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REALTOR®: Realtors and clients need to practice safety at open houses

Monday, August 27, 2007

Real estate professionals are not the only ones at risk when showing a property – clients are at risk too. An open house can be a great sales tool, but it also exposes Realtors and their clients to numerous unfamiliar people at once. With the observance of REALTOR® Safety Week on September 9-15, it doesn’t hurt to practice the following guidelines when conducting an open house. The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) is offering this information to its members and their clients to empower them to work together with confidence. These safety tips will also help sellers protect themselves against crime.

Sources for this information are the National Association of REALTORS®, Washington Real Estate Safety Council, City of Mesa, Arizona, Pinehurst North Carolina Police Department, Nevada County Board of REALTORS® and Georgia Real Estate Commission.

• Clients selling their house need to remember that strangers will be walking through their home. Hide any valuables in a safe, secure place, including prescription drugs.

• If possible, always try to have at least one other person working with you at the open house.

• Call the local police department and ask them to have a squad care drive by during your open-house hours.

• Check your cell phone’s strength and signal prior to the open house. Have emergency numbers programmed on speed dial. Carry an extra, fully charged cell phone battery (if possible).

• Visit the house before you show it and together with the seller, check all rooms and determine several “escape” routes. Make sure all deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.

• Make sure that if you were to escape by the back door, you could escape from the backyard. Frequently, high fences surround yards that contain swimming pools or hot tubs.

• Place one of your business cards, with the date and time written on the back, in a kitchen cabinet. Note on it if you were the first to arrive or if clients were waiting.

• Have all open house visitors sign in. Ask for full name, address, phone number and e-mail address.

• At an open house, be alert to the pattern of visitors’ arrivals, especially near the end of showing hours. In some areas, a group of thieves will show up together near the end of the open house and, while a string of supposed potential buyers distracts the Realtor, the rest of the group walks through the house, stealing any valuables they come across.

• When showing the house, always walk behind the prospect. Direct them; don’t lead them. Say, for example, “The kitchen is on your left,” and gesture for them to go ahead of you.

• Avoid attics, basements, and getting trapped in small rooms.

• Notify someone in your office, your answering service, a friend or a relative that you will be calling in every hour on the hour. And if you don’t call, they are to call you.

• Inform a neighbor that you will be showing the house and ask if he or she would keep an eye and ear open for anything out of the ordinary.

• Don’t assume that everyone has left the premises at the end of an open house. Check all of the rooms and the backyard prior to locking the doors. Then make sure that all doors and windows are locked. Thieves commonly use open houses to scout for valuables and possible points of entry, then return after the agent leaves.

• While Realtors should let their clients know that they will take all of the above safety precautions, when the sellers return home, they should immediately verify that all doors are locked and all valuables accounted for.

The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 3,800 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula. SAMCAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in San Mateo County.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.

For further information, please contact Julie Ziemelis, Director of Public Affairs, e-mail , or phone (650) 696-8214.

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