After the great feedback we have received on this blog, we thought it would be beneficial to the AR community to re-post this article. Please feel free to share your own safety tips in the comment section so we can all help each other stay safe.
As a community we have all been shaken by the two ActiveRain Amber Alerts that were posted these past few weeks. The first Amber Alert came from Active Rain member Monica Ray, whose 16 year old daughter Kelsey Ray went missing on May 30th. Within a couple of days our hearts sank even deeper when news started spreading that Active Rain member Sarah Hall Weigand went missing from her home. The effort that families, friends and communities put into finding Kelsey and Sarah did not go in vain, as we all celebrated with relief when we recieved news that both of them were found.
Incidences like these somewhat force us to reevaluate our own safety, and make us think “what if…”? We all know that being a Realtor is indeed a dangerous job. Realtors are constantly exposing themselves to new people, some of whom have questionable intentions. Showing new properties and holding open houses are a critical business practice, yet when Realtors do this alone, they are quite vulnerable to exposing themselves to dangerous situations, kidnapping or even injuries from unsafe houses.
To make matters more complicated we also have family and friends who worry about the dangers of this profession. All of us have had family worry about our safety one time or another. When we saw the Amber Alerts last week, we were all worried about Sarah and Kelsey, yet we could not even imagine what their family and close friends must have gone through.
Although there is no way we can fully prevent the dangers out there, there are ways we can prepare for them. Bellow are a few tips on staying safe while at work (we have added new tips that fellow AR members mentioned in their comments):
- Take a look at NAR’s safety page http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/safety
- Have safety seminars at your office and have them regularly. Some of that knowledge needs to be freshened up!
- Andrew Wooten created a fantastic website which focuses on educating Realtors about safety. You can check out his website JustBeSafe for information about safety products, seminars and resources.
- See if self-defense classes are right for you, even if you go just to learn a few critical defense moves.
- Always be aware of your environment and keep you guard up; a lot of us get too comfortable with our surroundings and take our safety for granted.
- Try your best to share your safety tips with co-workers, family and friends. We all need to be reminded once in a while to think about our safety.
- Make sure you check out Tami Vroma’s post (the comments are worth reading too): Safety Steps for Women Realtors - Don't Make Yourself a Target!
- Follow our blog or twitter account (@mymoby) for regular and up-to-date tips on staying safe as a Realtor.
- Have a look at Moby, www.mymoby.com, and see if you want to download the free BlackBerry safety application (we are currently in our final Beta testing phase). Moby was designed for these exact situations.
- Last but not least; always trust your instincts! This is a very important tip that a lot of us overlook. We override our gut instinct because we worry that we will lose a deal or offend the other person. If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, excuse yourself for 5-10 min to reevaluate what is going on and check to see if you should really go back in.
We couldn’t be happier that both Kelsey and Sarah were found safely, and our thoughts go out to their families and loved ones.
Take care and be safe everyone!
The Moby Team
If you have any safety tips you would like to share, please feel free to add them in the comment section
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