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I wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt but if i was a buyer and noticed all this, and I would notice, I'd feel very negatively toward that realtor.
For comparison, when I was younger I taught art to inmates at a maximum security prison in Massachusetts. I walked into the prison every time, by myself, no gun or whatever, and taught a class to some of the most heinous criminals in the Commonwealth, many of them lifers with nothing to lose.
Again, I wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt, but I think the above list is excessive and creepy. I wouldn't be having a good business relationship with that realtor.
If a Realtor is being careful, as in some of these suggestions, it is not meant as a personal judgment against you or your character. It is meant as a prudent, appropriate measure to be able to have a certain comfort level with a stranger, trusting that their intention is to look at property and perhaps buy it... nothing else.
Seems like opportunity is what comes to mind if I think of the circumstances I regularly work in and that is considered "normal" - or at least common in my business.
Realtors have a more dangerous job than most people think... We go out for hours at a time, showing clients empty and vacant properties in various states of repair and disrepair - routinely are not reachable by cell phone so friends and family are used to hours witih no contact. They may only know that we are "out" and sometime we'll be "back". Our jobs can take us late into the evening if we're writing an offer at the end of an already long day. We are in and out of so many homes.. that sometimes it is difficult to track us. Good opportunity for things to go wrong.
I take clients... male and female, single and couples into properties... many of which I have not had time to preview. I only go by what comments there might be on the listing sheet. I have had 2 instances when I walked in and "felt" someone else there (this out of hundreds of homes). I immediately left and called the listing broker... "Oh, yes," she said, "we've had trouble with itinerants living in the basement and breaking in the back door on a regular basis. I hope you're OK," she continued.
The opportunity for conflict would have been the perception that I was the tresspasser on "their home"... The second time someone was living there still... whether they were supposed to I didn't know. When the listing sheet says "vacant" and there are dirty dishes in the sink, well it's a good indication that something is odd... Sometimes, if there's been a divorce and both people have moved out, one of them isn't happy with the new arrangement and may show up or be staying there unexpectedly. It is potentially a touchy time.
A friend of mine opened a door once and walked into a "vacant" home only to be met by a squatter with a shotgun, pointed right at her. Fortunately, she didn't have a client with her.. she was previewing homes with another realtor.. No one was hurt and they left immediately...
Perhaps understanding the "why" behind the measures and preplanning that a realtor might undertake for a client's home tour might actually be seen as a higher level of professionalism designed for safety all around... yours and theirs. After all, don't you want a Realtor who handles all types of contingencies that could come up with your transaction with the same foresight they exhibit in this situation?
Using the same logic, why would I, a buyer, agree to meet any realtor anywhere to view a property?
A client has the same potential for being harmed by a realtor, as the opposite. Should I require a record check and fingerprints before meeting a realtor at a vacant house with my wife? What if I brought a gun, or mace "just in case?" Should I allow realtors to have my door keys?
I know about some realtors, you might too, that have committed crimes, had emotional problems, ugly divorces, alcohol and substance abuse problems, been a little too touchy-feely with the ladies in the office...
As an analogy, some people write bad checks. We still take checks on blind trust because the economy of the country will come to a halt if enough businesses stop taking checks.
Too much paranoia and everything comes to a grinding stop.
Very scary stuff indeed. Where I live, last year we had a serious issue here. A guy who previously raped a real estate agent got out of prison and came to our town in a stolen car and went inside a Realtors office and picked out the prettiest real estate agent and had her drive him around looking at homes. The police were looking for him because he used a stolen credit card at our local Walmart and next to the Walmart was the Realtors office and by chance the police noticed his car that he stole previously in the parking lot of it. The police went in the Realtors office and found out he was out with one of the Realtors looking at homes. Come to find out they were actually in my subdivision. So the police had an agent call the other agent on her cell phone to find out exactly where she was but wasn't warning her because the police were on there way and he was armed and dangerous. The police surrounded her car and with guns pointed demanded they both get out of the car and they arrested the man. Come to find out the man had handcuffs and rope and pepper spray on him. Luckily the Realtor did not get hurt. It was a miracle that the police noticed his stolen car at her office.
Another incident happened about 2 years ago here in Texas in McKinney. A real estate agent was murdered. She was working in a model home and again a man with a record came in and stole her jewelry and murdered her.
That is so scary! I always watch my back, but hell if you in a house alone with some freak and he is stronger than you, you better have a damn good back up plan.
If I ever decide to fully jump into the real estate arena I will be packing heat for sure!
I have never understood the need for agents to put their picture - big as life and all dolled up - on their business cards, or worst yet, bus stops.
I've been in Real Estate for 6 years and have never put my picture on my card ... I am a female and having been in the film industry years ago, I am paranoid about the whole stalker thing.
I am very uncomfortable with the the fact that any JOE shmoe can know who I am, by seeing my picture, name and office location ... but I don't have the same advantage.
I may not be the biggest producer on the block ... but, it keeps me feeling safe.
I have never understood the need for agents to put their picture - big as life and all dolled up - on their business cards, or worst yet, bus stops.
I've been in Real Estate for 6 years and have never put my picture on my card ... I am a female and having been in the film industry years ago, I am paranoid about the whole stalker thing.
I am very uncomfortable with the the fact that any JOE shmoe can know who I am, by seeing my picture, name and office location ... but I don't have the same advantage.
I may not be the biggest producer on the block ... but, it keeps me feeling safe.
I agree about the picture it would make me a little nervous, just knowing that people know who you are and you have no idea who they are.
The company I work for has had a few phone calls made to both male and female agents from their pics being posted in the paper, nothing bad just people asking them on dates but still I think that is a little strange.
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