I have blogged recently about realtor safety and it seems to be high on the list for a lot of real estate agents. I heard a story at our weekly meeting last week that made my hair stand on end. We all just sat there in silence, none of us could believe it. A very young good looking realtor in our office received a call from a male client that wanted to see her listing that is located out of town.This realtor told no one she was going, she just went and let this guy in a vacant house and went in with him. This was bad enough but, she was telling us the basement was pitch black and she went down the stairs with this guy behind her to find the lights. Unbelievable right. To make matters worse this young realtor is 8 months pregnant. Fortunately this incident turned out okay. I don't believe she will do this again though.I just went to the real estate safety council web site and down loaded their personal safety guide and our office manager will be going over it at our next meeting.

I am posting a list of their safety tips with this blog for your review. I believe this is  very serious and we should all address this problem

ASK PROSPECT TO STOP BY YOUR OFFICE and complete the personal identification form before going to a property. This should be openly obtained, preferably in the presence of an associate. Information should be retained at office; knowing that a name and address are known may discourage an assailant.

INTRODUCE THE PROSPECT TO SOMEONE IN YOUR OFFICE, a would-be assailant does not like to be noticed or receive exposure knowing a person could pick him out of a lineup.

USE AN EMERGENCY CODE WORD... If you sense you are in a dangerous situation - call an associate or the office with a preassigned emergency code word i.e. "We are on MAYDAY street" or "Look in the RED FILE." Whoever receives the emergency code word should send help immediately and remove the agent from the situation.

USE YOUR OWN CAR ... to show a property. The prospect could have a weapon concealed or even another person hidden within their car.

THE POLICE DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS... Do not try to talk your way out of a situation.
If you are attacked, scream. It has been found that by screaming "FIRE" people sometimes respond more quickly than a plea for "HELP."

CALL THE POLICE WHEN:

Any time your are suspicious about a prospect.
You feel uncomfortable about showing a house to a prospect.
You feel suspicious about a person after you have shown a house.
You have been assaulted in any way, i.e., robbed, raped, mugged.

SAFEGUARD YOUR OFFICE

Keep your windows and counters clear. Robbers and attackers like to work in private and police like to see in. Keep a radio or T.V. playing fairly loudly in the back room when you're alone in the office. Secure all unused doors and windows, especially if they are in the rear of the office and out of sight and sound.

OPEN HOUSE PRECAUTIONS

Upon entering a house for the first time, check all rooms and determine several "escape" routes.
Make sure all deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.
Make sure if you were to escape by back door, that you could escape from the backyard. Frequently, high fences surround yards that contain swimming pools or hot tubs.
Place one of your business cards, with the date and time on the back, in a kitchen cupboard. Note on it if you were the first to arrive or if clients were waiting.
When prospects begin to arrive, jot down their car description, license number and physical description.
When showing the house, always walk behind the prospect. Direct them, don't lead them. Say, for example, "the kitchen is on your left," and gesture for them to go ahead of you.
Watch what the prospects are doing at all times. Do not become preoccupied with viewing the home.
Notify someone in your office, your answering service, a friend or a relative that you will be calling in every hour on the hour. And if you don't call, they are to notify the police immediately.
Inform a neighbor that you will be showing the house and ask if he would keep an ear open for any thing out of the ordinary.
Have someone from your office, a relative or friend stay with you.

Weichert Realtors Northeast Group had their wild weekend of open houses today. We hosted 13 open houses all in the same area of town. We had major advertising and a drawing for a 50.00 gas card. We are trying to increase traffic to our listings. This seemed to work. The whole West side of town was saturated with yellow open house signs and yellow balloons. The traffic to our listings doubled and it seemed like all clients were very enthusiastic. I have 2 possible leads on the house that I hosted. Contrary to what a lot of realtors think, open houses still do work, it takes a little more effort but we are willing to do whatever it takes.

Our office came up with an idea to try and increase attendance at our open houses. This Sunday 9/7, we are hosting 13 open houses in one section of town. It is advertised as Weichert's Wild Wilton Weekend. We are entering clients in a drawing for a 50.00 gas card if they visit 5 of our open houses. Visitors are given a sheet with all open houses listed on it and at each house they visit, the agent signs next to that particular house, after 5 houses they turn it in and they are eligible for the drawing. We will see how this works. Attendance at open houses has been down for a few months and we are trying to spark some interest. I am hoping that this works out well.

This home in Saratoga Springs, New York has had major upgrades in the last two years, asking price is 225,000.00 but the owners want to sell. They say MAKE AN OFFER. We are open Sunday 12-3 The address is 15 Worth Road and it is an excellent location.This home boasts a 1/2 acre lot with the backyard fenced in and private on 3 sides. There is a golf course steps away and shopping malls are approx. 5 minutes away yet this home is in a country setting. Saratoga Springs and the Northway are also minutes away from this home. Come by and see us on Sunday to tour this great listing.

This home in Saratoga Springs, New York has had major upgrades in the last two years, asking price is 225,000.00 but the owners want to sell. They say MAKE AN OFFER. We are open Sunday 12-3 The address is 15 Worth Road and it is an excellent location.

I have been a member of AR for a few weeks now. I must admit that after reading some of the blogs onhere and how well they are written, I am somewhat hesitant to blog, fearing that it may not sound just right or professional enough, but, I have changed my mind.

I am on this site every morning very early and the first place I go is to the blog area. I love to read other peoples stories since some of them sound like what has happened to me. A lot of the blogs have absolutely nothing to do with real estate. Don't get me wrong, I could absolutely care less what other realtors blog about, that is none of my concern. If I don't like the content, I don't read it or comment on it. I personally, am mainly intrerested in real estate. I must be pretty boring.

I do fully expect someday to see a blog entitled "My trip to Wal Mart, Part 4, The Bread Aisle." That would not surprise me at all.

SO, after my weeks of observing, I am going to feel free to blog about whatever I want and not worry about how it is worded or anything else. While I am talking in this new free speech, I must say that I am alarmed by some of the spelling I see from professional realtors. I hope you have a proof reader to check your work before it is presented. All of us may hit an incorrect key or accidently misspell something but, some of these are scary. I have someone in our office read over everything I write for a client or another professional because I am so paranoid about the spelling and content.

I will be blogging away from now on so watch out!!!!

I have seen a couple of blogs here this morning about realtor safety. I have always been an advocate of safety for my fellow realtors. I read safety precautions once that I always follow. If the client is a stranger we must always be alert.

1. If you meet the client at the showing, do not let them block you in the driveway.

2. Always walk behind the client through the house, especially stairs.

3. Make the client aware that the office knows you are there with them even if you have to call the office

These three things are the most important to me. There are many, many rules to follow. I guess the best thing is to use plain old common sense. Always be alert.

Hard to believe there are over one thousand people on this web site so early on Labor Day. I woke up at my normal time even though I don't have to go to the office today but i'm sure that at some point I will be there anyway. Sunday should be pretty quiet for us so we can relax but it seemed like everyone I know wanted me yesterday. I had a phone request for comps for a property in another town. I did that and then got in touch with the owner to talk to her about possibly listing the property. Later in the day I had to meet clients at another listing to open the house for them. Between this I had several other calls about property. I don't mind these interruptions at all because that is what we do.I know there are realtors that turn there phone off on the week end. That is very frustrating.Anyway, I hope today is a little quieter and I hope all of you out there have a wonderful Labor Day.

Here I am sitting on my deck on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on Labor Day Weekend having a glass of wine. Go back 2 hours ago and I was attempting to do the same thing and my phone rang. It was the cousin of the seller of one of my listings. She had driven 10 hours from Virginia to pick up some furniture at my listing and did not have the owners phone number to get in. The owner lives out of state but, is here for the week-end to get the house cleaned out. No one knows where she is and she does not answer her cell.I told the "cousin" that I would come over and see what I could do. I tried repeatedly to contact the owner to no avail. I arrived at the home and opened it up and much to my relief there was nothing left in the house. I was very uncomfortable with this situation. I don't know these people and I was not going to let them take any furniture. The problem is solved by the house being empty and I gave her the owners cell number.They can work it out. This glass of wine tastes great!!!

I have been a member of AR for a few weeks now. I must admit that after reading some of the blogs on here and how well they are written, I am somewhat hesitant to blog, fearing that it may not sound just right or professional enough, but, I have changed my mind.

I am on this site every morning very early and the first place I go is to the blog area. I love to read other peoples stories since some of them sound like what has happened to me. A lot of the blogs have absolutely nothing to do with real estate. Don't get me wrong, I could absolutely care less what other realtors blog about, that is none of my concern. If I don't like the content, I don't read it or comment on it. I personally am mainly intrerested in real estate. I must be pretty boring.

I do fully expect someday to see a blog entitled "My trip to Wal Mart, Part 4, The Bread Aisle." That would not surprise me at all.

SO, after my weeks of observing, I am going to feel free to blog about whatever I want and not worry about how it is worded or anything else. While I am talking in this new free speech, I must say that I am alarmed by some of the spelling I see from professional realtors. I hope you have a proof reader to check your work before it is presented. All of us may hit an incorrect key or accidently misspell something but, some of these are scary. I have someone in our office read over everything I write for a client or another professional because I am so paranoid about the spelling and content.

I will be blogging away from now on so watch out!!!!