Prioritizing REALTOR® Protection and Security

Knowledge, awareness, and empowerment are the core components of REALTOR® safety. Helping our members understand the risks they face can mean the difference between life and death.

As a REALTOR®, it’s important you have a personal safety protocol in place you use every day with every client, like when meeting new clients, showing properties or sharing information online.

Upcoming Safety Course

Registrations open 1 month before class dates.

  • Instructor: Amit Baruch

29

SEP

Making Selling Safer

29 September, 2024

9:30 AM-12:30 PM

Snohomish County-Camano Association of REALTORS, Everett, Washington

Safety Tips

  • Anytime you’re suspicious about a prospect
  • You feel uncomfortable about showing a house to a prospect
  • You feel suspicious about a person after you have shown a house
  • You have been assaulted in any way (ex: robbed, raped, or mugged)

Safeguard your office by keeping windows and counters clear. Robbers and attackers work in private and law enforcement will need to see inside. Play a television, or radio, in a room when you’re alone in the office. Make sure all unused doors and windows are secure, especially if they’re in the rear of the office or out of view and ear shot.

  • When you first enter a house, check all rooms and plan several “escape” routes.
  • Make sure any deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.
  • If escaping by back door, make sure backyard is easy to escape.  Frequently, high fences surround yards which contain swimming pools or hot tubs.
  • Place your business card, with date and time on back, in a kitchen cupboard. Note on your business card if you were the first to arrive or if clients were waiting.
  • When prospects begin to arrive, write down description of their vehicle.
  • When showing the house, walk behind the prospect always – direct them, do not lead them. Say, for example, “the bathroom is on your right,” and gesture for them to go ahead of you.
  • Don’t become preoccupied with viewing the home and watch what the prospects are doing at at all times.
  • Notify someone in your office, your answering service, or a friend or family member that you will check in every hour on the hour and if you don’t call then they are to notify law enforcement immediately.
  • Inform a neighbor when you will be showing the house and ask to keep an ear open for anything unusual.
  • Have someone stay with you. (A friend, a relative, or someone from your office)
  1. Careful with personal information
  2. Verify customer information
  3. Enlist a coworker
  4. Announce your showings
  5. Scout locations early
  6. Keep phone in hand
  7. Keep customer in sight
  8. Pay attention to exits
  9. Take a self-defense class
  10. Trust your gut
Woman Wearing White Top Holding Smartphone and Tablet
Play

The goal of the REALTOR® Safety Program is to reduce the number of safety incidents that occur in the industry, so every REALTOR® comes home safely to his or her family every night.

We will accomplish this goal together with our members by improving the Safety Culture in the industry: Talk about safety; create a safety plan and follow it; and encourage your fellow REALTORS® to do the same.

Top 5 Safety Action Items for REALTORS®

  1. Plan Your Safety Strategy
  2. Tips and Best Practices
  3. On-Demand Webinars & Training Videos
  4. Personal Protection Resources
  5. Take the REALTOR® Safety Pledge

Notify the National Association of REALTORS® of a critical REALTOR® Safety-related issue. You can also contact the National Association of REALTORS® Member Support Team Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT by calling 1-800-874-6500.

REALTOR® Safety Alert Submission Form