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Honolulu Going to Electronic Lock Boxes

By
Real Estate Agent with eXp Realty 2021016812

It is official; the Honolulu Board of REALTORS ® announced that beginning 2008, our members will have the option of upgrading to the newest state of the art electronic lock boxes.

The product and system selected by the Board is the SentriLock, REALTOR Electronic Lockbox.  The company is developing a new product to meet our needs in Hawaii.  With our many condos and gated areas there is a need for a box that can hold the various types of keys and cards for elevators, gates etc., along with the standard door keys.

Yesterday at a broker's forum held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (the location of the 2008 CRS Sell-a-bration), our members were introduced to the SentriLock and what the basic implementation plan would be.

It was made clear that electronic lock boxes would not be mandatory.  This is a National Association of REALTORS ® directive.  The reason we will be able to implement them without requiring everyone to participate is that the box has the ability to operate in a manual mode also.

Honolulu implemented electronic boxes many years ago and it was a failure.  This time the lessons were learned and the product is far superior to the previous product.  I for one am excited about the new boxes. 

Some of their features that I am looking forward to are:

  • Ability to take manual codes along with electronic smart card
  • Up to 9 different 1-day codes
  • Contractor codes
  • IR port that will work with Treo phone
  • Illuminated key pad
  • Agent showing statistics
  • Metal non-rusting case
  • Durable replaceable cover
  • Removable battery
  • Replaceable battery and low battery warning
  • Internet based administration

The number of features was mind boggling. I was so impressed I wanted to make the switch yesterday.  I guess I will have to wait with everyone else.

I know that we are one of the few major markets to make the switch.  What has been you experience with electronic boxes?  Do you use SentriLocks?

Posted by

 

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Randy L. Prothero, REALTOR®

Broker-in-Charge, ABR, AHWD, CRB, CRS, e-PRO, GRI, MRP, SFR

eXp Realty

Team Leader - "The Prothero Group"

Randy Prothero is well established as an expert in working with military / VA clients and first time home buyers.  His home seller's (listing) campaign is one of the most aggressive marketing programs in the area.  His luxury home listings sell faster and for more money.

Based out of Mililani, Hawaii. Randy services the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) Performs mediations and ombudsman services for the Board of Realtors.  To improve overall professionalism in his area Randy also offers classes for real estate agents. 

www.HawaiiRandy.comOahu (Honolulu County) Property Search  Hawaii Military Relocations

Comments(31)

Neal Bloom
Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL
Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

Randy,

The only problem I had was when they switched us to an upgraded version..they mad us all hand in our keypads which we purchased...now we have to use the new pads and rent them once a year and I lost 100 for buying the other and they would not reimburse if it was more than 6 months,the pricing for the boxes itself are now 95 and they fluctuate like the stock market. Yours are pretty bulky..I guess because you have to have enough room in them for storage:)

Jul 21, 2007 11:45 PM
Dave Sulvetta
Dave Sulvetta, eXp Connection, Gloucester County Realtor - Gloucester Twp, NJ
Realtor
we have supra keys too....most realtors hate them....i have even heard of a protest of these things...i hope you have more luck with yours.
Jul 22, 2007 12:26 AM
Chris Griffith
Downing-Frye Realty, Bonita Springs, FL - Bonita Springs, FL
Bonita Springs Listing Specialist - Agent
Randy, we're in the same boat here, with our condo buildings front door key, storage door key, front door key, electronic pass key.  Oye Vey.
Jul 22, 2007 12:30 AM
Stephanie Edwards-Musa
thredUP.com - The Woodlands, TX
knitwit at thred UP
Hi Randy,  we use Supra.  We occasionally run across combos on forecosures and vacant homes.  I love how you can track the keys used on it.  Sounds like Sentrilock may be a bit better though.
Jul 22, 2007 01:53 AM
Monika McGillicuddy
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty - Hampstead, NH
Southern NH & the Seacoast Area
We also use Supra and I really like them. Some of us still use the old combo box...with the unchanged SPI combination.
Jul 22, 2007 01:57 AM
Chris Griffith
Downing-Frye Realty, Bonita Springs, FL - Bonita Springs, FL
Bonita Springs Listing Specialist - Agent
LOL MOnika. I have one of those combo boxes and forgot the combo. I had to go to home depot and open one to figure out the SPI.  Maybe I shoulda just asked the AR gang.
Jul 22, 2007 02:05 AM
John Occhi
AZ Veteran Notary Services - Marana, AZ
Mobile Notary Public/Certified Loan Signing Agent

Randy - our primary board uses the Sentilock combo - but the only access is with a Credit card type key with a microchip. It does many of the same things you spoke of - but more than 3 regular keys and a tag and everything gets really tight.  I would love to use my Treo.

The board to our South use the Supra - and they too are OK, those you can use a Treo or other IR devise

Then the out of area agents typically use a combo...too many of those for security purposes, I'm afraid.

Make it a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet Realtor

Jul 22, 2007 02:59 AM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE
Sounds like a great investment for us....I love our board...always on top of stuff....even with the new Purchase Contract. Anyway, I presume you'll be at the sales meeting in the am to go over all you have on this right?
Jul 22, 2007 06:16 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

James G. - The key compartment on the new boxes is supposed to be even better than the Master boxes, which I also use.

Ginger - The update timing is determined by your Board of REALTORS.  I like the short time, because the data is uploaded giving everyone better data.

Missy - These boxes will allow us to set 9 different one day codes for agents who do not have keys.  They can accessed the same as the conventional boxes, yet we still get the data.

Jul 22, 2007 06:17 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

Brian - That is a big advantage we have.  There is only one county for me to deal with.  Our island is all in the same county.

Kathy - I am hoping we will not have the same issues.  This new box seems to be well thought out.  They had good answers to each of those issues.

Neal - The picture you see is their existing box.  We are getting a new design.  It will have a bigger key box and the rest of the unit will be smaller.

Jul 22, 2007 06:21 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

Dave S. - I think the way our Board is implementing the switch was well planned and should avoid the problems other Boards have had.  We have the benefit of everyone else's experience including our own from a failed attempt several years ago.

Chris G. - I was quite happy to hear they were addressing that for us.

Stephanie - SentriLock® is majority owned by NAR.  They have spent a lot of time getting feedback from REALTORS® in an attempt to address all of the issues from other boxes already in the field.  I am excited and impressed.

Jul 22, 2007 06:26 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

Monika - I plan to give some of my boxes to my clients for their use, once I lick up the electronics.

Chris G. - I bet you are correct.

John - The new boxes have both electronic smart card or you can issue one day codes to agents without them.  That is a feature I really like.

Jul 22, 2007 06:30 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
Sally - I will be there.  I don't think I mentioned; there will be an initial purchase period where we can pick them up for $29.50 each.  Our Board will subsidize them with the money from our MLS fines.
Jul 22, 2007 06:32 AM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE
cool!
Jul 22, 2007 06:46 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
Sally - I think that will cause a bog percentage of the agents and companies to support the program.
Jul 22, 2007 07:02 AM
Thesa Chambers
West + Main - Bend, OR
Principal Broker - Licensed in Oregon
We use Supra - but the same basics - and we all had to switch - I have the software on my PDA - but others use a trio - nice thing about the trio is it does not require updating as it updates automatically.  With our - every day you have to update your key - which really helps on knowing about showings.... I love our system - I get an alert each time I update my key telling me of the showings, or I can log on to my listing and see them there.... it is a great piece of information for your client.
Jul 22, 2007 11:59 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
Thesa - I am looking forward to the upgrade.  I have a Treo and these will be compatible also.
Jul 22, 2007 04:31 PM
Neal Bloom
Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL
Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate
I'm not sure if yours are the same but we cannot access them before 9am...a few times I needed to get into a few and realized they don't open before 9am:)
Jul 24, 2007 11:13 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

We just migrated to Sentrilock a few months ago here in San Diego. I have no particular issues with them. They seem to work well, although they are quite large. You can program your electronic card right on site if it has expired and you forgot to update it. Switching over to the new system was a hassle but change is change.

You can limit the times they can be accessed if you wish, and also set up codes for contractors, etc. You also may request email notifications of showings. The downside is they only update the system when the card owner goes in and updates his or her card (so if I show a home but don't update my card for a week, you will not see my showing on the report until a week later).

 Good luck with your classes (read you other blog too). I thought the ABR was quite good. Not sure about e-pro. When I took it 4 years ago it was OK but unless they have dramatically updated it you may find it is just not up to par (there has been quite a bit of discussion the e-pro here on AR). The CRS technology course was excellent, however.

Jeff

Jul 25, 2007 11:44 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

Neal - These has a default which locks them out during certain hours, but it is adjustable from what they said.

Jeff - The CRS technology class I took was the only one I did not enjoy.  I felt I could have taught the class without much preparation.

The cards for Sentrilock are supposed to also update as the showing agents update their cards.  Their cards are supposed to pick up the showings before their's also.

Jul 25, 2007 08:48 PM