Serious about safety!

Good idea about the HUD homes.  The home this happened in was a very nice upper priced home in a nice neighborhood, so it can happen anywhere.  Also, had a person here making obscene phone calls to female agents. Luckily he was caught.

LOL about the DNA.

Melody,

Apparently that goes in the report......what a day......(if you saw my monkey zoo ad now it is all making sense.......)

Safety first above all else and absolutely NO reason to take additional risk.  I've gone as far as to ask for a faxed copy of the driver's license and a utility bill prior to meeting at a property where I wait in my car until I can call my secret trusted source to run tags.  All because I had a weird feeling.  As it turned out, the buyer was fine and I was not in danger.   

Still, I don't pretend it can't happen to me.  It's better to be safe than sorry...or dead.

Mel,my source is worth keeping and if I give up my "connection" they won't be a source.  Call me when you need tags run, dahling.  ::wink, wink::

Melody,

When I had a real estate office in urban Atlanta, I required my agents to meet clients at the office, and to get a copy of their driver's license before taking them out to see property.

Once the reason was explained, nobody really protested. That might not work now, due to high incidences of identity theft, but in the late 90's that worked for us!

Melody,

I think the hard side to this question and one that is not always addressed is the fact that we are taught form the time we come into the business that we need to build "relationships".  We need to stay alert to this because those that  seek to do us, both men & women, harm have done their homework and know what they are going to do.  I would always trust my instincts and err on the side of caution and take someone with me or have someone call me every 15 minutes until I give them the all clear.

Don R.

Melody, I am a survivor and you can't be too safe. I promise you. I posted a blog when I first joined AR about my story of survival. Go there and read it. I won't take your space to tell the whole story again. I will tell you now there is no way you can be too paranoid.

Don, there was a realtor in Coppell several years ago that had been showing the same man houses for over a year when he nearly killed her. I don't think you can ever let down your guard completely. I did have someone with me when we were assaulted in the person's house.

I forgot to give my link.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/439074/Safety-First-Trust-Your

I read Becky's story it's a must read!  It just reminds us that we must always be very cautious with people and never put our guard down with new prospects. 

Not a problem. I decided when this happened to me that I should share the incident with others to keep our awareness up.

If I have to go to a vacant home I call the police/sherrifs dept and they will send someone out to meet me there. The police chief told me to never hesitate to call and ask.

I have also had someone from the office call me at specific times on an ppointment. I tell my client I must take this call. We act like it is something important like an offer on another property.

I had one case where the customer wanted to meet me at the house. It was 20 miles from my office and near his work/ home. As we scheduled the appointment He wanted to verify the home was vacant. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I got his name and number in case we had any problems( the number he called from wa private) He then asked if I would be the one to show him the home. For some odd reason I was thinking quick and replied that it would likely be my parter and I both since we like to both meet our new clients.

The day of the appointment I called the number and it was to a tire stor. They had never heard of anyone withthat name. He never called back.