Realtor Tip for Safety

As a Sacramento Realtor we have always been told to be very careful while holding Open Houses and Showing property. Sometimes, we tend to make exceptions but these exceptions could be costly. It is important to always be aware of your surroundings and to let the office staff know where and with whom you are meeting. Write it in your calendar at the office so that there is something to trace back to you.

I have had a couple of incidences that I will share with you so that you can avoid the same, hopefully. While holding an Open House which was vacant, I received several phones calls from a male who was very concerned about where my car was. Since I was parked down the street leaving room for potential home buyers, I told him not to worry about my car. In a very dark, deep voice in a later phone call he said that he was watching me. Needless to say I was quite frightened, packed up and left.

Now, the correct way to hold an Open House is to have a lender present or another co-worker with you as there is safety in numbers. You often hear about Realtors who are beat-up, raped or killed and typically it is at an Open House. Vacant houses put you more at risk. I highly recommend that you never park your vehicle in a vacant house garage. If something should happen you want the neighbors to notice your car and call for help.

A funny episode happened quite some time back where I was showing property to some Spanish buyers, one of whom did not speak English. After having shown a few homes, the Spanish speaking home buyer got to the point where he would check to see where the lockbox was located at each house to help me out and wave me over.  At this one house, he motioned me over and kept pointing to the backyard. I didn’t pay attention and tried to tell him that we would go in the front door. As I was unlocking the door, I saw a woman through the sliding glass door at the rear of the house sitting on the back stoop with a shopping cart. As we entered the house, we heard splish, splash…it was a vacant house.  I asked if anyone was there and a man’s voice said, “Yes, I’m taking a bath.” Needless to say, we left. It was a little frightening but now, funny. Certainly could have been a whole lot different for all of us. 

As a side note, I called the police to let them know that these folks had broken into a vacant home and was told that only the seller could report this. Our laws sometimes are fascinating.

With all the houses on the market, and vacant ones as well, I hope that each and everyone will stay safe. Try to always remember to write down where you are meeting your clients and just take those extra steps that many of us sometimes forget to do. It’s a good idea to pick up pepper spray at you local Real Estate store and carry it with you.

If you meet your home buyers at the office, they’ve been prequalified through your Lender than chances are, you’ll be fine. But, as we all know, clients don’t always come to us in such neat little packages. And since, our market has reduced our quanitity of homebuyers, lately…sometimes Realtors, don’t stop to think of their safety. Stay safe, we want to see you here for a long time!

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