It happens to all Realtors from time to time, and last week it happened to me when I was showing houses. I removed the key from the lockbox, opened the front door, and heard that repeating BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...that told me the burglar alarm was activated and was about to go off. I quickly closed the front door, and looked at my notes to see if I had missed the alarm code. I realized there was no code and nothing I could do to stop the inevitable alarm company phone call to the police.
I called the showing service to see if they had just neglected to give me the code. Nope, no code, and nothing about an alarm. The showing service called the listing agent and the owners. Fortunately, both were close by and came to the rescue within minutes. The seller's teenage son drove up, ran into the house, and turned off the alarm, followed by the listing agent who apologized, saying he didn't have the code because, "They don't usually set the alarm."
My clients and I went in to take a look around, and the teenage son and the listing agent left. When we finished, my buyers went outside while I locked up.
Once I had the key back in the lockbox, I turned around to see my clients being interrogated by the police. I quickly explained what happened, showed the officer my credentials and told him he could call the listing agent for an explanation of the mishap...which he did.
The officer was not happy with me, and said in no uncertain terms that false alarms cost the taxpayers money and waste the time of police officers. He also explained that the homeowners would be fined because they only get a certain number of false alarms. I guess it must have happened before. I politely thanked him for responding to the call and told him it was comforting to know that the Friendswood Police Department responds to security alarm calls so quickly.
I don't know about you, but I don't like showing homes when the security alarms are turned on. Once the door is open, I have to quickly close it behind me, run to find the alarm pad (hoping it is where it is supposed to be), put on my glasses so I can see the numbers, and hope that the code they gave me is correct. I wish sellers would turn the alarm system off for a scheduled showing appointment. It would save everyone a lot of frustration!
But...the moral of this story is....if you are a listing agent, and your client tells you that they never set the alarm, get the alarm code anyway and give it to the showing service!
Comments(9)