Do we really need electronic keyboxes/lockboxes?

Hi, Tim:  Thank you for stopping by, and for your comment.  Loss mitigation?  Perhaps.  Elimination? Surely not.  If someone wants to get in your place, they're gonna get in.  They don't need to worry about combo boxes, be they electronic or traditional- the tried, true and readily-available brick will work wonders on your window.

Hi, John:  Thank you for stopping by, and for you comment.  Agreed.  I was showing properties on Saturday, for instance- and only 1 of 5 had an electronic box.  The costs are significantly higher up front, but also higher in cases where one is "lost".  One condo association here, fr example, decided to go through the community and cut the boxes off every door.  If an HOA is gonna saw off one of my boxes, I'd rather lose a $12 one.

Hi, Lynn:  Thank you for stopping by, and for your contribution here.

1.  The "electronics" do provide a bit of accountability- but one can be (and often is) lulled into a false sense of security and accountability.  As fees and charges increase, I know offices where the "electronics" are shared.  In those cases, the key may be registered to Joe Smith (and he'll surely remain liable for its use)- but he might not be the one showing the place at all.

2.  Agree here with your words more than your sentiment.  Going along with my #1, you're correct here in that a notification goes out that someone's entered the home.  Is there a real huge use for that, though?

3.  Business card practices vary from locale to locale.  I've read here where one in California makes agents sign the backs of their cards and leave them, etc.  My opinions on the value of leaving them on the counter is mixed- if the "electronics" provide such great accountability, it'd seem to render the cards' usefullness moot, correct?

By the way- what does it say to you when you see x cards on a counter?  A number of cards might say "This place is really popular!"- but could also say "This place has got problems- or it'd be off the market bu now!"

4 and 5.  Combinations can be given to whomever the agents trust.  We have the onus to give the combinations to whom we trust- and ensure they don't get into the hands of those we don't.  In a way, it's a twist of the old "don't hate the player- hate the game" line in that we shouldn't hate the combination locks themselves- we should hate those that misuse them.

A listing agent bears the responsibility for putting the lockbox codes in MLS, etc.- and there's good technology in things like an application called Kurio that we can use here and get information from our smart phones.

Once again, thank you kindly for your comments.

Hi, Mark:  Thank you for your comment.  I surely agree that the "electronics" have uses other than just being key boxes.  But it's my humble opinion that with so much free technology out there (like the Kurio application I mentioned above), they've become dinosaurs that simply can't survive the most basic of cost/benefit analyses.

Hi, Michelle:  Thank you for stopping by, and for your comment.  I've got no objections to technology, per se- and this discussion reflects some liking the "electronics" and some not.

I'd separate the issues out, though- as there are issues here:  one is "Do you like the 'electronics' and find them useful?" and the other question of "Are these 'electronics' and their features worth their costs?"

I visited eBrokerHouse.com a bit ago, and there's no doubt as to the wealth of information and management services their products afford.

The doubt in need of being squashed is the "OK,  It's cool,...but is it $49.99 and up cool?"

Good Morning, Lynn:  Thank you for stopping by again.  Your correction is technically accurate, but the inaccuracy makes no material difference.

1.  Whether I say that Kurio gives out lockbox codes- or that ShowingTime Mobile gives out lockbox codes or affords folks the platform to do so matters not.  The important thing is that I can use this very phone I'm typing on right now- a great Samsung Epic- and get the showing instructions I need for free.

2.  Tying into #1 a bit, it'd be a great thing if listing agents were waiting by their phones and eagerly anticipating that call from someone with a question about a property of their's that they were showing- and those agents would truly be doing their clients a great service.  Those agents would also, at a minimum, have basic showing instructions in MLS- which would get bounced to the aforementioned ShowingTime Mobile.

Don't see it, though.  What I see- especially on the rentals side- is a bunch of listing agents that act as if they've listed places because they had to and not because they wished to do so.  Blame it on the economy, etc.- or any other excuse some jacklegs might look to offer, but I see no habitual or systematic urgency in the mindset of "traditional sales guys" that have listed rentals here and there.

But that's OK, too....We here at Hampton & Hampton Management & Leasing have actually begun to offer a Leasing Locator service for tenant prospects- a sort of buyer's agents for tenants.  Listing agents here are so bad and return calls so infrequently  that a market exists for our new service.  I believe we brought our 6th member of that team aboard today..or yesterday, now- and I expect great things from it.

Should things change in any way that eBrokerHouse or any other tech tool may be of benefit, I can assure you we'll jump on it- in our efforts and commitment to remain Orlando's best option for long-term property management.

Hi, Karen:  Thank you for stopping by, and for your comment and contribution.  I must also apologize for your not taking my "brick" comment in the proper fashion.  There's no valid reason to use a brick, of course- I was simply pointing out to Tim that if someone really wants to get into a place, they will get into a place.  All of the Supra locks in the world on the door of one of my places when a couple of thugs climbed the fence into the back yard, took the outside A/C unit off the pad- then busted a window and went inside to steal that unit, too.  And a funny aside to your bicycle comment:  the neighbors watched the 2 guys carry the units away on bicycles.

Get outside a bit, Karen... John (#2 above) is in your very neck of the woods.  He's in Tarrant County- so there's at least one example right here of someone right there in your Dallas/Ft. Worth area with a view similar to mine.

"Poor guy...can't afford the good ones"?  Think about this:  the goal is to have your properties shown and sold/rented.  You have to "speak to your audience", so to speak- so if you see that a ton of folks in the area are using the combo boxes vs. the "electronics", it's usually goes with those same folks not having keys for the "electronics".

Have to remember that "it's not all about us".

Good Afternoon, Lynn:  I truly appreciate your contributions here.  I talk about ShowingTime (ShowingTime Mobile is the phone app, obviously) my comment #12 above.  Clicking to get showing instructions from there carries you to a commentary field that most often includes lockbox codes and/or gated communities gate codes.

You're simply parsing words with comments 1 and 2 here, Lynn.  Call the stuff what you want- though it is accurately ShowingTime Mobile that I access through Kurio- the bottom line is that I get lockbox codes from my phone and don't need any dang "electronics" for them.

The "typical" (and this is by no means intended to trample on our Florida real estate laws against "setting prices or commissions") rental pays that 10%- and yes, folks drive around for it.  And yes, it often sucks. 

Get this:  I had a client interested in a place last week ($2,000/mo).  Called the agent to discuss it and the referral fee.  What is she paying/offering? ZERO. 

That's a story for another day- but to list a place, have me with a client ready 2 days later and not offer a dime is absurd.

And we march on...