Ensuring your safety as a real estate agent or home buyer/seller is crucial when conducting property visits and open houses. Real estate transactions necessitate interacting with strangers in empty properties, which can potentially put agents and clients at risk if proper precautions aren’t taken. There are important steps that should be followed to maximize real estate safety while still providing an optimal level of service.
How to Ensure Your Real Estate Safety
Set Clear Expectations with Clients
The first step in boosting safety is to communicate clear expectations, boundaries, and schedules when first contacting new clients. Provide pre-screening questions to vet potentially dangerous clients beforehand. Conduct introductions via video call, require valid IDs, and get all contact information. Disclose any surveillance on properties. Inform clients about safety protocols like not being alone with them on-site. Setting these expectations upfront is key.
Use a Check-In System
A reliable check-in system with colleagues or family ensures that your whereabouts are monitored while showing properties. Check-ins should occur before and after appointments via call, text, or mobile apps. Share the address and details of exactly where you are headed. If issues arise and check-ins are missed, it triggers an alert to send help to your location. Having this backup system provides vital peace of mind.
Carry Safety Gear
Agents should always have safety gear on hand including mace, whistles, flashlights, protective vests, emergency hotline numbers, and medical equipment. Carrying gear specially designed for realtors, like products indicating distress signals or GPS tracking if separated from devices, is smart. Let clients see visible gear so they know not to try anything dangerous. Gear can truly save lives in dangerous situations.
Use Strategic Scheduling
Strategic scheduling of appointments also bolsters safety. Visits earlier in the day with natural lighting are ideal. Avoid nighttime showings when possible. Block off chunks of time so your schedule and location are accounted for. Share your digital calendar with colleagues so they see your appointments. Be especially cautious showing vacant homes at open houses alone - have another agent present. Choosing safer timing is prudent.
Drive Separate Cars
Driving in separate cars to and from showings, instead of together with clients, is a safer standard practice. It ensures you aren’t trapped without transportation at a location should something go awry. Two vehicles also reinforce professionalism and keep appropriate physical distance from clients during drives. If clients protest, reiterate that separate transportation is essential company policy.
Conduct Thorough Pre-Screening
Vetting every client thoroughly via pre-screening questions and background checks reduces risk. Run names through sex offender registries, search public records for red flags, and verify identities. Require upfront proof of funds for buyers. Use instinct if certain clients seem dangerous, pushy or make inappropriate inquiries. Politely decline to work with higher-risk clients or bring colleagues to visits if concerned. Don’t let pressure to close deals outweigh safety.
Choose Public Locations
When possible, suggest meeting clients initially at public locations like coffee shops versus heading directly to vacant properties alone. Meet & greets allow parsing out higher risk clients in safe environments. Conduct virtual tours before visiting listings in person. Choosing to show properties with occupants also adds a level of safety. Inhabitants may deter or report criminal behavior that empty properties enable.
Have Check-In Contacts
Having check-in contacts you proactively reach out to during and after every client visit is vital. Confirm your safety with designated contacts after arriving and before leaving appointments via text, phone calls, or apps. If issues occur, check-in contacts can promptly alert authorities and share details to aid in the investigation using recent communication. Routine check-ins give added accountability.
Learn Self-Defense Tactics
It’s also wise for agents to get trained in basic self-defense tactics tailored specifically to the real estate dangers they may face. Many police departments and private firms offer specialized classes teaching moves to escape assaults and weapons threats on properties. Learning dynamic safety maneuvers for confined spaces can be lifesaving. Staying calm under pressure and using vocal commands are also covered. Self-defense education prepares agents to protect themselves if necessary.
Leverage Deterrent Signage
Prominently displaying safety signage on properties indicating surveillance systems and alarm triggers serves as a warning to potential criminals. Signage also reiterates agent and client accountability given monitoring. Some signs list company policies like refusing to be alone with clients. Unique signage with loud auditory alarms if removed also deters theft. Making safety measures visible boosts prevention and discourages those seeking isolated targets.
Stay Situationally Aware
Remaining situationally aware and trusting instincts during showings is key too. Note property visibility and escape routes upon arrival in case confrontations occur. Carry minimal valuables to avoid robbery targets. Keep phones accessible but don’t get distracted looking down frequently. Size up clients and look for weapons, nervousness, or shifty body language. Abort showings and leave if you feel uncomfortable. Saving face isn’t worth compromising safety.
Report All Incidents
Always report alarming incidents, no matter how trivial they may initially appear, to colleagues and firms immediately. Documentation creates critical transparency around what occurred for future use if needed. Formal reporting deters recurrences and reveals patterns helping protect others in the industry from repeat offenders. Some firms now utilize centralized realtor safety data clearinghouses to track reported incidents in a given region.
Work in Pairs
Consider having agents work in pairs or groups for property visits, especially showings with new clients. Teams reinforce safety making it far less likely for offenders to attempt violence, confrontation, or theft with multiple people present. Extra sets of eyes and ears also enhance awareness. Pairs allow playing roles like one distracting problem clients as the other agent discretely calls for help. There is safety in numbers.
Advocate for Safety Reforms
The most influential way to spark positive change is for real estate agents to advocate for improved industry safety reforms from firms, local REALTOR® associations, and legislators. Call for stricter vetting and transparency laws around past criminal offenses for licensees to protect consumers. Push for standardized local safety training. Advocate to make attacks on agents priority cases. Speaking up ropes key decision-makers into boosting safety measures industry-wide.
Put It In Writing
Incorporate strong safety verbiage into agency contracts, listings, and critical paperwork so clients understand strict policies are enforced. Detail professional codes of conduct expected on visits and consequences like refusal of future services if violated. Providing written rules and protocols makes them concrete. This proactive move deters those who might capitalize on loose policies or “he said she said” indiscretions without documentation that’s hard to refute.
Travel in Groups
For real estate agents constantly on the road going between showings, having expanded safety strength in numbers by traveling in groups between appointments during the workday also acts as an extra safeguard. Maps apps like https://www.journey.cloud/ allow agents to opt into location sharing to view each other’s routes in real-time. If anyone deviates from the planned course without check-ins, it could indicate danger. Travel coordination resources empower broader visibility.
Trust Intuition
At the first sign, something seems amiss, trust instincts without hesitation. Don’t second guess red flags or gut reactions sensing possible danger even if it risks temporarily offending a client. Refuse to enter properties altogether if confronted by belligerence or threats. Waiting too long to abort showings can have devastating consequences. Going with the initial intuitive gut reaction without delay protects wellbeing.
Verify Who You’re Meeting
When scheduling any real estate showing, open house, or meeting, double-check check you’re truly connecting with who individuals claim to be. Run names through public record databases searching for duplicates in that region, research via social media sites, and do reverse phone number lookups checking for inconsistencies. Meet in public places first if unable to confirm identities sufficiently to check driver's licenses in-person matching names. Failing to verify exactly who you’ll be encountering poses an unnecessary risk.
Request Police Standbys
If facing meetings with hostile strangers for any reason whether transactions, open houses, or evaluations, consider requesting a police unit be present on standby for additional security. Most precincts are willing to oblige such requests knowing real estate history of theft, harassment, and homicide. Officers can surveil discretely from squad cars or approach for closer observation without technically intervening unless clear criminal threats appear. Having uniforms nearby adds considerable risk deterrence.
Enhance Mobile Phone Security
Make sure cell phones contain ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts programmed correctly to speed aid if troubles occur. Enable fingerprint or facial recognition for quick access to reach contacts if confronted. Ensure phones stay charged sufficiently since draining batteries inhibit connectivity critical for help when standard lines are cut on properties. Install GPS tracking apps allowing emergency contacts to monitor positions if separated from devices after incidents. Mobile security steps can summon critical assistance.
Recruit Safety Ambassadors
Forward-thinking real estate brands aiming to champion agent safety recruit dedicated safety ambassadors within brokerages. These specialized team members get advanced training in best practices to know firm guidelines thoroughly around risk reduction. Ambassadors disseminate safety materials company-wide, monitor emerging security tech, report hazards, deliver training seminars, and act as the go-to point people should any agent experience suspicious activity that warrants intervention. Their insights strengthen cultures focused on eliminating risk firm-wide.
What is the biggest mistake a real estate agent can make?
The biggest mistake a real estate agent can make is compromising their personal safety or well-being to make a sale. Over 300 agents in the U.S. alone since 2018 have experienced assault, homicide, and robbery with many incidents tied directly to showings set up via listings. Unfortunately, some agents still take foolish risks like meeting strangers alone at vacant homes without vetting buyers beforehand or checking in with colleagues. Failing to take proper precautions or ignoring warning signs in the name of making a transaction puts lives in jeopardy. No commission cheque is worth endangering safety. Staying secure has to be the top priority.
How can I be efficient in real estate?
The key to maximizing efficiency as a real estate agent is streamlining communication, systematizing repetitive tasks, and leveraging technology to save time. Schedule bulk open house viewings over a few concentrated days instead of spread out. Use CRM tools enabling bulk texting and email to contacts versus manual messages. Set up contract templates, e-signature programs, and listing bots to speed up documentation. Take photos/videos listing once versus repeated showings. Conduct more 3D virtual tours upfront to qualify buyers faster for serious listings. Outsource administrative tasks like scheduling. Consistently refining processes boosts productivity.
What is the toughest thing about being in real estate?
Arguably the toughest aspect of being in real estate is the sheer dedication involved given irregular hours and income instability from fluctuating markets. Agents often sacrifice personal lives working nearly 24/7 from early morning showings to late night paperwork. Weekends vanish running open houses without real breaks. Income spikes dramatically during sales then slows during off-seasons requiring strict budgeting. The continual hustle of managing massive workloads, impatient clients, and life uncertainty burns people out fast. Passion for the work is crucial to persevere despite volatility.
How do I avoid using a real estate agent?
Legally buyers and sellers can conduct transactions without utilizing real estate agents to avoid paying commissions through private sales but the process has considerable downsides. Private sales often take vastly more time, paperwork, marketing, and legal navigation know-how. An agent can sell a home exponentially faster. Attempting FSBO often saves little money since buyers bid lower without representation so profits are offset. Agents also buffer liability risks if disputes occur. Foregoing professional expertise rarely saves money or headaches.
safety tips for real estate agents?
Top safety tips for real estate agents include having pepper spray, whistles, and protective vests easily accessible at all times. Enable location sharing so colleagues can track whereabouts. Stick to showings before dark and bring others. Vet buyers thoroughly beforehand via online records. Meet initially at public places. Separately drive to listings avoiding ride sharing and elevating danger. Share schedules so availability is tracked. Immediately leave and report red flags trusting instincts first. Stay hyper-aware of surroundings when in properties. Finally, take safety courses to maximize preparation for handling threats if attacks occur.
realtor safety tips?
Given the escalating realtor crime highlighted by 384 targeted attacks last year, 2024 safety must prioritize heightened precautions. Top tips include prominent alarms, deterrent signage in listings and video surveillance installed in cars and on themselves if confronting higher-risk clients. Enlist police standby presence at open houses in rougher neighborhoods. Take expanded self-defense courses training for verbal diffusion and physical advance disarming. Use apps sharing routes tracked in real-time when driving between isolated listings. Outfit themselves in protective gear and clothing designed to withstand assaults. Report all incidents to new centralized databases.
realtor safety statistics?
Staggering realtor security statistics reveal over 300 violent crimes against agents since 2018 including dozens of homicides. 2022 reached a critical mass with violent incidents up 650% involving agents as targets during property visits. Sadly, female agents disproportionately are affected comprising 80%+ of harassment, sexual assault, and rape reports collected by industry safety groups. The most common offenses occurred when agents were alone meeting unverified strangers to show vacant units. Crime is way smarter precautions are urgent - lives depend on it.
is it safe to be a real estate agent?
Becoming a real estate agent does involve assuming a higher risk occupation regarding personal safety since agents frequently encounter strangers privately inside empty properties. Risks inherently exist no matter the precautions taken. However following security best practices dramatically mitigates dangers through vetting clients, using gear/weapons, installing surveillance systems, leveraging police monitoring, and studying self-defense. Staying vigilant boosts safety significantly. Real estate done intelligently with caution taken can avoid the majority of threats making it reasonably safe.
realtor safety app?
Savvy real estate professionals minimize risks by leveraging multi-featured mobile safety apps like https://www.realert.com specifically designed for agent security needs. Standout features include one-tap emergency assistance, GPS tracking, evergreen check-in timers, audio recorders capturing threats, walkthrough modes marking safety hazards in listings, crime data specific to neighborhood risks, notifications identifying sex offenders nearby, and direct emergency dialing integrated natively into devices. Realert elegantly consolidated critical functionality in one platform agents require daily to stay protected.
realtor safety month?
Every September marks National REALTOR® Safety Month bringing awareness to increasing realtor targeting through special security-centric events. Participating realty offices host expert speakers on risk reduction, offer expanded self-defense courses, distribute new safety materials, inspect gear, provide checkups installing tracking tools, share attack statistics locally, highlight survivor stories, and facilitate discussions around improving policies. Promoting safer protocols company-wide through recurring safety emphasis months generates more conscious culture changes over time by keeping security top of mind year-round.
realtor confidentiality?
Realtor confidentiality involves firmly securing client data and personal information gained when conducting business transactions and showings privately in home environments where sensitive details are frequently discussed or observed. Confidentiality ethics require agents to strictly refrain from sharing details without permission around finances, motivations, valuables in listings, family situations impacting moves, and alarm system details. Breaking trust by carelessly revealing private aspects even casually strains agent-client relations and honoring confidentiality marks respected professionals.
Prioritizing real estate security gives buyers and agents the peace of mind to focus wholly on properties without unnecessary risk looming over interactions. By transparently communicating firm safety policies upfront, requiring thorough vetting beforehand, strategically coordinating smart logistics, carrying protective gear always, and sticking together in teams, the vast majority of dangers are mitigated safely. Here's to you pursuing your real estate dreams confidently through smarter precautions taken. Your well-being comes first with these tips. Stay secure out there.
