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The real estate industry shares a lot with real estate agents on safety, but what about seller safety? There certainly isn’t enough guidance out there, and the industry as a whole should probably take a step in the right direction and share safety tips with customers.
As a real estate agent, taking some time to talk safety to your sellers can not only help ensure nothing bad happens, but at the same time you can improve the reputation of the industry in his outfit.
Talk to a seller about their valuables
Open houses and viewings are common for sellers, but you should be sure to remind them that even if you’re there, you can’t monitor every potential buyer all the time. You need to remind your sellers that it’s in their best interest to put away all valuables, and you can do your part by checking IDs and asking visitors to log in.
Remove all medications
Many vendors will remember to put away their iPads or lock up their jewelry before an open house or exhibition, but what about their medications? There’s nothing stopping anyone from opening a medicine cabinet and taking prescription drugs.
You probably don’t want to put yourself at risk by confronting a potential buyer who may have taken something, so it’s best to tell your salespeople to take their medicine with them to a show or open house. .
Store the knife blocks
Something that can help keep you safe at an open house or exhibition is asking your vendors to put the knife blocks away. Most of the time there are amazing pictures from inside a house, so someone who wants to rob the place can really spot where things are if they come for an exhibit.
A real estate agent may be no match for a thief who wants to take the seller’s new 4K TV, and it could be even worse if the thief can grab a knife.
Delete photos of children
Many sellers still live in the house, which means they may still have family photos. If there are pictures of children, it’s in everyone’s best interest that you ask the seller to remove them. You never know who may see them and you could endanger the seller’s children.
Advise sellers not to offer tours on their own
If your seller’s house is listed, that means you’re essentially inviting people to view their house. Some scammers take advantage of this and show up at the house, knock on the door and talk about how they are looking for a new home, just love the place and wonder if they could take a look inside.
This, of course, could be a disaster. Inform your salespeople that if this happens they should refuse to let anyone in and tell the person to call you instead. However, it’s probably just an innocent thing where the person is genuinely interested in the house. We never know.
Make sure they know about Craigslist scams
With so many scams, you should talk to your sellers about Craigslist or other scams that may affect sellers or people interested in renting their property.
Check every lock after an open house or visit
You also want to talk to your sales people to make sure they check every lock after a visit or open house. This includes window locks. Sometimes people come into the house, unlock a window or door without anyone knowing, and then come back later to break in.
Protect sellers
One of the first things you can do to protect your sellers, and yourself, for that matter, is to tell each seller who they allow into their home.
Don’t allow random, unverified people in, and if there’s a situation like an open house or exhibit, be sure to see the person’s ID. If they don’t want to show identification, you don’t have to show the house.
You should also try to make this a personal practice when dealing with salespeople. Another suggestion is to talk to your broker or share this information with others in your industry. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, work with others to create a broker safety policy.
Recognize that all safety is personal
There are many security awareness trainings that teach the above. But what more Realtor Safety Training missing is how to change the behavior of agents so that they actually want to act and make changes in the way they do business to keep themselves and their customers safe.
If agents ask themselves, “What would I actually do if confronted?” and think about what response, if any, they would have, they would begin to understand how they and, by default, their clients do not are not prepared.
Safety starts with yourself. All officers should consider their individual concerns and concerns regarding their personal safety. From there, they will begin to recognize risk in a much more holistic way, naturally evolving towards better protecting people and customers.
Author Robert Siciliano is CEO of Credit parentTraining Manager and Security Awareness Expert at Protect nowa #1 Amazon bestselling author, media personality and architect of CSI Protection Certification, a cyber, social, identity and personal protection designation for real estate agents and their brokers. Follow Robert Siciliano on Twitter.
