Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
Haunted (Halloween Edition)
The leaves swirled around Erica’s feet as she stood in Rittenhouse Square sipping on her Starbucks coffee. She was awaiting the settlement of her first home, which was supposed to take place in just an hour. Erica was so excited that she couldn’t contain herself, so she decided to go for a walk to ease herself.
It didn’t ease her as she had planned, though. Little kids were dressed up in scary costumes and masks to celebrate Halloween. It had fallen on a Tuesday this year, so she thought it would be okay since the kids would be in school and adults don’t normally dress up. Ever since she was a little girl, Halloween had frightened her. She had to stay away from masks, scary movies, and keep a nightlight on while she slept. And forget about things she heard go “bump” during the night!
Today she was hoping her fear of Halloween, ghouls and goblins, would cease. She was replacing her irrational fear with a good memory, the purchase of her first home. It was located in the heart of Old City. A beautiful brick row home on a cobblestone street. Since growing up in the country around old farmhouses, she knew she wanted a house with character and history.
Philadelphia was the place to buy! With hundreds of years of history and an exciting nightlife, Erica decided to stay in the city she went to college. It had been eight years since she graduated and she finally felt stable enough to invest in a home.
She had found her real estate agent through a YouTube video her friend sent her. It was a hilarious music video about first time home buyers in Philadelphia. Fun, eccentric, and hard-working, Erica decided to work with Cherise Wynne, who called herself the Agent Lady. It was a match made in heaven!
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Erica looked at her watch and noticed she only had a few minutes to get to Cherise’s office on Broad and Walnut for settlement. Throwing her latte in the trash, she made her way down the designer store lined street to sign papers and become a first time home buyer.
The conference room was warm and had a bowl of candy in the middle of the table. Erica chewed a Snickers as she signed her name and initialed pages of legal documents. Cherise sat next to her, explaining what she was signing and making sure the deal was following through. It was the first time Erica had seen the sellers of her new home. They were a young couple, both had dark circles under their eyes. The woman looked pale and frail, probably from the stress of moving. The man wore a black suit, which Erica thought was a little excessive for a settlement. It never occurred to her to ask why this young couple was selling a home they had only owned for a year.
After signing some more papers, Erica decided to ask the couple, “So, where are you moving?”
“California,” the man answered. He offered no other explanation as to why they decided to move across the country. Getting an unfriendly sense from him, Erica decided not to pursue the conversation and to just finish signing.
Just fifteen minutes later, an old brass key was handed over to Erica. She would have thought it strange to receive such an old looking key, but she was so filled with excitement that it didn’t cross her mind. Cherise insisted on taking a picture with her and handed her a bottle of champagne to celebrate. As the group started filing out of the conference room, the woman grabbed Erica’s arm tightly and whispered, “Good luck.” Erica’s excitement couldn’t ignore that this was in fact very strange.
With the help of some friends, Erica was moved into her new home. The floors creaked when you walked through the house and it smelled of mothballs, but Erica loved everything about it. Boxes surrounded the small group of friends as they ate pizza and drank the champagne from Cherise. They talked about the process of buying a home for the first time and Erica’s plans for the house. She was going to take the rest of the week to unpack and organize the house. Since it was just her, she didn’t have too many belongings, which made it easier.
Her friends left and she stood in the foyer by herself as she watched her friends walk down the street back to their apartments. She walked back to the updated kitchen and washed the wine glasses and threw out the paper plates they had used. As she finished washing the last glass, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Erica lifted her head quickly to see what it was, but nothing was there. She brushed it off.
She decided to read a book before going to sleep. Lying in her bed, she heard rain start to fall outside. It came on suddenly and was accompanied by a loud crack of thunder. Erica decided to get up and take a look outside to catch the oncoming lightning. As she pulled her newly installed blinds up, she jumped back in fear.
Staring back at her through the window as a little girl with curly blonde hair tied up in a ribbon. Her skin was pale and her eyes were bloodshot. She wore a blue dress that looked about 200 years old. Erica, holding her chest, jumped back and closed the blinds immediately. “Oh my God,” she whispered as she steadied herself.
What if the child was lost? What if she was trying to find her way home? Erica couldn’t leave her out in the storm at night. She opened the blinds again, but the girl had disappeared. She opened the window so she could stick her head out and look down the alleyway. The little girl was nowhere in sight.
Erica decided to go outside and walk down the block to see if the girl had gone into another alley. Putting on her rain boots and yellow raincoat, she made her way downstairs. As she turned into her foyer, she heard a little girl giggling from the kitchen. “Did I leave a window open?” Erica rushed into the kitchen, hoping to see the girl outside the window.
She flipped the switch to turn on the light, but it stayed dark. Erica frantically flipped the switch, but still no light. She grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen counter and directed it towards the backdoor. She heard the giggle again, this time coming from the basement.
Erica had only been in the basement once. It was old and decorated with cobwebs. With rickety wooden stairs and a low ceiling, she had never planned to use it much. But this was different, there could be a little girl in trouble! She braced herself and opened the door. It smelled musky and she could feel the dirt in the air stick to her skin. The girl’s giggle was getting louder. “How could she have made it into the basement?” Erica made her way down the steps carefully into the dark basement.
The floor was cement and had piles of dust and dirt. There weren’t any windows. The only way out was through the Bilco cellar door or up the steps. Waving her flashlight around trying to get a feel for the basement, she heard the laugh again. She searched the perimeter of the basement, but found nothing. “Over here,” she heard a little girl say from behind her. Erica was ready to jump out of her skin.
Overwhelmed with fear, Erica ran back upstairs to the kitchen. Thunder rattled the house. Cabinet doors flew open and the little girl from the window stood in the corner of the kitchen. “Welcome home,” she whispered with a grimace. Erica couldn’t take it anymore. She ran out of the house without an umbrella and down the street.
It all started to come together. Such an old house had to have a history. That is why the sellers were only there for a year. Erica had just bought a haunted house.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations.
