By Addie Owens, CRS
In 2014, the real estate world was shocked and saddened by the death of Beverly Carter, a REALTOR® who was murdered by a man who had targeted her. He had called Carter, saying he and his wife were interested in seeing a rural property listing. During the showing, the man abducted Carter and took her to another location where he held her hostage and murdered Beverly.
This tragedy alerted REALTORS® to the dangers they can face as they go about their work—work that takes them into the public sphere and requires personal accessibility. We often take for granted our safety when conducting our business because we have to operate with assumed trust. It can be challenging when you’re enticed with a carrot of a commission dangling at the end of a phone call. Anyone can get your information from a website. Some agents still use car magnets. Your information is everywhere, and you don’t realize how vulnerable you are.
Carter’s death was a catalyst for me to reassess my own safety procedures and eventually design a course on REALTOR® safety. I collaborated with law enforcement officials and self-defense instructors then applied other safety principles to develop guidance for agents. Just as airplanes have multiple engines in case one fails, we can build in several layers of intentional redundancy in our safety protocols. Here are a few I recommend:
Establish accountability partners
If you are showing a property or going to a private meeting, make sure someone (preferably several people) know where you are going and when you should be expected back. This can be accomplished by sending an email or text saying, “This is the property list I’m showing today. These are the times that I’m going to be there. If I don’t report back, start here.”
Look out for red flags
Certain behaviors can alert you to potential bad actors. They only want to see vacant properties. If you’re going to show a vacant property, take someone with you. They use a very generic email address or WhatsApp instead of a cell-based phone number.
Record your phone calls so you can refer back to important details
You need permission to record phone calls in most states. If you’re driving, you can say to the customer, “I’m driving right now. Do you mind if I turn on my call recording because I want to refer to these notes later?” Who’s going to say no to that? (A bad guy.) Ask people to repeat their story; if you catch them in a lie (for example, a wife becomes a girlfriend or the place they are moving from changes), be wary.
End open houses early
Most crime that’s committed at open houses is at the end. Because we advertise when the open house will run, most legitimate lookers are more likely to visit at the beginning. So, why not end the open house early? Advertise that it will run until 5 p.m. and end at 4 p.m.
These are just a few things you can do right away to help you work more safely. But I also strongly encourage you to take a REALTOR® safety class. RRC offers an eLearning course, Systems for Agent Safety, to get you started. Real estate is a great business to be in; you just have to do it safely.
For more information about how to stay safe as a real estate agent, visit NAR.realtor/safety.
Photo: iStock.com/AJ_Watt
