Last week, my friend, J. Philip Faranda, wrote an incredible article over on Inman titled: It's time to tell agents they can no longer meet with complete strangers in empty houses If you haven't read it, please click over and do so. It is incredibly important.
In the comments section, another agent mentioned a new app that is either out there or is soon to be out there called Curb Call. I've read about it in the past and already had my radar locked on it. Why? It can be a dangerous one.
Here's the gist of it - from their website: "Real Estate Showings on Demand" it screams before you even scroll. "Connect in real time with nearby home buyers looking for an immediate showing." After you scroll, you get "Get on-demand showing requests from buyers standing in front of a listing, wanting to see inside ASAP."
I get it. In this age of "OMG GOTTA HAVE IT NOW", people want to see homes at the drop of a hat. I've had those calls in the past. "I'm standing outside your listing at 124 N Main Street and we'd like to see it now." You've had those calls, too. We all have. The question is: what did you do when you got that call? Did you:
A. Rush right over and show the home?
OR
B. Explain to the caller that the home was unavailable to be shown because (it's occupied, you weren't available, or something else)
I really hope that you have chosen B. I do every single time. As I've said in the past - REALTORS are the only group I can think of that will willingly show a vacant home to someone they have never met before. Studies have been done showing just that as well.
Now, back to the app. I don't know the developers. I don't know if they are or have ever been in real estate. In their comments to me on the above article, they said we should treat these calls as sign calls. He stated that there are safety features includes - a user has to verify their identity with a credit card, and, he stated, that there are other features in the works to make is safer. He stated that if a home is not available to see immediately (Where are they getting that info from?!), the user is alerted to that fact.
You know, I applaud creativity and forward thinking when it comes to developing tools to help us in our business. I don't know where I'd be without Evernote, Dropbox, Esign, Zipforms and so on. I understand that there is one group out there that has been using this app. I'd be curious to see what their thoughts are on it.
So no, this app is not for me. I am not a Pop-Tart agent. There will ALWAYS be buyer consultations before seeing any homes. There will always be 'let's meet at my office first'. I, and the brokerage I work for, has safety protocols in place and I'm guessing that yours does as well. They are there for a reason and I surely hope that everyone follows them.
Comments(2)