Episode Details

In this episode, Leigh welcomes Pam Gebhardt to the show. Pam is a realtor in the Atlanta area and has been in the real estate industry for more than 26 years. Her crazy story describes a kind deed that went terribly wrong and is, indeed, a tragedy! Listen to hear why Pam no longer gives housewarming parties as a congratulatory gift to her clients.

Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone. Never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting The Leigh Brown Experience.

• 00:21 – Introduction for today's episode
• 00:36 – Introducing Pam Gebhardt
• 00:54 – Pam was trained in Education with a master's degree in Mathematics
• 01:01 – It's her 26th year now, as a realtor in Atlanta
• 01:58 – This is a true and crazy story
  • 02:12 – Pam lives in a gated golf course community
  • 02:17 – She sells and lists homes around the area
  • 02:21 – When Pam sells a luxury home, she throws a housewarming party for the clients
  • 02:37 – She sold a $2.8M brand new home to friends in her community
  • 02:48 – They closed in July, but her clients didn't want to do the party until they had all the furniture in the house
  • 02:58 – They called Pam in mid-October for the party
  • 03:03 – They had the caterers and 140 guests ready
  • 03:27 – People were in the house – it was full
  • 03:35 – Pam and the owner were in the basement, in the home theater and bar
  • 03:49 – All of a sudden, Pam and her client noticed a smell – which they thought were people going up and down the elevator
  • 04:10 – Pam suggested to her client to get people off the elevator, which he did
  • 04:21 – They started to see smoke coming out of the cam lights
  • 04:27 – 5 minutes later, all the alarms went off in the house
  • 04:35 – Finally, they decided to go outside
  • 04:50 – There were flames shooting out of the fireplace
  • 05:06 – A person came up and told them to go in front of the house – somebody called the fire department
  • 05:18 – Everybody thought is was funny
  • 05:36 – The firemen advised them to take the cars out of the garage and remove all jewelry from the house
  • 05:51 – People were having fun outside
  • 05:58 – The firemen went up the house with a ladder
  • 06:27 – All of a sudden, all the firemen came running out of the house
  • 06:30 – All 120 guests were outside and they watched the house burn to the ground
  • 06:46 – Her clients lost everything! Fortunately, their old house was not sold and was still furnished
  • 06:58 – The client moved back to their old house and Pam recommended a reputable builder for them
  • 07:14 – Long story short, there was a defective fireplace
  • 07:19 – Pam makes sure that inspection amendments are being chased properly
• 07:34 – Once the attic is in flames, there's nothing that can save the house
• 07:47 – The incident bothered Pam and the people in the community
• 08:20 – The insurance company reimbursed the money
• 08:49 – The clients were back in the house in a year and 21 days after the fire
• 09:33 – The insurance company sued the fireplace company
• 10:13 – It took Pam at least 2 years before she could talk about it
• 10:30 – Her client's father was a fire chief in another city, so he understood the gravity of what happened
• 10:44 – The buyers now ended up with a much better home than they originally had
• 12:03 – Pam's clients made "lemonade out of lemons"
• 12:32 – Pam now gives paintings instead of housewarming parties
• 13:17 – Pam has a team of 3 and is located north-northeast of Atlanta
• 13:30 – Contact Pam on her email
• 13: