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Are You Really a REALTOR®?

Toward the end of last year the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® brought in electronic lock boxes. The Sentrilock® boxes have brought in a much needed improvement over the old mechanical boxes. We can now monitor who and when they enter our listings. It also allows us to create dedicated 1-day codes for venders and agents who have not set up their smart card. I could go on for another paragraph touting the merits of the program.

What is quite disturbing is the number of real estate agents who have not activated their smart cards and those who are not using the boxes on their listings.

Sunday evening I was out at dinner and received calls from three different agents wanting to show my listings in the morning. I had nearly identical conversations with all three of them.

Call From Agent 1:

Me: No problem it has an electronic lock box on the front door, consider it confirmed. Please drop a business card on the counter to confirm you were there.
Agent 1: I do not have a smart card. Can I get a 1-day code?
Me: You do not have a smart card? The Board of REALTORS® issued them to all agents. Are you really a REALTOR®?
Agent 1: Yes I am a REALTOR®. I have decided not to use them.
Me: How are you doing business without the card? It also serves as your ID. I apologize, but I am not near a computer and will not be able to generate a 1-day code at this time. If you send me an e-mail, I can forward the codes later tonight or first thing in the morning.

The story gets better. Of the three agents who called, two of them did not have e-mail. I than suggested they call my office in the morning for help.

Three real estate agents, none using electronic lock boxes. Two of the three do not have access to e-mail. Can you imagine being on the other side of a transaction with one of them?

No e-mail. Phone and hard to read faxes. (oops I am assuming they have a fax)
1. One of the beauties of e-mail is the paper trail it creates. If I am dealing with a less than professional agent on the other side, I really would prefer hard copies of all communications in my file.
With no Sentrilock® card we will need to generate 1-day codes for all accesses of the home.

If these agents do not even have the basics, we would be looking at a messy transaction.

Buyers and sellers should check out potential agents to find out what level of services they provide. Not all agents are the same.

Posted by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® on 07/15/2009 05:31 AM

Comments (69)

Electronic Lockbox in the Technology and Tools Channel

electronic lock boxes, sentrilock, honolulu board of realtors, realtors

Originally posted at: Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions: Are You Really a REALTOR®?

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69 Comments on Are You Really a REALTOR®?

JUL

Randy, it sounds like the three agents are living in the dark ages of real estate. No access to email? That's just absurd in this day and age.

This situation was inevitable. The more complicated and restrictive access becomes, the more agents who will opt out of the new and continue to use the old, comfortable and familiar.

I toured a home last Saturday that had 4 different key boxes on the stoop, railing, door. If we had one simple system and stuck with it, we could have some consistency.

I no longer fault the agents for this mess because I'm a victim. I carry a Supra key, a Sentrilock key, and half the homes listed and almost all of the foreclosures have a combo box.

We are tools of GE who continue to consider us pawns for their planned obsolescence marketing profitability.

Yes. I am a REALTOR trying to show properties. Since my buyers may be looking at homes in more than one county, I'm forced to play the GE/Board of Realtors' games and fight the battle for access every time I show homes for sale. It's a colossal waste of our time and has been since the first fancy lock box was introduced into my market area in about 1993. Some have worked, most have not and been eliminated and replaced with newer fancier and more expensive models.

In my area where we have "board of choice" MLS and keybox access, it's necessary to abide by each and every county/board rules for access to homes for sale. Not a good policy for selling homes.

Did that 1st agent call from a phone(rotary) booth? LOL.

When ever I get an agent like that, I tell them I will text them the code. That usually sends them into a tail spin..

In Chicagoland some areas use the Sentrilock almost exclusively and some areas are still using the archaic combo/number boxes. I only use the Sentrilock boxes.

When showing, especially in the winter or poor weather fumbling around trying to open a combo box just adds to the merriment of unshoveled driveways and steps, especially on vacant properties.

Linda Metallo, Re/max Impact, Lockport, Illinois

Our MLS is heavily leveraged into electronic boxes. Other MLS around us often run less than 50% !!!

People who refuse to move into todays time, no email, no electronic lockbox access, they are becoming dinosaurs of their time. Its really a shame when the learning curve is easy if taken a step at a time. I am a senior and have relatives over 70yrs of age even 80 who send email and keep up with whats going on. I can not imagine any excuse for not moving into the 21st Century.

Randy,

I had never even heard of "one-day" access codes. Folks use their own Supra key or don't get in. On the very rare times an out-of-area agent with a different systems wants to show one of my listings, I meet them and open up the home.

On my foreclosures, the bank requires a combination lockbox so it could send someone into the property, which it owns. Once on a Saturday, I got a call from someone who had forgotten his key (that tells you something!) and wanted the combo. No way for me to verify the caller was even a real estate professional. So I looked up the number for the office, gave the broker the combo and asked him to provide it to any of his authorized agents. Within 5 minutes, Mr. Forgetful was in the home.

Other than that, around here all agent go electronic or don't get access!

No email? Today? That is a recreational agent.

I'm with Lenn on the GE pawn thought...we have over half our agents who don't use supra lockboxes, so it is very inconsistent here. It's unnecessary to be all electronic, as well as a pain if agents don't subscribe. It is too expensive for most of the agents, especially if they are carrying a boatload of listings.

Every market is different!

I could understand the agent not having email if it was a large expense but it's free! Elayna Fernandez just posted a blog on getting a gmail account. No email = no professional.

The Toronto Real Estate Board does not use any of the electronic lockboxes ... yet ... and I haven't heard of any talk at this time. However, one never knows if it might suddenly be implemented. For MLS access, we must now carry around keyfobs because a number of members had been apparently providing their MLS passwords to non-members to do their own property searches.

Wow. All we have here in our area is Supra Keys. Everybody uses them except for foreclosed properties where they typically use code boxes, but the codes are always the same so you don't have to go around chasing codes.

Not jumping into a new system is not an excuse to me. If you're going to be a Realtor and your Realtor board changes something, you pretty much have to go along with it to stay in business. Otherwise, you're kind of like an Amish guy trying to sell real estate using buggy methods in a smart car world.

Randi...We have had the electronic for about 4 years. I have seen quite a drop in there use. Not sure why.

Interesting. I just acquired a supra key. My office does not even have electronic lockboxes on any of our listings, but there are offices in our area that do, so it behooves us to have a key. The beauty of it all? Agents can't even share keys without incurring a hefty fine.

I can see the writing on the wall already... It is possible they are new to the business and/or just getting started, so keep that in mind. Heres one for you. In our office we have one agent that still orders the Giant MLS book and doesn't use a computer. Can you believe that! You can also guess exactly how busy he is. Great stuff to keep in mind. Thanks

Hey Lenn, Great post on a topic that came up in our business meeting a couple of weeks ago and prior to that at a local board meeting. Here in suburban Philadelphia we have mainly combo lockboxes until you get to one of the "outer" counties that is mostly Supra Lockboxes. I am really surprised that there isn't more consistency with this issue but my surprise aside, I recently took a call from a "hobbyist" who wanted to show her son the house but didn't have a Supra key. She said she was a licensed assistant with so and so who only does commercial so they don't have a key in their office. I chuckled not under my breath as she asked me to meet her at the property. The answer I gave was a flat out no but added that I would gladly pay a generous referral fee and take good care of her son. She was a bit taken aback at the reply and said she would just show her son another property if that was the case; even after helping her do the math on a commission for a $595k (list price) home and showing her that it was worth the investment of $65.

Did I do my seller an injustice? I think not; after all, I haven't prequalified the buyer but if his agent was any indication, neither were serious.

Gosh, this makes Oklahoma City seem progressive. We have had Supra infrared boxes for years, and we can track entry by internet very easily. Electronic boxes are very important to fiduciary duty. Combos and the like do not secure a home and are easily hacked. Change is hard as i have seen years ago in having lock boxes in the first place. In 2009 this should not be a discussion, and I wish people would just see the logic, and quit being so obstinate to change.

Randy - I do not understand how many of the agents are still in the dark ages. The idea behind a lock box is to make the home accessible.

Randy, we switched over to Sentrilock a while back, and I gotta say, it's not exactly a love-fest. Still, it's a tool of the trade that you have to have to do business. Sheesh!

Hello....wake up.....it's the year 2009

Patrcia

Randy, you have good reason for concern. If you are going to be in this business you have to do what ever it take to be able to conduct business even if it is doing things that you might not want to do. What I can't get over is no e-mail address. That indicates to me that they also don't have a computer, and without a computer how can you conduct business these days??????

Hi Randy, Nice blog. We use the supra key mostly; however, there are quite a few combos. I like both. Never heard of 1 day access code, or smart card here in our area. thanks for sharing!

Bout time you showed up ...I was tired of covering for you lol. As always there are some 'preferences' that boards and companies don't instill into their system so there will be no consistency in our whole association/board.

I do however do not blame the agents for not buying into the Sentrilock system as at this time it is an option...not a requirement. Another thing is that it is one more expense and again, if it is not a requirement then many will not realize the significance (nor care) about the significance of an electronic lockbox.

As for emails, faxes etc. Well, they're behind times for sure.

Randy - yep, those are some signs of the time and folks jsut not getting with it. We use Sentilock and it is required in our county. But REOs and Shorts generally use combo boxes alone (and those folks out of area - a good number - do) or we see both types. Because it is a requirement in our boards it seems to work pretty well overall.

Jeff

Randy,

Why do these fake agents waste their time and ours?

Wow. And I thought Oklahoma was backwards. :-)

I was in the 2007 OAR Leadership class, and we toured several associations throughout the state during the year. I was shocked at how many areas did NOT have electronic keyboxes -- they were still going to the Listing Realtor's office to pick up keys to show houses. We've had the electronic keyboxes in Tulsa for five years maybe? I love them!

Good luck during this transition!

Aloha kaua e Randy.

Well I don't blame the agent. Some boards help companies hold us hostage to exhorbitant fees. I am fortunate that in Florida agents use the Suprakey and sometimes lockboxes so there is some consistency. However there is a Catch 22. If we don't pay the fee for GE then we can't play in the field (i.e. show houses and/or have others show our listings with convenient access.)

As for email... I don't know how they can do business without email. Some libraries in Hawai'i offer free access to computers. Gmail and Hotmail are free... so really there is no excuse.

In fairness to some agents in Hawai'i though... there are roughly 6,000 agents with a limited amount of inventory. Thus it can be very cut throat/competitive there. IMO it is more competitive partly because of supply. If I were back there I would at least do the basics which includes but is not limited to email, fax, etc. It helps set *you* apart. Of course the strong stay standing in this profession so those without email may not last.

~ Lana

We have Supra in NE Ohio but the majority of times the agent will have a combo on the home. I don't mind until they want to show one of mine and dont have a keypad. If I have to pay GE to provide great service to my buyers and sellers, why shoudn't they. I have driven over to open my sellers homes and not one offer, but it's hard for me not to open the home just in case.

Like Lenn, I get mad at GE's marketing and the Boards not having the guts for a uniform rule for every member.

Randy, here in New Orleans it is a requirement to use the ge boxs. When I find an agent using a contractor lock box, I asked them to met there for the showing. I stopped when the agent told me that she would leave a key under the floor mat. This is not the type of integrity that should be practice. I wrote some time back about agents without fax machines. It is true still in 2009. Maybe some should go and find a new career.

Yes, I am a Realtor...but here in Lewisburg WV...we still use combo locks...It is really hard to get use to as in Northern Viriginia I used the electronic lockboxes.

What a scary thing to think of . . . were they real agents -- that would have been my first thought as well! People might try anything to 'case the joint' . . . which makes me so leary of having Zillow and other websites post the address of the seller. Another topic, for another day . . . .

With any major system change, just let time take care of the problems. Those that buck the system will be left in the dark in time. Hopefully your board will hold firm and not give in to any delays in the system.

I think one of the main causes of this problem is the financial situation a lot of realtors are fiding themselves in. They are trying to cut costs. But not have a key to open lockboxes is crazy. How will you ever sell anything?

I have written on lockboxes so many times, I am glad someone else has taken up the mantra.

We started having less and less Realtors use the electronic when the largest Board near us never aquired them. Then data sharing came along and like David we were out opening doors and it was a complete waste of time.

Missed Ya!!

Randy, Long time no see! Yes, we have used Supra lock boxes here and where I was in CA for years. I can understand how frustrating it is when agents are too cheap to invest in a Supra Key and the MLS chosen lock boxes. Combo boxes are still around which is hard for me to believe too!

Randy, I haven't used my electronic key in over a year. Almost all listings in my area are now on combo boxes. This si due to the large amount of distressed properties. An REO agent with several hundred listings is not going to invest in electronic lock boxes that vcan cost more than $100. Personally I prefer combo boxes anyway.

BUT....I still have a key. If I need it I'm ready. You must have the tools if you are going to succeed in this business.

Oops!! Forgot to mention that it's good to see you. I hope you have been busy and just didn't decide you don't like us any more!!!

I prefer the electronic key because the numbers on the combo locks are so small...but these guys...either rookies without mentors (recruit them). I would assume they are not AR members!

Of the three agents who called, two of them did not have e-mail.

LOL

Hold on a second. Let me check my calendar. Yep. This is 2009!!!

I live in Columbia MO pop = 100,000, last year I had to travel up to Mexico MO about 40 minutes away to show properties. I was SHOCKED and put out by the number of offices I had to drive to get keys. This practice baffled me. I mean, I'm showing 5 house in 2 hours, I have all the keys to these 5 house with me, what if another agent would like to show right after me, or later the same day before I can get the keys back to the office. Not to mention the added time I spent driving to offices to get keys.

I love having the electronic lockbox on my homes and being able to open the lockbox with my phone. As for e-mail, I agree. If you aren't using e-mail, and can't scan a document and attach to an e-mail, you won't be in the business much longer. So when the buyers start leaving don't ask why. You have to stay up on what's going on in the area. These agents likely have one photos up for their listings, and no virtual tour, heck maybe they aren't even on the web? Talk about a disservice.

I can't imagine what a transaction would be like with these people. Probably take 60 days or so to close and an organizational nightmare. Good luck bringing Haawi into the 21st Century.

JUL

We use "old fashioned" combo lockboxes. We don't splurge, we pay $15 for the ShurLock. There's even cheaper ones online. We have a current list with all combos in the car and on our desks at home. Our office also has a current list. No problems!

I have mixed emotions about the electronic lock boxes. I do have a Supra Key (as we call them here in New Jersey) and only use it a few times a year. Not many agents in my area use them and/or have the boxes on the properties. It would be another thing if we all used them, but for now some people don't show homes that have the electronic boxes because they don't want to fork out the extra dough for 1 or 2 showings a year.

JUL

WOW- You mean there are agents that don't have e-mail accounts AND they actually have clients too? I cannot function without e-mail - I prefer it to phone calls and scanning documents in and sending them as attachments makes it easier to read - what world do they live in???

Jesse & Kathy – They should not be doing business.

Lenn – We are so fortunate here. We have only one Board and yet trying to get agents to play ball is a pain.

John M – LOL

Linda M – I do not miss those Chicago winters. (Lane Tech, class of 78)

Michael P. – We are still in the less than 50% group. We are 8 months into it.

Gail – I have had clients in their 80s who are also on FaceBook and Twitter.

Irene K. – Our Sentrilock boxes have the capability of generating 1-day codes for inspectors, appraisers, etc. We can also generate a contractors code good for extended periods of the contractor is going to be working on the home for multiple days or weeks.

Dawn M. – In our area the agents have no excuse. The boxes were subsidized so we could buy them for $30 a piece in the initial offering.

Darrell W. – You can’t call yourself a professional and not have e-mail. You cannot even look up listings without internet.

Marc S. – The same agents are probably giving their clients your lock box codes. The week before I got electronic boxes I had three agents give my codes to their buyers at closing instead of opening the box and giving the key to their client. One buyer took my box. Those days are over since getting electronic boxes.

Bob H. – I agree

William F. – I think the drop in use may be the part time agents with no sales, not wanting to pay even a single penny.

William W. - I will not have a listing without an electronic box. There is too much liability.

Phil B. – I do not think our Board has an MLS book anymore.

Kevin C. – Doesn’t sound like she is doing a good job of representing her son.

Joe P. – I agree completely.

Sharon P. – I think they should retire or find a new line of work.

Patricia K. – If the other agents would get with the4 program Sentrilock is great. Having to accommodate agents without smart cards is a pain in the neck.

Patricia A. – Some agents think it is 1979.

George S. – That is the rub here. How would they even know my listing info without a computer? They have to have internet. I am still rubbing my head. Not one but two agents without e-mail.

Ginger M. – Our electronic boxes can be used like a combo with the exception that we can generate a different card for each person gaining access, allowing us to track everyone who accesses the home.

Sally – NAR rules forbid the Board from making them mandatory. The individual companies can make them company policy.

I haven’t been on Active Rain much lately. I have been so busy, I can never seem to find free time.

Jeff D. – I think that if you are not doing the best to secure the home, it should be considered a violation of our fiduciary respo0nsibilty to the seller.

Mike F. – Fake agents is a good description.

Lori C. – I can believe a lister would require you pick up a key in their office. I bet that limits the number of showings they get.

Lana R. – Good point about the free computers at the library. You are right, there are way too many agents here. In Honolulu we went from 6500 last year to 5600 at renewal time.

David C. – When we rolled out our electronic boxes we were told that NAR requires we not make it mandatory.

Frank K. – I am amazed how many still fax contracts because they do not know who to scan and e-mail. Even crazier those who do not even have fax.

Rebecca L. – Now that we have electronic boxes; I can’t imagine ever going back.

Carla M. – Possibly they got the listings from my newspaper ads.

Tim M. – Our Board rolled out electronic boxes several years back and had a lot of problems and resistance from the members. They scrapped it then. This time they have made the commitment to do it right and keep it permanent.

Ann C. – What will be next, no car?

Missy C. – I do not have to open doors, but we do have to generate 1-day codes, which is a pain if I am on the road.

I hope to be back on AR more often. I am just stretched so thin for time lately.

B.B. – I our boxes are not nearly that expensive. We do not have agents with a 100 listings here either, son our environment is quite different. Then again our homes are a lot more expensive. That is an even bigger reason to take extra precautions when securing them.

Gary W. – I am concerned about liability. How do you know who many people have the code for your lock box? I have a policy of electronic only on my listings.

Bruce B. – I was starting to think it was a prank when the second told me that. Am I on a hidden video show?

April F. – I am amazed how few agents have 0-1 picture also. I not only put the max photos, every listing gets a virtual tour and a website with its own domain name.

I earned my CRS in Colombia Missouri a few years back. I really liked the area and the people.

Darrin and Andrea – My concern was liability. With agents giving my codes to clients, etc.; it is impossible to know who has access. Also I had agents who make appointments and then do not go or go at a second time without calling. This was I have a log of all entries and know who was the last agent in if the keys are missing from the box.

Bridget C. – If the agents don’t use them, they it is a pain in the neck. I am hoping that enough agents convert that the pressure will be on those who don’t.

BarbaraJo – I try to use e-mail as much as possible. That gives me a communication log and file. Phone calls are your word against theirs if there is ever a problem.

JUL

I was on our Association's IS committee when we wrestled with doing away with MLS books...the dinosaurs continued to NEED the books and few of them are in the business today.

You handled the situations correctly!!!

JUL

Hi Randy:

Last year I was working to get Sentrilock for Kauai. It would of been the cheapest if we signed up when Oahu did. But I guess the Board decided to pass because of the cost. I'm really disappointed. It such a nice system. I'm really surprised that agents aren't taking advantage of it. But these are probably the same type of agent that didn't want to pay for it on Kauai. I would like to hear in future blogs any other experiences you have had with the Sentrilock system.

Wallace - I wonder how many of them have learned to use technology and how many are finding ways around it.

Julie - I am hoping in the future to report that it becomes so widely used that it forces agents to activate their cards.

JUL

Randy - Pretty interesting! Recently we had an agent - not a Realtor - show one of our listings from the code lock boix that the bank had put on this REO. Mystery of mysteries ... she's the only agent who I gave the code to yet she has no idea how the key disappeared. Can you believe that!

JUL

Lisa - Time to change the locks and the code on the box. What a pain in the neck.

JUL

Hi Randy,

I agree its time for the combo locks to go the way of th pony express. The benefits outweigh any hassles with learning new technology. I set my smartphone up and it updates every night for me. My sellers are safer and I get a record of who comes by. The Ibox does not freeze on me like the old boxes. GE cleverly designed the moving parts to have a partial weather cover of the moving parts so they open easy in winter. Big fan of the IBox technology. Now if they would just update them for bluetooth!

Ken

AUG

Ken - Technology is definitely changing the way we do business.

AUG

Sounds like the agent was either cheap, lazy or a part time Realtor. If they don't have access to the basic tools like electronic keys and email....how do they get qualified buyers?

AUG

Bonnie - Great question. How do they get qualified buyer? Even more important, how can they ever service them if they get them?

AUG

Randy - very interesting that the use of the SmartCard is optional for the agents! I like the idea of one-day vendor codes. Unfortunately the economy has created many MIA agents.

AUG

Randy it is the same here in Atlanta. It started with the foreclosures, and now many agents are using these vendor lock boxes and it is a royal pain for all. The key is uniformity. Maybe we should just start boycotting listings what have them?

AUG

Sharon - It seems like it is getting worse. More and more agents are doing this on the side and a pain in the neck to work with.

Jim - I have no choice but to work with these folks. I do represent my clients.

AUG

Hawaii isn't the only place with part-timers or agents who choose not to pay dues to the local MLS. I hate getting those phone calls, too. It is a hassle.

Cheers,

Robin

AUG

Robin - Even worse when you get a contract and they do not have the current forms either.

AUG

I recently had an appraiser who didn't have access to my lockbox. They wanted to do the appraisal and couldn't get in. I told them they would have to wait until it was convenient for me to get there.

SEP

John W. - I do not mind creating the 1-day code for a non-Realtor. That is one advantage of our system. Unfortunately way too many agents are acting like non-Realtors.

SEP

In NH we have GE Supra and they are used more in the southern part of the state and less in the rural central and northern part.

OCT

In my case I only do business in one county. I send referrals to all other parts of our state. We are standardized, but way too many agents are not participating in the system.

OCT

Just wanted to chime in on Kevin Comerford's and Lenn Harley's comments. Kevin: I agree with you that you did not do your client any disservice. But that could be a thorny issue. I don't have a handle on how my clients my react if they found out that I was not going the extra mile to make sure that their home was shown to EVERY prospective buyer. And if they were to react negatively, would that constituted an ethics violation on my part? I dunno. I would hate to be in a postion where I was required to work with gross incompetence.

I so agree with you, Lenn. We all hate monopolies and that's what SUPRA feels like and acts like. We have little choice in the areas where they are used but to cough up the $$ every month for a key. Here's a thought: what would possibly be wrong with a pay per use model? Even part timers could afford something like that.

NOV

Yes, it does cost a lot of money to purchase electronic keys and mls access but hey, we a commission check right? How could you be in this business if you are not willing to spend the money. I pay for everything I need in this business. It's hard to rely others for mls and lock box access.

Charita King

Century 21 My Real Estate Co.

562-276-8681

No email? I bet they hate texting too LOL!

NOV

Buddy - Where do you draw the line? Do you not advertise because it costs too much? Agents are being paid to preform a service. If they accept the commission, they need to spend the time and money to provide professional service.

Charita - I bet they do not have cell phones either. Notice they all called Sunday evening when they were home.

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