Ford sent out an email yesterday with some suspicious clients that are calling around. There is a full moon and next week is Halloween and some crazy people are out and about. It is not just the time of year, it is all the time that you should be thinking about your personal safety. Here are some tips on ways to Be Safer. Please be aware and immediately contact the Police if you are concerned.
The DO list:
1. Take the safest and best-lighted route--day or night--while driving to appointments.
2. Never hesitate to Inform the office of where you will be, who you will be with and when you will next be in touch. Make sure the person you are meeting knows that you’ve given your office this information.
3. Be aware of the neighborhood in which you are showing a listing. If you are concerned about any possible threat to your personal safety, take another person with you.
4. Allow the client to proceed ahead of you while showing the property. Make sure you have previewed the property and know all of the accessible exits. Leave the doors unlocked for easy exit and leave one door open at all times, if possible. Carry your cell phone with you.
5. Establish a method of being able to relate an emergency situation to the office or a contact person.
6. Have a secret phrase to notify the office you are in trouble. Our phrase is to call the office and ask for the information in the Red File to be sent to you.
The DON'T list:
1. Hold an open house alone, if at all possible. Working with a partner allows you the luxury of having someone available to call or go for assistance if needed, and someone to help monitor how many people are in the house. If you must do an open house alone, stay near the door and let the prospect look through the house alone. Keep all valuables--jewelry, money, guns, etc.-- locked away.
2. Host an open house at a property you have not already previewed. Know the location of all of the exits and how to contact the closest neighbors. Make sure that if you use the backyard as an escape route that there is an exit out of it. Make sure all of the exit doors are unlocked during the open house.
3. Wear expensive jewelry and, if at all possible, keep your handbag locked in the trunk of your vehicle while you are hosting an open house. Have your car keys readily available by keeping them either in a pocket or clipped to a belt.
4. Assume everyone has left the premises at the end of an open house. Check all of the rooms and the backyard prior to locking all of the doors. Be prepared to defend yourself, if necessary.
5. Show a property alone at night, especially if it is vacant.
Other things you can do to help you be safe:
1. Provide the office with your car information — make, year, model, color and license plate number.
2. Call the front desk and give us your daily schedule of outside appointments with their office showing client names and times.
3. Always meet your client, prospect or buyer at your office and have them complete an information form, taking a photo of their driver’s license. The information form should contain vehicle information, also. Please refer to our Seller’s Questionnaire.
4. Keep a note of prospective client’s name, driver’s license and vehicle information.
5. At open houses, a guest registry should be kept for all persons viewing the house. This registry could include vehicle information.
6. Never show a property as the result of only a telephone call. Always meet them at the office and have them complete an information form.
7. Do not list your home address on your business cards or ever give to a client.
Elizabeth Mendenhall
RE/MAX Boone Realty
33 E. Broadway, Ste. 200
Columbia, MO 65203
PH: (573) 876.2882
www.boonerealty.com | www.seeremax.com
www.facebook.com/remaxboonerealty
@boonerealty
Licensed in Missouri
ABR, ABRM, CIPS, CRB, GRI, PMN, e-PRO
