Recently a homeowner who was unhappy with their agent called me to preview their home and give them my suggestions. I thought - great, an opportunity to pick up another listing. When I arrived the homeowner showed me around but something just did not feel right and I was beginning to realize I was alone in the house with this guy. While the homeowner was giving me the tour there was a power outage and there we were in the dark. It was daylight but all the blinds were lowered. This concerned me even more. We continued to talk but there were several times he put his hand on my shoulder. I instantly put distance between us and asked him to show me the canal in the backyard. I just felt like I needed to get outside in the open. This is the first time that I have ever felt concerned for my personal safety. Our meeting ended and I left a little shaken but I now have an appreciation for importance of taking precautions to avoid situations that put myself at risk.
At my last sales meeting, our title company's rep gave us a timely article about the importance of safety when conducting an open house. Considering my recent experience I really wanted to share this with all my Active Rain friends and hope to pass on to you the importance of being safe.
MAKE YOUR NEXT OPEN HOUSE A SAFE ONE
An open house can be a great sales tool, but it also exposes you to a number of unfamiliar people for the first time, and your personal safety should be first and foremost. Your seller's security is also a high priority. Not everyone you are going to meet intends to purchase the home, and a few may have criminal intentions. With these reasons in mind, Realtors and homeowners alike should practice these guidelines when holding an open house.
- Check your cell phone to make sure it is fully charged prior to the open house. Keep it handy at all times. Have emergency numbers programmed on speed dial. Also keep the house key and your keys with you at all times.
- Advise your sellers to hide any valuables and jewelry in a safe and secure place and keep all prescription drugs out of plain sight.
- When holding open houses in a remote area or a home that will generate high traffic it is a good idea to bring another agent or person to help assist with the open house.
- When you initially approach the property, check out the neighborhood and look for anything out of place, making sure not one is paying unwanted attention to you or following you. If there is any doubt, seek assistance immediately.
- Inform a neighbor that you will be having an open house, so they may be an extra set of eyes and ears for anything out of the ordinary.
- Walk the perimeter of the home. Notice all exits including doors and windows as possible escape routes. See what the exits are in the backyard, notices any locks on fences and gates.
- Make sure all deadbolts are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.
- Treat all prospects in the same manner and by the same rules. If you make it clear that all visitors must sign in to view the home, legitimate prospects won't mind and may be favorably impressed. They will think "He or she will be just as protective our home."
- Check all rooms for someone who might be in the house and be prepared to run or defend yourself if necessary.
- When showing the house, always walk behind the prospect. Direct them; don't lead them. Say for example, "The kitchen is on your left." Don't let yourself get trapped in, make sure that you are always by the door of each room so you can always walk away if needed.
- Notify someone at your office, a friend or relative that you will be calling in at certain times and have an appointed time for them to call you.
- Establish a prearranged password you can use on the phone if you are in any way uncomfortable with the situation. It might be a simple as "don't forget to feed the dog."
- At an open house, be alert on the pattern of visitors' arrivals, especially near the end of the showing hours. In some areas, a group of thieves may show up together near the end of the open house and, while a string of supposed buyers distract the agent, the thieves steal any valuables the come across.
- Check all windows and doors to make sure they are locked and secure before leaving, there have been cases where someone has unlocked a window at an open house and returned later to burglarize the property or hide in a closet and wait while everybody is gone before doing their criminal deeds.
- If you do have to work an open house alone, mention "that you're expecting a lot of people today and that your partner will be there shortly to assist you."
- You should always immediately call the homeowner when the open house is finished. When the homeowner returns they can then double check to see that their house is safe, checking that all doors are locked and all valuables are accounted for and everything is secure.
A final word - TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS! Be aware of your surroundings. Don't be afraid to ask someone to accompany you to show or list property if you feel uncomfortable or uneasy with the people you are meeting. Put your own personal safety first.
Contact Kari A. Battaglia, PA GRI SFR SRES® , licensed REALTOR® in Venice Florida at 941-270-1851 to list your home, answer general questions or to help you search for homes for sale in Venice Florida. I currently serve customers in Venice Florida, Englewood Florida, Nokomis Florida, South Venice, Laurel, Osprey and Casey Key and Manasota Key communities. As a private landowner, I also have Tennessee properties available in the Chattanooga area. Call or email me to receive a list of Tennessee properties available for sale.
Contact me by email at Kari@DiscoverVeniceRealEstate.com. Need information fast, call me direct at 941-270-1851. Copyright©2009. By Kari A. Battaglia PA. All Rights Reserved.
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Serving customers in Venice Florida, South Venice, Osprey, Nokomis Florida, Casey Key, Manasota Key, Englewood Florida, Rotonda West and North Port communities. Call me to list your home for sale, answer questions regarding steps you can take to AVOID FORECLOSURE or answer any general questions you may have about real estate.
Contact me by email at Kari@BuyAHomeInVENICE.com. Need information fast, call me direct at 941-270-1851. Copyright©2010. By Kari A. Battaglia PA. All Rights Reserved.
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Featured @ Club Chaos
Excellent blog Kari.
Safety is priorty and sometimes we just get lost in the possible sale that we don't trust our instincts. I like the idea of having another agent with you during the open house.
Get to work on each others open house skills.
Wishing you contineud success.
Constantine.
Great post! Open houses can be dangerous so you should always be prepared!
Kari, glad to hear your encounter came out with a positive result. Sometimes situations like that are great reminders as we tend to let our guard down at times. You point out some great guidelines we should all follow. Recently, another agent and myself have decided to buddy-up during Open Houses and it's worked out great. We both feel a little more secure and also gives us an opportunity to talk to more potential clients when we have a lot of traffic coming through. Thanks for posting and stay safe!
C - Thanks for the feature. I feel this is a very important issue for everyone!
Constantine - Thanks!
Terry - You are right, being prepared is important.
Terri - Thanks. I do think that we tend to let our guard down but we should all be aware of what could potentially happen.
Very important, indeed. :-)
Kari - I don't hold open house alone. I always ask for another agent to join me in during open house. Thanks for sharing a very helpful blog.
John
Thanks for this posting - I wouldn't have thought to keep my keys and the house keys with me. And I am always letting my phone charge run down! Very helpful!
Excellent advice. I am pretty paranoid so I follow a lot of these. Plus, I carry a stun gun! :)
John - your welcome!
Lisa - I am glad that some of these tips may be useful for you. I too am guilty of letting the phone charge drop to almost nothing but have since made it a point to charge up every night and keep phone plugged into charger whenever I am in the car.
Kristi - Don't mess with Kristi!
Kari - These are some good tips. Its important to be careful when holding an Open House, especially one that is no longer lived in.
Very good tips! I think the best tip of all is to never do an open house alone!
ALso previewing vacant houses for clients. I got the creeps yesterday at a house that had a wall heater on(you had to flip a switch) and the shed door was open. There was also a utility room that was flooded and that opened into a basement area that was finished but by that time i was just too creeped out and left quickly.
Great advice and I would like to add one: always park your car on the street so you cannot be blocked in the driveway.
Great Tips!Our board had a Realtor Safety class last year and I can highly recommend this class. Our speaker was amazing and gave us a real wakeup call! Anyone interested in more info on the speaker let me know I have his contact information. He travels nationally. We are in a high risk profession.
As per post #15 Contact information
This is great information to keep handy at all times! I really appreciate you're sharing it with us.
In all my years in real estate, I've had only one scary situation. The memory is sharp after many years. A man who was walking through a lovely home went out on the back deck, came in and closed the patio door behind him. Before I realized what was happening, he went back and closed the front door. He just stood and looked at me for a few minutes, then left. I've been much more cautious since then.
This blog and the responses had some great reminders. I'll be more careful, for example, to park on the street so I won't get hemmed in the driveway.
Smart things to do.
I think John (#7) has an excellent recommendation to always have two representatives at the open house. This allows for better monitoring of the home as people tour the property. This is how I almost always work my open houses and I find it is very helpful to be able to have one of us on each level to answer any questions as well as be on-the-lookout. It's also very helpful when it comes to putting up and taking down signs as one of us remains at the property while the other does the driving around. So anytime someone follows one of my open house signs they know that they will find someone at the house.
Don't forget to park the car on the street so you can't be blocked in.
If I'm checking out a place, I always carry a big brinkmann flashlight. It makes a great flashlight, and an even better club.
Kari,
Thanks for all of these tips! I'm still a bit unsure if I want to hold open houses in condos in highrises!! We have so few people living here off-season that it makes me nervous to put myself in these units alone!
Very good post and very good ideas. As a big man I often do not think of these issues, but anyone can be the victim of a crime. Homeowners not only need to be concerned with valuables, but paper work that could help ID thiefs being left about.
Depending on your area of the country and your local situation even the best precautions may be insufficient to make an open house worthwhile. Had an open house 3 years ago, 2 ladies come in and go through the house while another couple are also in the house. Myself and another agent are there, I'm with the other couple, the other agent is with the ladies who frequently split up and are finally told that if they don't stay together they must leave, they left. That evening I get a call from the seller, someone stole all of his coin collection and all of his credit cards (hidden in his sock drawer). Guess who did it? The cards are cancelled upon discovery that night, but the ladies had a great shopping spree up till then, plus a good time from what the other three homes (open houses) that they had also hit that day.
A year ago one of my agents and another lady, assisting, were robbed by someone coming in to "view" the house. Fortunately they weren't hurt.
This year an agent in town was at an open house by himself (yes a man) he was attacked, beaten and robbed and the clients expensive possesions/electronics taken.
In todays economy, it's a good idea to reevaluate the benefit vs. the risk to our clients, and yes, to ourselves. The buyers that are picked up could in reality be very expensive.
Thank you for the warnings. I am not a Realtor. Everything I sell, I own and they are vacant so theft has never crossed my mind and wouldn't be an issue as the homes are always vacant. Good points to be aware of.
Amy - I never thought about previewing vacant houses either. That does sound like a creepy situation. You did the right thing by leaving quickly.
Lee - Excellent advice about the car. I have to remember that one. Thanks.
Sanna - We are in a high risk profession. I am just now becoming more aware of it. Thanks.
Mary - You are so lucky nothing happened. I bet you he was considering it. We all have to be more careful.
Michael - I agree with you completely. My last open house I had another agent with me. Things went much smoother and I feel that we better served our sellers as well.
Bill - Great advice about flashlight. I will pick one up.
Kathy - I would really be cautious having an open house in an a condo building. Too many places something bad could happen. Don't do it.
Gene - Anyone, no matter the size, can be a victum. Homeowners especially need to be careful with their paperwork. This is the one of the top crimes today. I am going to remind all my sellers of this. Thanks for sharing.
Gary - Wow what a story. I guess if a criminal is bound and determine there is not stoppiing them. You can't be too careful today. Thanks for sharing.
Karen - Before becoming a realtor I did exactly what you did. I felt more vulnerable then than I do now for some reason. You always need to be on your guard.
Kari
Being on guard is wise and a smart and safe way to do business.
Ty
Well, I'm left hanging - what was the outcome? I'm assuming you left there safely? I'm also assuming you advised the seller to open the blind to make the home show lighter and brighter?
Everyone in our office, our families, and some good friends know that we are in trouble if we call and say something like "Hi Tammy, I am at my open house at 123 Main St. and I am going to need the RED folder" then "would you call me back in 5 minutes (meaning I'm a little nervous about someone in the house right now)" or "would you please send someone over right away (meaning call the police)." We also know that if someone is making us a little nervous for whatever reason to get out front and admire the roof or something until they are gone.
Juli - I did leave there safely - from the backyard. I did not go back into the house after that. Also I did not call back the sellers to get the listing as the whole situation just creeped me out and preferred to let this one go.
Linda - That is a very good idea. I am going to speak with my managing broker about that one. Our office should have a policy just like that. Very smart. Thanks for sharing.
As home stagers, we teach sellers to also put away knife blocks and other obvious tools/weapons to protect the realtor.
Thank you Kari, we need reminders like this one every now and then. Even for us men, we have to be aware of being robed or assaulted. Follow thy feelings... is my moto. Be aware, be smart and think safety first. If you feel uncomfortable, pay attention to you first. No listing is worth your life. I appreciate the reminder.
Antonio
Kari
Thanks for the list...i am going to print it out and present it to my fellow agents at an office meeting....adding on not to park in the driveway....I would add one more thing to consider doing...i lock my purse in my car trunk. One less thing to worry about. Also, I always wear a suit jacket/blazer with a pocket that i can keep my cell phone in...I always want it on my person for safety.
My firm has a policy - 2 agents at an open house...it is a pretty good idea for personal safety. One agent (who is a high end lister and producer) always takes her husband who sits and reads the Sunday paper. We also have a calling code sentence in the event you are really freaked out.
I recently did an open house and as I was going around turning off the lights, I told the other agent she could leave. She no sooner drove off when 12 people - 3 families tourning open houses together - came in together to see the house...it was a large, vacant home and they scattered like ants...very nerve wracking! Some people were upstairs, some where in the basement, others ventured into the unfinished crawl space above the garage....I felt like I was herding cats! I did not feel nervous about my safety (luckily) but I did feel like I had lost control of the Open House! They ignored me and only spoke to each other, I called the other agent to come back quick! If you are going to do an open house with another person, stay together and leave together!!!
Thank you for posting this....it is a great list and gives a lot of tips I hadn't thought of.