Safety Tips

Contact Pili Meyer:   pili@olypen.com

• Member of Washington Association of REALTORS®

• Director of National Association of Realtors 2003

• Over 16 Years of Residential Sales

• Member of Million Dollar Club

• Member of the Washington Real Estate Safety Council

• Former Member of a State Safety Panel for Real Estate Agents

• Accredited Buyer Representative  Instructor

IT IS ALL ABOUT IDENTITY AND REMOVING ANONYMITY! 

   People are more likely to try to get away with a crime if they think no one is watching.  “Bad guys" play the odds, and the odds of getting away with a crime increase if the “bad guys” believe they cannot be identified.

As real estate agents, we sometimes stub our toes on this very basic step and fail to appropriately identify a prospect. That’s only natural.  We become excited about the opportunity presented in showing a property or acquiring a new customer.  If the person you allow to get into your car with you, or meet you at a property is a “bad guy”, he’s looking for a target. You become a much bigger target when that “bad guy” concludes that no one knows who you are with or where you are.

Most real estate safety guides suggest that you meet prospects at the office. The primary reason is that it is professional to have some kind of interview with them prior to showing the property. How do you know if they qualify for that property?

But another reason is that other people in the office will see the prospects and be able to describe them. Washington State’s Real Estate Safety Council recommends that you photocopy the driver’s license of the prospect prior to leaving with them. The security of both the sales people and the sellers is of significant importance. We need to protect the seller’s property as well as the salespeople.

     Asking to copy the driver’s license is just another step in qualifying the buyer. If he were to refuse such an obviously reasonable request (and it is reasonable to want to be able to identify someone whom you are taking into someone else’s home or property), then that buyer would no longer qualify for my services.

There are lots of dialogs to use when making this request, but a simple “Oh, our office policy requires that I make a copy of your driver’s license” works best. It’s so reasonable that people are unlikely to refuse.

There is a second step to this procedure. As you leave the office with the prospect, hand the copy to the secretary, receptionist, floor duty agent, someone in the reception area of your office, in the presence of the prospect.  This doesn’t work unless they know that someone at the office has the information. If you take it with you, it’s of no use at all.

As you hand the safety information to office staff, also hand off a copy of your tour list. Say something like, “we’re going to be gone about two hours, starting on Maple and finishing up on 17^th St.” Now the prospect knows that the office knows where you are going and who you are with. This is a very effective means for taking yourself out of the target zone.

Taking their picture and using RealSafe.net services is an additional safeguard.  Especially if you are alone at the office with your new prospect, before or after normal working hours when the office is closed!

What happens when you get a call from prospects who say they are sitting in front of the house? Or live on the opposite side of town from your office?  They don’t want to come all the way to the office and then drive back.  It doesn’t even make sense.

Third, use the RealSafe.net system: using a camera phone to photograph the prospects, and immediately sending the photo to RealSafe.net, prior to showing them the house will be very effective in separating the genuine buyers from the “bad guys”.  Using this service removes the “bad guys’” anonymity much like taking a photo copy of the drivers license, only this method is portable, and often more convenient.

Some agents are hesitant to ask people for their driver’s license or the car license plate number or to take their photo.  Some feel that it’s invasive or rude.  Presented in a non-aggressive, matter-of-fact way, most people will understand your need for caution.

I have been selling Real Estate for 16 years, and I now use “safe real estate” practices.  None of my customers/clients have objected.   Our industry is a vulnerable as the weakest link.  Taking the lead in promoting and practicing “safe real estate” will encourage others to follow.

It isn’t about being polite; it’s about being safe.   If you won’t do it for your own safety; do it insure the safety of your profession.  Do it for your family and loved ones.  Your safety is vitally important to them.