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Honolulu is Close to Getting Electronic Lock Boxes

I placed my order yesterday for my first shipment of electronic lock boxes. They will be coming in sometime in August. I have been looking forward to this for some time. Our Honolulu Board of REALTORS® made the decision to go with SentriLock, REALTOR® Electronic Lockbox. Several years back the board implemented electronic boxes and the system was a disaster. This time they underwent serious planning; to ensure they selected the best system and will have a smooth introduction and a program that would be embraced by the members and their clients.

In the last month I have had 3 different REALTORS® give the code to my lock boxes to their clients at closing instead of meeting them. In one case they took my lock box and I had to have their agent get it back. With the new electronic boxes they will need a smart card and a pin code. Also there is a 2^nd code to remove the box, which they will not have.

We will have a log of who entered and when. Hopefully that will stop some of the nonsense. I am also looking forward to the reports that we can generate for our sellers. It will be nice to have confirmation of when and if they viewed the home. It will also prevent agents from giving lock box codes to their clients. Sellers will feel much more comfortable with having a lock box on their door.

Use of the new electronic boxes is optional, but agents who do not use them will find themselves in the minority quickly. The Board of REALTORS® is providing the first box and the smart card free along with a huge discount on pre-ordered lock boxes. I am hoping that will encourage almost everyone to get onboard.

Posted by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® on 07/03/2008 02:29 AM

Comments (24)

electronic lock boxes, lock boxes, honolulu, board of realtors, listings, home sellers

Originally posted at: Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions: Honolulu is Close to Getting Electronic Lock Boxes

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24 Comments on Honolulu is Close to Getting Electronic Lock Boxes

JUL

2008

Here in Las Vegas we use electronic boxes, but we've seen quite a few of the old combo boxes showing up on many of the foreclosure listings. I'll like to see the electronic boxes be mandatory.

We have used electronic boxes in Arizona for a long time. But as the commenter above mentioned, there are a lot of the combo type boxes showing up on foreclosures.

Damon - NAR required we make ours optional.

Bob & Carolin - We do not have that many foreclosures here. Hopefully we will not run into the same problem.

I wish we used Sentrilock but we'd have three generations now of the GE Supra lcokboxes. I am glad we went to them and that our board was tough about it. We have combo lockboxes on unoccupied listings

We started with Supra and it is too costly to change right now. However, if it had been around at the time, we would have gone with Sentri-lock. As Chair of MLS this year, it has been a dilema as most agents have gone back to combos because of data sharing and MLS surrounding us, don't use any electronic lockboxes.

We use Supra products by GE...they work great but are expensive...right now about $110 each. The remote key pad was just upgraded once again which I think was not necessary...always another reason to raise our costs of renting them by the year. I also have a problem with agents who call and say they can't show my listings because they can't afford the key access pad or they just don't have one...call your broker and get it...they are much more secure and keeps records of all showings online.

We use combo boxes, and I am less and less impressed with the security they offer.

Sentrilock looks good to me! I think it is a marketing opportunity for Agents, either Buyer or Seller to say they use that system.

Randy - we swithced over to Sentrilock last year and they have been great. A hassle to make the change-over but I like them pretty well. Sharing a code, etc. with someone else is a big violation and agents can get in real hot water if they do. And the cards have to be updated daily (if you need to use them) so the record of who visits is updated as well (although not daily if the cards are not updated). And if you do forget to update your card you can do so at a lockbox by making a phone call and enterting a code.

Jeff

Randy, We use them also for several years. Good for the most part, except some of my area we are rural and not all agents have them. Then I need to find a way to get them in. That is a pain, and so I use the old pudh button ones.

Maureen - I have not seen the Supra boxes. I am impressed with the Sentrilocks.

Missy - I am glad our Board has embraced this. We do not have to deal with surrounding MLS or Boards. Our entire county (island) has one Board and one MLS.

Neal - In our case the Board is giving a free smart card and the first box for all members. They will have to pay in the future though for the smart card.

Mike - I will include it in my marketing.

Jeff - Our Board is only requiring they update once a week. That is to make it more user friendly in the beginning. I hope they go to daily in the near future so we can get better data.

William - These new boxes can be used either way. if they do not have a card, we can give them a one day code to get in.

JUL

2008

Randy: I ordered quickly...can't beat a free lockbox and the additional at $30 compared to the $80 regular price. And the Home Card Reader is $35 but way more later. I also sent out a mass email to all the agents so they would hop on it. July 9th is deadline for the freebees folks...hop to it!

We use Supra lockboxes and I have never had one problem. It seems the combo boxes get sticky over time ... maybe its all of our humidity in Houston????

pippa

Randy we have the electronic boxes in Seattle so the only one with the code to remove the actual box is the LA here as well (key box owner) When agents update their daily supra key - it transmits the data directly - the LA can select settings to receive Showing Reports via email. very useful and before reading your post....something I've taken for granted! I think you'll Love them! Cheers and Aloha!

RP,

The trick in having an ELB is not losing your Supra key!

I`ve lost or misplaced 4-5 in 10 yrs..

Be careful...

JUL

2008

Sally - I order several of them. I will change all of my listings to them immediately, once they come in.

Pippa - It will definitely be an improvement from the combo boxes.

Teresa - I know I will love them. Once we get past the initial learning curve I am hoping all agents in my area go to them and embrace them.

Scott - That will be an important tip. I will need to get that down to a ritual.

I can't believe Hawaii hasn't had electronic lockboxes!! Definitely a more secure way to go.

Tchaka - They had them a few ago and they bombed out. It has been a tough process to get them back.

Randy,

Happy to hear this and I know that all will feel a bit safer going forward.....a lot less sloppy agent work will be done....and you will benefit by a happier Seller

Can't believe you guys took this long! We've been electronic for more than a decade. Ours has a code for inspectors/appraisors as well. But the monitor, that's the best part!

Dan - Bring up the standards is a good thing. I know my sellers will definitely like them.

Greg - Our will have codes for them and also one day codes for agents who do not have a key.

Randy - we've realy liked the lockboxes that you're getting. 95% of the time when I have a lockbox on a property I use the extra "Call Before Showing" code. Sellers love that feature. Some agent moan about it and resist learning how to use it, but it's so much better security for our homeowners.

Sharon - It will be great once they have been out for awhile and we get past the learning curve.

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