The life of a real estate agent is always busy, often hectic, but imminently rewarding, too. However, it can be more than a little dangerous at times, as we learned recently when a San Francisco Realtor was robbed at gunpoint while she hosted an open house. I’m sure that there are other incidents all the time that don’t make the news, but still put Realtors in peril – and especially female agents.Of course, I interact with hundreds of great, caring, and hard-working real estate agents all year long, and do business with a good number of them. But far more important than just referrals,
In this on-going series, I’ll share some great safety tips to keep Realtors out of harm’s way as they go about their daily job.
1. Work with a partner
A Realtor will most likely be targeted if he or she is alone, so work in pairs. Of course, it isn’t always feasible to have another Realtor with you, especially since it’s a “lone wolf” occupation. But you can have a designated safety partner in the office, an assistant or another realtor who you coordinate your schedule with.
Communicate with them via text including regularly scheduled updates or check-ins. That way, your whereabouts are always known and they can call the police or notify authorities if they don’t hear from you.
2. Meet clients at the office first
It’s pretty scary how susceptible Realtors are when you think about how anyone can just call (or even email) them, asking to go look at homes or see a property, some of them vacant. Therefore, it’s a good practice to meet each and every client at your office the first time, where they have to sign in at the front desk and fill out a brief form with some contact information.
Explain that this is standard office policy and you could lose your job if you don’t comply. If they balk at this, they never really were a serious client and you just saved yourself a lot of time and energy.
3. Google them
?Once you set that appointment with your buyer, before they ever show up, go ahead and Google their name, as well as go on to their Facebook or other social media. This will help you double check that they are a real person and their story matches up with what you see portrayed.
From there, write down a few details about them and leave it with your accountability partner when you head out for your appointment. And if you can’t find them on social media or Google, give them a call back and ask them to please confirm the spelling of their name and email etc., because you must have written it down wrong.
4. Talk about your male partner (for ladies)
What about if you find yourself alone at an open house, meeting someone for the first time to show them homes, or generally in a situation that leaves you vulnerable? A good tactic is to mention in passing that you have a real estate team partner or Broker (use a male name) who is going to be there, too or on his way. If the client protests and says that he just wants to work with you only, then you know something isn’t right.
5. Once you arrive at an open house, meet the neighbors FIRST
Once you show up at an open house or even arrive a little early at a vacant home that you’re supposed to show, it’s a good idea to knock on a few neighbor’s doors. Likewise, if you see people out front of their homes working or mowing their lawn, stop and say hello and introduce yourself.
Let them know you’ll be meeting a client there very soon. If you really don’t feel safe, invite them to come take a look at the house, too, or just ask them if they can check in on you after a certain amount of time. While it’s not their responsibility, most people are friendly and caring and will understand the situation.
Once the client arrives, let him/her know that the neighbor is great, and what feedback they had about the neighborhood – which only shows that you’re doing your job. Also let them know that the neighbor may stop by, which will discourage any would-be attacker.
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To my Realtor friends: have you ever been in a dangerous situation, felt unsafe, or had something like this happen? Please share your stories and experiences, so we can all make efforts to stay safe on the job.