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REALTOR® Safety.
These tips could save your life!
Download the Customer/Client ID form. Use this form to further safety standards in your office!
Know Who You Are Dealing With
- Meet prospects in the office.
- Have them complete the personal identification form before going to properties. Try to have them do this in the presence of an associate.
- Verify identities.
- Ask for several forms of identification and cross-check them. Call references and places of employment. Inform prospects that your firm's safety policies require that you keep the information on file, which could discourage assailants.
- Get license numbers.
- Record car models and license numbers. This can help police catch a criminal or find you if you're abducted.
- Introduce the prospect to others in your office.
- Since would-be assailants don't like to be noticed, be sure to introduce prospects to your colleagues.
- Photocopy driver's licenses.
Legitimate clients probably won't mind you copying their driver's licenses. Customers freely show identification to grocery store or movie rental clerks. They should be willing to identify themselves to REALTORS® who show homes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and who need to be concerned for the safety of their clients as well as themselves.
Tell Someone
Tell someone where you are going, which client you're going with, and when you will return. Try to let the client know you've shared this information. Criminals are less likely to attack if they know they can be identified and the victim might quickly be missed.
Use the Buddy System
If you work with other colleagues, choose at least one "buddy" with whom you share information. If you work alone, establish your buddy in your family, or hire an answering service. Even leaving a note on your desk or completing an itinerary form could help authorities find you in an emergency.
Know in advance whom you will call if your instincts tell you to get help, if a client makes you feel endangered, or if you need help at a listing or open house. REALTOR® Magazine reported on the case of a 26-year-old female agent in Columbus, Ohio, who established a buddy relationship with Claudia Perry-Vance, a 23-year veteran of the real estate business. The younger agent met a client who identified himself as Jack Martin, a nuclear physicist from Tennessee. Although she met him several times in the office, she didn't confirm his identification. The man was actually Thomas Chappell, a local commercial cleaning service operator and a convicted rapist.
After establishing a casual rapport with the young agent, Chappell called her to show him a property. Just before she left the office, she asked her buddy Claudia to come along. "The only reason I went with her was that she felt a little nervous," Perry-Vance told REALTOR® Magazine writer Timothy Dougherty.
Chappell met both woman at the house, managed to separate them, and attacked the younger one with a stun gun. "She let out the most horrible scream I've ever heard," said Perry-Vance, who was in another room when the attack occurred. The scream sent Chappell fleeing to his van, but the agents got his license number and called the police. When the police caught him, they found in his van an MLS book in which he had circled the photo of the young agent.
Market Yourself Professionally
Avoid glamour shots in your marketing material. Police have handled cases in which criminals have chosen their victims through their appearance in advertisements, circling their photographs in the newspaper.
Make sure your marketing materials and your clothing are polished but professional. Select clothes that are comfortable and shoes that allow you to run. Don't wear expensive jewelry. And remember your mother's advice about dressing for the weather. If you need to escape a dangerous situation or your car breaks down, you might be exposed to the weather for a long period of time.
Limit the amount of personal information you share. Use your cell phone number, not your home phone. Publish only your office address; never give out your home address. Use your initials instead of your first name on signage so that potential assailants can't easily identify your gender. Be careful of how much personal information you share verbally as well. "Getting to know your client" should not mean sharing details of your personal life. Be guarded with what you say about yourself or your family.
Stay Connected
Keep your cell phone at your side. Clip it to your clothes, or buy one of the new carrying cases with a shoulder strap. If you keep your phone in your purse or briefcase, you might not be able to get to it when you need it most.
Always keep your cell phone fully charged. Keep a charger that works from your car's cigarette lighter in the vehicle at all times, and use it whenever you've started to deplete the phone's battery. Program emergency numbers into your speed dial, including 911, emergency road service, your office and your buddy. If you find yourself in an emergency situation and need to dial 911, do not hang up. Keep the line open so that the police can trace the call.
Create a Distress Code
Agree on a prearranged distress signal you can use on the phone if you think you might need help, but don't want to alarm the person you are with. For instance, set up a signal using a unique street or client name that signifies danger. If you're at a listing with a prospect who is making you feel uneasy, call the office and say, "I'm at the Richardson listing, and then I'm going to the house on Mayday Lane." Or "Could you please pull the red file and have it ready for me after I finish showing the Jones house?"
Share your distress signal with all your colleagues and your family and friends. Brokers can ensure that everyone in the office knows the signals and understands the steps to take when they hear them.
Be Safe At Listings
Never advertise a listing as vacant. This is an open invitation to criminals.
At the beginning of the showing, mention to the client that you have another appointment to show the house within a short time.
Use separate cars to travel to listings. Tell the client that you need to go to another appointment immediately after the showing, and ask him to follow you in his own car. In no case should you ever ride in the prospect's car. When you arrive, park in a well lit area on the street instead of in the driveway to avoid being blocked in case you need to make a quick getaway. Check out your surroundings while you park, get out of the car and walk to the property, being alert to suspicious activities.
Be aware of the client's behavior, watching for strange behavior such as nervousness, dilated pupils or inappropriate laughter or speech. At the door, take a few seconds to scan the house before you enter, making sure nothing looks suspicious or out of place. Then step aside and have the client enter first. Be alert to any strange activity the client might display, such as a preoccupation with valuable objects or checking out doors, locks and alarm systems.
While inside the home, always keep the prospects in front of you. Let them lead the way into rooms, and always stay between the client and the room's doorway. Make an effort to stay out of attics, basements, walk-in closets or other small areas.
In Timothy Dougherty's article in REALTOR® Magazine, he wrote about Maria Garcia, an agent who was showing a house in Brentwood, New York in 1995 when prospect Donny Bates approached her about listing his house. Instead of meeting him at her office, she went alone to a strange house with him. The prospect was actually a paroled convict with a history of mental illness. He murdered her.
Despite the heightened awareness of safety that Garcia's death created, another agent in the area met a man alone at a foreclosed property only four months later. Norberto Ruivo's error was in turning his back on the prospect while entering the home's basement. The man put a gun to Ruivo's head, handcuffed him to a pipe and stole his wallet and cell phone. Fortunately, the suspect fled without further harming the agent, but Ruivo's ordeal is a lesson to learn from.
Have a Safe Open House
Arrive early. Before you post the yard signs, survey all exits to map out escape routes throughout the house. Unlock deadbolts for a faster escape. Doublecheck the yard and fences to make sure you won't inadvertently be trapped if you flee from the house.
Take a few moments to refamiliarize yourself with the home's features. When strangers later enter, you need to be able to focus on them and not become preoccupied with things like finding light switches or linen closets.
Try to take the time to introduce yourself to the neighbors and notify them of the open house. Although you can make this a simple courtesy call, the knowledge of the open house might make neighbors more alert to unusual sounds, and you could have a place to run to if necessary.
Before you open the home, write the date and time on the back of one of your business cards and place it in a kitchen cupboard. Purchase open house registers at EHAR's REALTOR® Store, or use a simple blank ledger or notebook. So that visitors don't feel put upon, consider displaying a small sign or flyer asking them to sign in for the safety of the homeowner and the agent. Try to keep your own list of visitors' descriptions and car license numbers.
Whenever possible, "buddy up" at open houses. At the very least, make sure your buddy knows where you are. Set up a check-in system and phone in regularly. Develop acting skills so that you can pretend to be speaking on the phone when a prospect walks in. "I'm at the open house on Main Street, so bring the paperwork here as soon as you can. OK, I'll see you in a few minutes."
Be especially alert near the end of the day, when predators might assume you are tired or more vulnerable.
Help Your Clients Safeguard Themselves
Remind sellers that strangers will be in their home. Tell them to put valuables in a safe, secure place. Ask them to consider items they might not initially think would attract interest. Suggest that they hide any such items.
Don't leave your own briefcase, purse, laptop or cell phone in view. (You should have that phone on your person at all times anyway.) Wear clothing with pockets so that you can always have your car keys with you as well. Never carry large amounts of cash.
When you leave make sure that all doors and windows are secured. Authorities report that thieves commonly use open houses to scout for valuables and easy entrance routes, then return when the agent leaves.
Inform your clients that while you are taking safety precautions, and that you've checked and locked the home before leaving, they should immediately doublecheck all locks and scout for missing items immediately upon their return, in case you've missed any less-than-obvious means of entry.
Working From Home
Many real estate professionals do much, and sometimes all, of their work from home offices. You might want to consider additional security steps, above and beyond those that the typical homeowner might take. Here are a few tips from Jeff Zbar, author of SOHO Psychology: Mastering the Mindset of Working from Home.
Consider investing in an alarm system if you don't already have one. If you do, make sure you have a panic button feature you can easily use in the office portion of your home.
Even when you're using a regular telephone in your home office, also keep a fully charged cell phone with you, just in case. Program your safety phone numbers onto your office line as well as your cell phone. Keep a printout of emergency numbers at your desk.
Install a deadbolt lock on your office door, as well as on your exterior doors, so that you can lock yourself in while you call for help. If you work on the second floor of your home, buy a fold-away ladder in case you need to escape from a window.
Observe ordinary, common-sense safety measures such as having good locks on doors and windows, adequate outdoor lighting, motion sensors and an adequate supply of flashlights and batteries.
Personal Safeguards
Consider taking a personal safety course. Convince your buddy to do it with you.
Even if you learn self-defense techniques, experts agree that no matter how competent you believe you might be in fighting back, the best recourse is to flee. Run toward an open business or someplace you know you will find other people.
Police departments advise that if you are attacked, scream loudly and keep screaming. Studies have shown that yelling the word "Fire" attracts a quicker response than yelling "Help." If you carry a warning siren or whistle, keep screaming until you can use the device.
Police and security experts almost universally agree that you should never carry a weapon such as a knife, club or gun. Statistics show that you, rather than the assailant, are more likely to be hurt with such weapons.
If all precautions fail and you become a victim of a crime, report it to the police immediately. Try to remember as many details as possible, and share all of them, no matter how insignificant you might think they are.
Listen to Your Gut
Intuition can be your best friend. If you feel apprehensive, don't ignore those feelings.
As often as she can, Dallas REALTOR® Joan Malone testifies to the importance of trusting your gut. She had met several times with a well-dressed client who identified himself as an attorney. He left a working telephone number, drove a nice car and even had two women and a child with him at one showing. Yet Malone still felt uneasy and told her husband that the customer made her uncomfortable.
Despite this apprehension, Malone agreed one day to show the customer more homes. After viewing five houses, he asked to return to one of them, where he suddenly attacked her and threw her to the floor, breaking her back. As she fought back, he strangled her to unconsciousness, stabbed her and left her for dead, escaping in her car. Malone briefly came to and managed to crawl to a phone and dial 911.
Malone cheated death and returned to the business, though now working only by referral. The paper trail on the buyer she had maintained helped authorities catch him and put him in maximum security for 40 years. After a long recovery, Malone made it a goal to educate REALTORS® about personal safety. "The nature of our business puts us in a very vulnerable situation," she told Realty Times writer Blanche Evans. "The one thing I could say to people is if you have a bad feeling, don't second guess what it's telling you. Listen to your gut feeling and protect yourself."
Safety experts agree that it's best to assume your instincts are right and to take necessary precautions. Don't be so anxious to make a sale that you ignore your intuition. To your friends, family and colleagues, your life is far more important than your sales figures.
Tips for Brokers
To the best of our knowledge, these is no standard of practice specifically for brokers in establishing safety policies and guidelines. These techniques are simply recommendations gathered from police and other sources, which you might want to consider to help you make REALTOR® safety a prime concern for your employees and practitioners.
- Create an office safety plan. Appoint a "safety coordinator" to oversee, maintain and enforce it. Require everyone in your firm to know and understand the safety policies and procedures. Make it a top priority. We've posted tools, tips and resources on www.sdar.com to help you.
- Assign an office safety contact and several alternates. Appoint employees who are typically in the office, and not attending meetings or showing listings.
- Establish a dedicated office safety phone line, a "safety hotline." Office safety contacts should ensure constant coverage during business hours. Don't let the line go into voicemail while the office is open-make sure you always have someone there who will answer the ring. Consider having the line automatically transfer to another number when the office is closed, and appoint individuals to cover the line during those weekend and evening hours when agents are often most vulnerable.
- Require salespeople to report their whereabouts to your safety contact, and establish safety call-in procedures. Mandate the use of the buddy system. Create and communicate "panic codes," making sure that all employees and agents not only know what they are, but exactly what to do when they hear them.
- Don't forget workplace safety procedures for the office. Use a registration book for all clients and other visitors. Establish a secure location to which employees can go in a dangerous situation. Make sure private areas of the office aren't accessible to strangers.
- Consider having salespeople partner at open houses. Be especially concerned about female agents and assistants being alone at a property. Although neither gender is safe, statistics show that more female than male agents are assaulted, according to former Chicago homicide detective J. J. Bittenbinder, a nationally recognized personal security expert.
- Ensure that someone is responsible for being aware of your agents' whereabouts. Consider personally visiting or calling the open houses where your practitioners are working.
- Share your ideas with others. Use the Send Us Your Tips feature of SDAR's REALTOR® Safety Web pages to share useful solutions and tools with others.
Safety Tools and Resources
Communications Directors of REALTOR® Associations from around the country have unselfishly shared information and resources to help their members be safer. Here are a few tools you can use.
- While you're at the REALTOR® Safety pages, download the Personal Identification, Agent Identification and Agent Itinerary Forms. Make their use a part of your business activities.
- Several communications directors recommended the following books, available at most bookstores and via online vendors:
- A Gift of Fear: Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence by Gavin De Becker, published by Dell Publishing
- Be Alert, Be Aware, Have a Plan by Neal Rawls and Sue Kovach, published by Lyons Press
- Strong on Defense by Sanford Strong, published by Pocket Books
- Visit EHAR's REALTOR® Store for items such as open-house registers and other attractive ways to track client information. If you do opt to purchase pepper spray, the Stores stock several types that fit a purse, pocket or keychain.
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