Realtor Safety 911

Even though this article was posted in 2003, you can still see how the same things are so important, day in and day out today. Don’t take your safety for granted. Even though you can say, ‘hey, that has never happened to me”. Count your lucky stars that it hasn’t, but don’t take it for granted”!

This article was published on: 09/01/2003

POINT OF VIEW: Whatley Report

Put your safety first

We don’t ever think it can happen to us. We feel terrible when we read news stories about innocent victims of a crime or see people on TV grieving for lost loved ones. We think we’re immune from such misfortune. Unfortunately, we’re not. Every year, men and women in our profession are robbed, raped, or murdered on the job. Read the rest of this entry »

Realtors, 8 Safety Tips to Protect Yourself

December 18, 2007 · Courtesy of MarkLomas.com 

 It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.  Here are 8 tips for Realtors to consider so they can protect themselves. We work in a very unusual work environment, where occassionally we are meeting strangers.  Recently, in a Mill Valley, California Real Estate office, a well dressed couple walked in, and robbed the floor agent.   Another couple with a similar profile has been also robbing houses throughout the Bay Area.    If you feel this information is helpful, please pass it on to someone you know.

      1.  (Tip from Tae Kwon Do)  The elbow is the strongest point on your body.  If your close enough to use it, do!
      2.  From a tourist guide in New Orleans.  If a robber asks for your wallet or purse, Do Not Hand It To Him!  Toss it away from you…chances are he’s more interested in your wallet or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet or purse.  Run like mad in the other direction!
      3.  If you are ever thrown in the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.  The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will.  This has saved lives.
      4.  Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, ect. and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, ect. Don’t Do This!  The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.  As soon as you get into your car, lock the doors and leave! Read the rest of this entry »

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), September 25, 2007 by Danielle Derringer

Real estate agents are often in situations that call for them to be alone, unprotected and surrounded by people they don’t know.

According to local and national organizations, Realtor safety is a top priority. Earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) conducted its fifth annual Realtor Safety Week. According to NAR, the week was implemented to recognize what Realtors are doing to stay safe and continue safety education. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy of Arizona Association of Realtors www.aaronline.com

The following scenarios are typical REALTOR® situations. Think about what would be your normal response, what possible dangers are indicated, and what you could do better to lessen the risks. Find the answers suggested by NAR at the end.

Scenario #1: Open House
You are hosting an open house by yourself on a winter day. As the sun is setting and you are locking up, a nicely dressed man pulls into the drive and quickly hops out of his car. He apologizes for coming so late and says that he is very glad to have arrived before you left. He begs you to let him see the property as he has wanted to buy this style of home in this neighborhood for some time now. You had very few prospects visit the open house, so you would hate to miss this opportunity. What do you do?

Scenario #2: Listing Presentation
You receive a phone call from a man who says he is interviewing REALTORS® to sell his lakeside vacation home. You can hear children laughing in the background and he apologizes for all the racket his kids are making. He wants to hear your listing presentation and get your ideas about a good asking price, so he asks you to meet him at the property this evening at 8:00. What do you do?

Scenario #3: Showing a Property
On your first day with this prospect, you showed him three homes, and he acted like a typical buyer, asking all the expected questions and looking carefully at each home. On this occasion, it is a cold day and he offers to drive you since his car is already warmed up. He mentions that he would really like to see a home with a basement bedroom for his teenage son so he can play his music as loud as he likes. You know a house that’s fits his needs perfectly so you take him there to show him the nicely finished basement with recreation room, bedroom, and full bath. What would you do?

Scenario #4: Answering Calls
You get a cold call from a prospect who says he is about to take a new job in the area and he would like to look at some houses in a particular neighborhood his future boss recommended. He says that he’s open to other suggestions, and he asks where you live and what your neighborhood is like. Because he’ll need to move quickly, he wants to look at homes that are already vacant. After chatting about the kind of house he is looking for, he says he’s looking forward to working with you and asks if you’re as cute in person as your photo in the ad. He asks, with a friendly chuckle, if you’re still “on the market” or has a lucky guy already snapped you up. He closes by saying he’d like to start his search at a particular house in the ad, first thing tomorrow morning, and asks for directions so he can meet you there. How do you respond?

Scenario 5: Going to Closings
As you are about to leave a closing, you see three men loitering in the parking lot. When you get in your car, they also get into their car, and they pull out behind you as you leave. How would you react?

Answers to the Safety Scenarios

Scenario 1: Open House
Open houses are especially dangerous as they expose you to strangers, often while alone, with limited opportunity to pre-qualify the prospect or verify his identity.

• Extra care should be taken at the end of the day when predators may think you are more likely to be alone. There are enough red flags here to warrant not going back into the house with him.
• Don’t let his nice clothes influence your behavior.
• Try to arrange for a showing later, after a meeting at the office where you can obtain and verify his identification.
• If you do choose to let him see the house, do not follow him in—wait for him in the doorway (or in your car) so you can easily escape if necessary.
• When he is finished looking, answer any questions he has, give him your card and a blank prospect card, and ask him to drop off or mail in his information.

Scenario 2: Listing Presentation
Any time you are meeting a stranger alone, whether it’s for a showing or a listing presentation, there is a potential for danger.

• Don’t make assumptions. There could be any reasons for the sound of children; he could be calling from a pay phone in a restaurant with a noisy play area. Sometimes violent predators do have wives and kids at home.
• First verify that he is actually the owner of the property by checking tax logs.
• Try to set up a preliminary meeting in your office so that you can record his information before going to the property.
• Even if you decide it is safe to go, make sure that while you’re at the property, you call in to the office regularly.

Scenario 3:Scenario #3: Showing a Property
Don’t let the fact that he acted normally on other showings cause you to let your guard down. Criminals may try to gain your confidence at first as they size you up.

• Unless you know them personally, never ride with a client; drive your own car and park so you can get away easily if you need to. Park in the street, not in the driveway where you can be blocked in.
• Even when the remote areas of the house are the best features, resist the urge to lead a prospect into a basement or a back bedroom where you can be trapped. Let them explore those areas on their own or, at most, follow them only as far as the doorway so they cannot block your exit.
• Always have an escape route planned, and make sure exit doors are unlocked (or even better, left open even on cold days).

Scenario 4: Answering Calls
Always avoid giving out personal information to prospects. Do not put your home phone number on your card, and never give out your personal address.

• Be sure that your photo in your marketing materials presents a professional image. Glamour shots can attract the wrong kind of attention. Predators have been known to use agent photos in ads to choose victims.
• What might seem like friendly banter in a social setting can be highly inappropriate in a business relationship. Questions about marital status should raise a red flag. Let him know, politely, that it’s your policy to never discuss your personal life with prospects.
• Make sure the prospect is who he says he is by getting the number of his employer so you can verify his story.
• Asking to see only vacant properties is another warning sign…is he trying to make sure you’ll be alone?
• Always insist that first meetings take place in your office, and have him fill out a prospect information form. Let him see that other people in your office know where you are going, with whom you are going, and when you’ll be back.
• Trust your instincts. If the prospect’s behavior is too out-of-line, walk away. No commission is worth compromising your safety. With this prospect, telling him that you are too busy now and referring him to another colleague might be a good test of whether he is looking for a new home or targeting you for harassment or worse. If it becomes clear that he is not really looking for a home, communicate your experience with him to other agents in your area.

Scenario 5: Going to Closings
You may have been targeted by criminals because they think you will be carrying a large sum of money.

• If you see something that makes you nervous, go back into the office until you feel it is safe to leave, or ask to be escorted to your car.
• You can check to see if someone is following you, not by racing away, but by taking an unusual route (such as circling a block).
• If it is clear that you are being followed, drive directly to a police station.

Your Personal Safety is up to You!

We have all got to be careful when we are setting up a showing. We must adhere to a few basic procedures. In this day and time, you can never be too safe. I mentioned in an earlier post about the 71 year old agent in Wisconsin, who was brutally murdered by a craze-O, you just never know, so don’t take chances. Do the right thing and following procedures. They could save your life!

The following is courtesy of Bonnie Erickson www.bonnieerickson.net

REALTOR® Safety

When an ex-con kills a 71 year old REALTOR® in Wisconsin just because her innocent question made him mad, it’s no wonder St. Paul real estate agents are taking more safety precautions. Read the story here.

Safety tips used by agents are becoming more common:

• Do not show vacant properties alone unless you know your customers. This applies to both men and women as men can be overpowered as well. A male California real estate agent was kidnapped at gunpoint to get his electronic key to open listed houses with the electronic lock boxes. When I meet a customer for the first time at a home, I bring a trusted colleague or my husband to stay in the car in case I don’t return.
• Record the names, number, description and license number of a customer you are meeting at a home for the first time. I call these details into my broker’s voicemail. If someone accosts me, there is at least a modicum of information for the police to use to get the perpetrator back!
• Carry my cell phone into the house with me and have 911 programmed at the touch of a button.
• Never have an open house alone. The decrease in new buyer clients obtained through open houses and the increase in crime associated with opens is the basis for many St. Paul agents discontinuing the practice.
• Let customers precede you into a house and the rooms in the house. Personally, I’d never be able to outrun a perpetrator. If my gut suspects something, I’m not going in! I would rather be alive and wrong while I lose a future client than dead because I didn’t want to lose that commission!
• Carry some form of pepper spray or mace in my pocket. Good idea, but my pockets are already full of electronic key, car keys, MLS listing sheets, my cheat sheet of combinations for the tour, business cards, phone, daily planner, and sometimes a huge flashlight. I don’t think there’s room for that pepper spray. I think I’ll whack the perpetrator with the flashlight!
• One of the REALTOR® safety tips is to pay attention to exits. Personally, I generalize that to PAY ATTENTION PERIOD!
• Don’t assume women customers are safer than men. Frankly, I think women fight meaner and dirtier than men and wouldn’t care to be the victim of either! Besides, there may be a partner waiting by the scheduled house.
• There always a struggle between leaving the front door unlocked during a showing (easy exit when escaping or easy entrance for bad guys) or not. Because of discrimination laws, an agent cannot lock the front door while showing a house in one neighborhood and leave it open in another. That can be perceived as discriminatory or giving a message about the neighborhood to the client. Some agents choose to leave the key in the front door so they don’t forget and lock it in the house. Others choose to lock the door. There are pros and cons to each system.
• Leaving a proposed schedule and the contact info for who you are meeting with a family member or colleague is wise. Checking in after the showings are finished is a good policy. When there is no check-in your trusted person knows when to call the police.

The last point on my proposed safety procedures list has a funny story attached to it. Early in my career cell phones were not common (I know I’m older than dirt!) but my broker’s policy was that ALL of his agents would check in by phone after their open houses. My open house was in a vacant HUD home where I spent the afternoon killing mice with a broom. My pre-occupation with getting some shopping done on the way home distracted me from making the prescribed check-in call. When I finally remembered to stop at a pay phone, my husband informed me I had been given 15 more minutes and the two of them were going to call the cops! That was the last time I “forgot” to check in when done with my St. Paul real estate business! I can’t imagine my embarrassment if I had been pulled over by the cops as a “missing person”!

No resistance - Not resisting may be the proper choice in a situation. An attacker with a gun or a knife may put you in a situation where you think it is safer to do what he/she says. If someone tries to rob you - give up your property - don’t give up your life.

Cheryl Watterson has a blog called www.selfdefensewithanattitude.com, where she discusses self defense, personal safety and personal security. I get a lot of good information from her site and pass along to family and friends.

Today she and her business associate put on a Realtor Personal Safety Awareness class for one of the largest Century 21 offices in Northern Indiana and the turn out was Great! Read below.

On Wednesday my business associate from ADT Security and I gave a Realtor Personal & Home Security Safety Awareness Program to one of the largest Century 21 offices in Northern Indiana. Our program provided targeted personal safety and home security strategies that each agent can use on a daily basis. We believe that personal security starts in the home. Therefore, your home must be a safe haven whether you or family members are home or away.

Experts agree that the single most important step towards ensuring an individual’s total personal security is to make the decision to refuse to be a victim. That means you must have an overall personal safety plan or strategy in place before you need it and be able to aggressively defend yourself if attacked.

Our goal is to provide a program of personal safety and security, self-awareness, and empowerment that will enable real estate agents to protect themselves and not become a victim of an attack by a perpetrator, an unruly prospect, or customer.

We all need to make personal safety and security a proactive habit 24/7. We can then ensure we’re one step ahead of a predator who preys on defenseless women.

Remember, Stay Aware…Stay Alert…Stay Alive!

Below is information that can help you in your day to day business of staying safe in our unsafe world!

Realtor Tips For Staying Safe On The Job

• -Always be aware of your surroundings.
• -Develop a habit of being alert.
• -Trust your instincts – it could just save your life.
• -When you enter a home, look for other entry/exit doors.
• -Don’t host an open house by yourself.
• -Dress conservatively and don’t wear expensive jewelry or flashy clothing.
• -Only list office and cell phone numbers on business cards – noy your home number or home address.
• -Stay in touch with your office – always carry a cell phone or voice pager.
• -Be sure your cell phone is fully charged should you sit at an empty/new construction open house.
• -Meet prospects at your office.
• -Always take your own car when showing a property and have prospects follow in their car.
• -Don’t go into the basement or confined areas with prospect/s. Try to keep your back closest to the exit door.
• -Let potential buyers explore the home by themselves – keep some distance.
• -Let someone else know your whereabouts and with whom you have an appointment with.
• -Use sign-in sheets and have prospects show ID. If in doubt when meeting a prospect, state that it is your company’s policy to ask for identification.
• -Never show a property alone at night.
• -Never advertise a property as vacant.
• -Report any suspicious experience to police.
• -Offices should have a coded distress signal that is obvious to the office but not the prospect.
• -Consider taking a personal safety/self-defense awareness class.
• -Carry personal protection such as pepper spray, mace, a personal alarm or a C2 Taser.

Cheryl Watterson                           Linda Sokol

Personal Security Solutions      ADT Security

(574) 514-1214-Cell                      (574) 220-0349-Cell

Be sure to visit the following sites for additional tips on realtors staying safe:

www.adt.com

www.selfdefensewithanattitude.com

www.realtorsafety911.com

www.homesecurity911.com

Courtsey of Dean Guadagni - http://deansguide.wordpress.com

Realtor Safety At Open Houses: A Warning That Could Save Your Life As reported by John Harper “East Bay Rapist Arrested” nearly a year ago, ex convict Daniel Duran was attempting to assault Realtors at open houses in the Dublin-San Ramon-Pleasanton areas. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident as described by the following video about similar activity in the Cincinnati, Ohio area.Warning: Do not get caught in the “Earthquake Syndrome.” Even though we, here in Northern California know we are in earthquake country, very few take precautions and prepare a plan ahead of time.

Watch the video then please consider utilizing any or all of the security tips provided below. Be safe Not sorry!<Remember, Your Personal Safety is up to YOU!

I was talking with a realtor friend of mine the other day and I asked her what she does to stay safe while out in the real estate field. She said she tries never to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But she did tell me a story of a time she had an inspection in the city and got to the condo a few minutes early, so she decided to go by a convenience store and get a cup of coffee and a newspaper. The bars on the windows and doors should have told her not to stop but she said she did. The second thing was the guy loitering out front. As she parked and got out to go into the store, the guy came up to her commenting on her nice car. He also proceeded to tell her that he had just gotten out of jail. She said she continued into the store for her coffee and newspaper but was very anxious of the guy loitering out around her car. She left the lid off her coffee as she headed outside to her car, just in case. The guy started toward her and she had that feeling. She yelled at him to STAY AWAY from her, that he needed to find someone else to harrass today and if he so much as came one foot closer to her, he would indeed find himself back in jail before the end of the morning. She used a few choice words and her voice was very loud. And do you know what he did? He backed off. She got in her car and left. The thing is, she was really and truly in the wrong place but by letting this guy know that she wasn’t going to take his —-, he backed off because he knew she would be more trouble than the fight would be worth. He probably left to go find easier prey. The moral of the story is, if at all possible, try not to be in the wrong place, if you are, be assertive, in command, stand tall, look forward, don’t start anything but don’t take anything either. And most of all, get out of there safely. Remember, your Personal Safety is up to You! Glad this turned out okay for my friend.

AGENT ALERT: Suspicious Client
01/28/2008

A Gwinnett agent was holding an open house at 1056 Eagles Ridge Court in Whitehawk subdivision (off of Tab Roberts) in Lawrenceville on Sunday, Jan. 27 2008. A man showed up and told the agent that he had been in jail twice for raping real estate agents. Though she was scared, she was not physically harmed. The man stayed at the home for over an hour (she got him to go outside), and identified himself as Jeffrey Shumate. He was in his mid thirties, Caucasian, heavy set, had a crew cut, was about 5’ 6”. He wore a black biker’s jacket and was driving an older white Buick Skylark. He told the agent that he “went after” the last agent who reported him to the police.

AGENTS BEWARE! He made a point to tell the agent that he looks for open houses.

A complaint was filed with the Gwinnett County Police.

Take a few minutes to watch this video. There are some good tips and wonderful information that you can use in your own day to day real estate activities -

Watch this Eye Opening Video on Personal Safety & Security -

The event I am about to describe is a true story. It happened to me. Hopefully my story will raise the awareness of those who read it and save them from making the same kinds of mistakes that I made – mistakes that could have cost me serious injury or possibly my life, at the hands of a street thug who prefers to prey on other people rather than work to make a living on his own.

One evening a couple of years ago, I agreed to meet for dinner at a nice downtown restaurant with a couple of friends from work. We live in a city of a little over 100,000 people in the upper Midwest. Our city has what I would describe as a moderate-to-high crime rate with certain areas of the city much more dangerous than others. Some of the more dangerous areas surround the downtown area and some of the more unsavory characters make their living working the downtown streets. Read the rest of this entry »

Women agents tend to be much more trusting of another female and let down their guard. Until you really know a customer, remain vigilant regardless of the gender, appearance, dress, or charm. It could save your life.