tell them... be nosey! Thanks for your support!
Diane, just saying hello...glad you are so busy and it sounds like you are spending some of you time being a hero...good for you.
Nick.... just have natural nose for it!
Hello, my friend
It seems like forever since I traveled west to your site. Glad all your parts (nose) are working. Love your presentation. Great way to get the message across.
Have a great day. Thanks for sending some sunshine our direction. I am loving it.
Mary
Diane, I just remembered a gas related story...there was a gas leak on the outside of my house at the meter, so I called someone to take care of it. This was in the winter and an hour or so after the serviceman took care of the outside leak I noticed it was getting cold in the house...he had to shut the gas off to make his repair on the outside which stopped the pilot light in the boiler. When he turned the gas back on the pilot light was never re-lighted and gas was flowing. After a while I smelled the gas and realized what happened so I cut off the pilot, put a fan in the boiler enclosure and waited 30 minutes.
I didn't smell the gas anymore so thought it was safe to re-light the boiler...wrong!! Apparently, flames from my match found a few pockets of undisturbed gas...the ensuing blast blew me four feet and singed a few hairs on my head...mostly my pride was hurt...but I can tell you that I have a healthy respect for gas and electricity.
HI MARY!! Missed you! Been trying to make a few rounds.... it's hard to get back in the grove after being away... I'm not going to try... appreciate you!
Nick! I laughed and laughed until i laffed!!! This is funny to picture happening! I remember a similar incident when a stove was lit after having been on a while.... It was awful.... i can identify! Thanks for telling your story!
Diane - That really could have ended badly. Luckily you have a good sniffer. I certainly would have failed this test... my wife swears that I can not smell anything.
Just stopping in to say hi again. Been missing you.
I, too, have been nosey in my life. Years ago when we were developing my basement, I was pregnant with my little guy. We had installed a second hot water tank (gas heated) and I kept telling my Hubby that I could still smell gas. Everyone thought I was crazy. I called the gas company anyway, and he could not smell anything. But just to appease me he got out his "sniffer" tool (okay, that sounds a little funny . . . tee hee), and sure enough, there was a leak! He said pregnant women have super sensitive noses, however, I still can smell things no one else can.
Diane, I'm happy that you are so easily entertained by my misfortune...let me know when you are going to do a post on electricity...I've got a story that your laughter and rolling about on the floor will cause Lake Michigan Tsunami's! ;-)
John: Sniffers do come in handy - especially for knowing if food is fresh!
Deena: Listen hunnie.... it goes with being sensitive in the spirit to the things of God also... Being tuned in helps us swat the enemy before being hit! BAM!! (miss you too)
Nick: Of course it was funny - everyone else reading was laffing too.... they just didn't tell you! Now YOU go write your "shocking" story, and notify me so i can read it! I'm waiting......
I'm so glad that the gas company found the leak... I hate it when there's a smell of gas and no one can find anything!
You did very well!
Diane, this post gave me the chills,....thanks goodness for your sensitive smell as I know this act saved lives. We had a nephew renting our condo in Arlington VA. We stopped in one evening to check the place as we where getting ready to put it on the market. Opening the door...you could really smell the gas. I went to the kitchen and sure enough the knob on the gas stove was on. He must had hit it accidentally, but I was glad we were there at the right time.
Judi!! Look at your picture... you are gorgeous!! So are you saying i did SWELL SMELL???
Rebecca: OMG!!! How long had the gas been on???? So glad you did not go in smoking a cigarette or anything.... all the gas needs is just ONE whiff!! Quick thinking on your part!
Diane, Wow I'm impressed. It appears you have a good sniffer!!
MARCHEL! Howdy! Sometimes this sniffer detection work produces the ultimate.... other times it backfires when i get the privilege of smelling putrid stuff... ugh!