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Real Estate Agent found dead

I guess as a male I don't consider myself as much at risk as female agents, but when you read stories like this it certainly makes you think about the situations you have been in or may confront in the future. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

What do you do to protect yourself? Always let someone know when you will return? Leave details as to what homes you are showing? Leave the name of the person you are showing homes to? Carry mace? Carry a firearm? Carry an alarm? Please, provide suggestions for others. It may make the difference.

Here is the link

Posted by Calvin Neely on 03/20/2008 08:27 AM

Comments (35)

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35 Comments on Real Estate Agent found dead

MAR

2008

Calvin, I really don't think about it either, and I should. I am going to read the article when I get a chance. I do carry mace, though.

Not really something that I have thought about too much. We have certain safety measures in the office, but nothing personally.

The most important thing is letting people know with whom and where you are going to be showing property. Nthing wrong with carrying a Glock 23 either!

Calvin- Read the link, I too will pray for the family. I never thought about safety but after reading several posts regarding this issue, I am considering buying mace.

Thank you for this inspiring article. We always think females are more at risk or more vulnerable. We need to realize how declined the spirit of people have become. We could all think about our own security as well as that of our families and coworkers. Thanks, Keith

I wrote a blog some time ago about personal safety for everyone, not just real estate agents. I mentioned an excellent book by Gavin deBecker called "The Gift of Fear." It is a MUST READ for EVERY PERSON. It is about listening to your instincts.

deBecker spent many years counseling victims of violent crime - and one thing that seemed to be common with all of these victims was that they felt something was "not right" but they ignored their instincts and then nearly got killed. Your instincts are very important and all too often we ignore them, thinking we're overreacting, being silly, or are just "wrong."

Read the book - you can get it from Amazon.com in paperback for just a few bucks. It could save your life. Really.

I have had times where I felt "creepy" about something and asked my husband or someone else to accompany me on the appointment. Who knows? That "creepy" feeling could easily have saved my life....maybe I was overreacting but maybe not. I'm glad I didn't have to find out the hard way.

When I am doing an open house or I am showing property I never go down in the basement. I always carry my car keys and my cell phone with me as well. As soon as someone walks through the door at the open house I have my keys and phone in my hand. I always make sure I have the back door unlocked in case I have to get out that way I have 2 ways to escape. I never go upstairs during an open house. I always just let people check the house out themselves. I never park in the driveway, I don't want anyone to block me in. I always let the person walk in front of me. I never want someone to be behind me. I always let several people know where I am going to be and who I am with if I am showing properties. I always meet people at my office first and I never go out immediately to meet them just from a phone call. These are the ways that I try to protect myself. I have came to the conclusion that you just can't trust anyone.

Calvin - It's awful. My prayers go out to the family.

You really have to listen to your instincts. I don't show vacant houses at night anymore for safety reason. My husband thinks it is not worth it. All the customers I showed houses at night never gave me an offer so I stopped doing it.

Calvin: Man or woman, we really do need to give this special attention. It's just horrible to have to read about another agent who has been killed and my heart breaks for her family.

Sad news Calvin. We should all use the "buddy system" of letting others know where we are, carry a cell at all times and use common sense. Wearing a .357 Magnum on my hip in plain sight has crossed my mind a time or two, but might be a bit much.

Safety is important in this industry. Always make sure that someone is aware of what you are doing at all times.

If you're going to wear a piece strapped to your hip, may as well go for the .44 Dirty Harry Special. Nobody will mess with you.

of course, nobody will go anywhere with you but that's the price you pay....ha ha

Scary story. Thank you for sharing this with us. I know that I forget how dangerous our job is.

When I go to show a house, I try to make a phone call in front of the client as we approach the house, I will say something like "I am with Mr. Smith and we will be seeing 222 Long Ln. tonight, I will call you when we are finished". I make this call to the office, or if it is late at night to a family member. This way they know that someone knows where I am and who I am with.

Calvin, sad case. Hearing more of this each week. Communication about who you are meeting, time and where are probably the best source. I also read where others have 911 coded in their phone as the first call, so all they have to do is push send.

Just another really good reason that we shouldn't run out to meet a client we don't know. If I am showing homes to a potential client that I am unfamiliar with I always ask for a drivers license while at the office and make a copy and leave it with the receptionist along with the list of homes I am showing. So what if someone is insulted; it's a practical request. Early in my career I did have one gentleman say, "How do you know it's not fake?" Since that seemed like a strange thing to say I made sure the client followed me instead of ride with me and I called another agent and had them meet us at the home. He did eventually buy a home from me, but I always had a backup agent or family member when I showed him homes. And . . . he's not on my newsletter mailing list!

Calvin, thanks for the link. Very sad. The family is in our prayers.

I think of this very issue almost daily, I have a gun and a permit to carry it at all times and I have very protective German Sheppard. All potential CLIENTS have to COME TO THE OFFICE and give us a copy of their driver's license and we check their plates and they sign an authorization for us to pull credit and QUALIFY them to SEE the property EVEN if it is VACANT LAND......do not compromise your safety EVER. I had two friends that were Realtors that were raped and stabbed to death in a model home. The man that killed them had said his car was giving him problems their model home was actually locked and closed for the day they were getting ready to leave. If they had thought to get a number from him to call for help instead of opening the door they may be alive today!!!

If you work in a model home make sure that you have survelliance cameras everywhere. BE SAFE!!!!!

First let me say that my prayers go out to Mrs. Nelson and her family. This hit me directly in the heart. I have recently been pondering the notion of getting licensed to carry but this just further lets me know that I have to. A realtor was attached recently in my area but he did not die (last I heard). We all should protect ourselves. It is so sad to say but in this day and age you have to come prepared.

The family has my prayers. Sorry to hear about this and it is a good reminder to keep your alerts up and let people know where you are at all times. And remember to tell people that will listen to what you are telling them and remember what you told them about where you will be.

This is another sad example of just how vulnerable all of us are at any given time.

Just a few days ago I had a lively debate with another A/R poster regarding personal safety. An agent in her office told other agents at their office meeting that he carried a gun. This particular agent was "shocked" that he would make such a statement because she believed "non-lethal" force is the way to go...besides, she would just avoid areas of crime. I would love to live in her world, but none of us do. Not one of us can tell what a murderer, arsonist, rapist, burglar, etc. looks like unless you look at your neighbor, your coach, your preacher, your teacher, etc. They look like US. I suspect this gun-toting agent has a better than average chance of surviving an encounter than the average citizen.

We all have an internal instinct (our guardian angels speaking to us?), but we tend to ignore these feelings because we want to help a seller, help a buyer or wish to make a deal happen so we can produce income for our family...whatever the reason may be.

We'll never know exactly why this agent was murdered, but her murder should be a stone cold reminder that we must prepare ourselves better for such an encounter and we should never discount that inner voice.

I am a former crime scene investigator and my husband is a deputy sheriff so I am well versed in "safety" although I can be complacent sometimes. I recently had an out-of-town buyers who wanted to meet at the property. Not typical for me. I arrived before they did as per usual to get everything set. When they arrived I introduced myself and then excused myself as I made a phone call to my husband giving him the description of the vehicle and tag number. He verified the information in his computer and matched it to the names given by the clients. I then proceeded with the showing. The clients questioned this at first but when I explained my background and my concern for my safety they were completely understanding.

MAR

2008

Calvin, Our heart goes out to the family, and we can all learn from this awful happening.

My wife and I still own our Private Investigation Company and always have used all our instincts to feel people out. Looking back on many bad things, I know this helped take care of ourselves. Back in the 80's in Baton Rouge, La, we had one of our best friends go through a bad situation. This was the time in our lives when cell phones did not exist and we only had pagers and pay phones. She was on up time and received a very interested call wanting to see a home she had listed and he ask could she just meet them there. She told them in the office she was going to run an errand and then show one of her listings. When she got to the address, there was no car in site, so she went in and unlocked everything and turned on all the lights and the doorbell rang and she answered it and a man was standing alone, she inivited him in and ask where was his wife and car, and he told her it broke down on the next street and the wife was waiting for the mechanic.

She thought it strange, but it made sense, and she proceeded to show the home. She is a pretty savy lady, but she never saw this coming. He waited till they were upstairs, and he grabbed her, he had masking tape in his pocket and he tied her up, gagged her, taped her mouth, put her in a closet upstairs and told her he would not hurt her, that he only wanted her car. He took her car and fled, while the office kept paging her and finally went to her list of listings and checked until they narrowed it down and went to several homes and finally found her in the closet, alive and ok, thank God. He was later robbing a bank and captured and arrested. She said she would never put herself in that situation again. It can happen to men or women, so think it out.

Another good thing is to have a code for your office like "red folder" and if ever in a weird situation, call your office and say that you left the info. on 1234 Whatever St. in the "red folder" on your desk. Of course the office must know the code of "red folder" and they will know by that you may be in trouble and get someone over there for you! Another tip is never get in the car with them, put them in your car and fasten your seat belt, in the event they pull a gun on your or whatever, you crash into the first tree on the passenger's side, hopefully hurting them. Also, never leave the scene with anyone because you will lose your trail and they will probably hurt you anyway... bolt, run sideways and scream to the top of your lungs! These tips are from a ex NY Cop and he has met with our Board of Realtors and taught many of these ideas to our agents... hope these give you some simple ideas to help protect yourself Bubba@h2ohomesandland.com

MAR

2008

Always good to be careful. I stay near the door if I feel uncomfortable. The model home situation is a concern.

APR

2008

what the heck does that have to do with the death of a real estate agent?

Thanks for the comment Dick. I think you're a little confused on this one. It is a sad state of affairs that we have to worry about being attacked when doing our jobs. But the reality is we do. It is getting way to commonplace to hear of an agent being attacked or killed by trying to sell a home. Ladies especially need to be careful, but guys, we do to. I agree with always having buyers come into your office. If they have a problem with it, simply explain to them that it is your policy, and a security measure. If they don't respect that, then let someone else deal with them. Hard to say in this slower market, but you have to let some people walk. I feel for everyone's families that have been affected by these crimes.

APR

2008

I recently had a friend showing a home that found a suicide victim inside, face down on the Master BR bed. The man had shot himself, luckily the agent was pre-viewing and did not have a client with her. We need to be prepared for all sorts of things that we may encounter. People never think about these sorts of things when the get licensed! Steve

Ben, for the record, Dick is not confused. He is purposely spamming people's blogs with his promotional stuff.

Found it Karen!! Either Calvin or Dick must have removed the spam comment.

In our town just before or after this poor woman RE agent in WI was killed a new homes rep (I believe) was raped at a spec home. It was in the local news of course. At our sales meeting our manager in the slide show had a picture of the "suspect" clean, cut good looking young fella. I believe the managers point was, monsters don't look like monsters. Be careful. We need to look out for one another too, use the resources we have available to us and don't expect the monsters to look like monsters.

Calvin, thanks for the post, an ugly issue but one that must be brought out into the light of day. Agents of both genders need to let their office know about all showings, and perhaps "check in" when complete to close the matter, or if no chek in is done...a follow up must take place.

APR

2008

Thanks Calvin for the post. I think we all get a little "slack" about our safty until we hear something like this happening. We all should be careful and just use what we have already been taught. I pray for this lady's family and loved ones...how sad!

I read the book by Gavin deBecker years ago, The Gift of Fear and highly recommend it to anyone. Many of these horrible situations can be avoided if we use the best tool we have available - our intuition. Gavin's book does a great job of explaining how easy it is to open our eyes and trust the gut instinct and many, many times it can save a life or avoid a catastrophic incident.

APR

2008

Calvin~ Like you, being Male. we do not consider ourselves as vulnerable for some reason as females. This couldn't be further from the truth. We all need to be aware.

That makes me think twice because I sometimes bring my little girl with me on showings. My Prayers to the family.

MAR

Calvin, I am not afraid but I am always aware. Just this weekend, I had a showing on one of my listings. THe buyer, also an appraiser, wanted to see it at 5:30 pm. No problem. My hubby drove and this was just for safety. We have a pack...no questions asked, he will accompany when requested.

Of course it worked out fine. Not only did the buyer show up with his wife but when I told him why hubby was there, he complimented me and then showed me his badge. He was also a police officer.

So sorry for the agent and her family. Please everyone BE AWARE! Be Safe!

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