Homebuyers' House Tour Includes Dead Body

A real estate agent in Notting Hill, London thought the homeowner was asleep on the couch when he showed prospective buyers a $1.3 million home. Turns out the owner was dead.

Agent Samuel Allfort said he had taken the couple around the home and left the lounge room until last in the hope that owner Katherine Frame would wake up by the time the viewing ended, according to The Daily Telegraph. When she hadn't awakened, the Marsh and Parsons agent walked the couple outside then went back in the home to try and wake her. When he noticed her yellow complexion, he called paramedics, who informed him that the owner had died.

Similarly, a couple touring a home in Janesville, Wisc. found its owner dead in her bed. Justin and Colleen McKeen found the body of 55-year-old Linda O'Leary in the bedroom while their agent was standing in the dining room. The agent knew something was wrong -- not from an odor in the house or the sink full of dishes -- but when she heard Mrs. McKeen scream.

Many agents and prospective buyers have strange encounters while touring homes, from teenagers smoking pot to couples being intimate in bedrooms. Although one can ever predict what will be on the other side of that front door, there are ways that agents can help shield their clients from embarrassing or even grisly encounters. The agents in the Notting Hill and Janesville could have taken other precautions, say experts.