Over the weekend, an agent in one of my Arizona Facebook groups described a scary situation where a man came to her open house and was acting strangely. After a few off-putting questions from him, she followed her gut and, as soon as he left, closed up the house and went home. My heart sank as I read her story and thanked God that it turned out ok for her.
I wrote about my scary experience during the first open house I held here in Tucson. I included some of the things I did during my open houses. I say did because I don't do them by myself anymore. If I do, my husband is there as well.
One thing I didn't mention in that blog post of 2 years ago is something I used to do but got out of the habit. As I'm cruising around during the weekend, running errands and not with clients, if I spot open house signs, I stop by - even if it's not my company or if I know the agent or not. I pop in briefly, say hi and make sure that everything is ok. I don't say, "I'm here to do a safety check". It's just...something I did and will start doing again. Safety issues are something that affect us ALL, no matter the agency or agent.
Take a self-defense class, become licensed to carry, do what YOU need to do to stay SAFE.
The key here is this:
LISTEN TO YOUR GUT. If you gut gives you a bad feeling, LISTEN TO IT.
What are some of the things you do to stay safe at an open house? Do you ask another agent to sit it with you? Do you invite a mortgage broker to join you? Do you even sit inside the house, weather permitting?
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