REALTOR® Safety Month is upon us! As many of you know, last week we kick-started our month-long safety campaign with the introduction of the Real Estate Safety Toolkit. If you missed our last post, you can request your copy of the toolkit by filling in the form at the bottom of this post!
To ensure the ActiveRain community is as safe as possible on the job, every week for the month of September, we will provide safety tips for different aspects of the real estate profession: starting with Safety at Open Houses. We sincerely hope these tips will help you create, or enhance your existing safety practices!
Safety At Open Houses:
Hosting open houses can sometimes be intimidating as attacks against real estate professionals during open houses are not uncommon. Unlike private showings, we cannot control who comes in and out of the property, and the inviting signs can sometimes bring in the wrong kind of people.
Below we have summarized a few key safety pointers that can help protect us while we are showing open houses. For more in-depth safety resources please download our Real Estate Safety Toolkit.
Step 1: Preparation
The key to staying safe is to be prepared and alert at all times! Make sure you are not caught off-guard by following these simple tips:
- Let someone know where you will be hosting the open house and for how long.
- Arrange for someone to checkup on you while you are there. If not, you can arrange for automatic check-ins.
- Make sure your phone is fully charged. We would even advise that you bring a charger along with you.
- Download safety applications on your phone, such as Moby or Professional First Aid App.
Step 2: Arriving at the Open House
- Let a neighbor know you will be hosting an open house. Ask them to let you know if they see anything suspicious in the area.
- Tour the property to make sure it is empty prior to opening it to the public.
- Check to see which rooms have cell phone reception. Try and avoid lingering in receptionless rooms when showing the property, incase you need to call for help during an emergency.
- Let someone you trust know you have arrived at the property and inform them you will call them when the open house is finished.
- Avoid surprise guests arriving at the property by locking the back doors.
Step 3: Hosting the Open House
- Keep your phone on you at all times.
- Always make sure your clients lead the way when walking around the property. This will ensure you cannot get attacked from behind.
- If your gut instinct tells you something is wrong, excuse yourself and step out the property to properly assess the situation. If you still feel uneasy make an excuse and leave the property.
- Always be alert! Inspect your visitors’ body language, and watch out for defensive or aggressive signs. ChangingMinds.org does a great job of illustrating body language signs.
- Do not get distracted by a phone call.
- Don’t forget: No Sale Is Worth Risking Your Safety!
Although our profession does have the potential to be dangerous, through the right safety practices we can significantly decrease our risks on the job.
Are there any tips or tricks you use to stay safe at Open Houses? Do you strongly advocate having at least another REALTOR® present with you to host the open house? Please let us know in the comment section below!
Take care and be safe!
The Moby Team
Moby's Real Estate toolkit:
In support of REALTOR® Safety Month we have compiled an all-in-one safety resource kit you can directly download by filling in your information in the form below. The real estate safety toolkit includes all the resources you will need to create a safety presentation at your office, or if you are simply curious about real estate safety.
If you are involved in a Real Estate Association, or help to manage an office, we can help! Just contact us now, and we will get right back to you!
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