5 Important Real Estate Agent Safety Tips

Posted by Premier Commission on January 18, 2016 in Helpful Tips

Real estate is a fun and exciting career but without proper safeguards, it can also be dangerous. Realtors spend hours a day exploring new houses and meeting new people and implementing some basic safe practices can go a long way towards ensuring a long and prosperous career. Use these give real estate agent safety tips with each client and each location.

Enable GPS

One simple but effective way to ensure your safety during the workday is to enable the GPS locator on your phone. Apps like Glympse give your loved one or employer real-time GPS tracking based on your phone’s location. These apps can be enabled anytime you are going out with a client and end as soon as you get back. While you never expect a safety issue, a GPS enabled app can provide added protection during a normal workday.

Be Social but Safe

Real estate can seem like an all-encompassing profession. You work weekends, holidays, and may be on call at all hours of the day. Blurring the lines of home and business can be difficult when your career truly becomes your life. Often, real estate agents compromise their safety by giving too much personal information to their clients, such as their home number or address. While real estate agents need to be social, they also need to be cautious. If you wouldn’t give information to someone you met at a bar, you shouldn’t give it to clients. Maintain a separate company phone and keep your address private.

Meet First-Time Clients at the Office

Most clients want to get right to the house hunting but one real estate agent safety tip that should never be ignored is for agents to meet first-time clients at their place of business. Meeting clients in a neutral and safe location allows you to not only meet your client and determine if you feel comfortable going to look at houses alone but also allows your co-workers and managers to see the client. This builds a level of trust so you can forge a closer relationship while maintaining your own safety.

Maintain a Record of Client IDs

Most real estate agencies require contracts before showings and this is also the perfect time to employ a real estate agent safety tactic of getting identification from each client. Ask for a driver’s license or other form of photographic identification and make a copy for your own records. This information can be a literal life-saver if you feel threatened or unsafe in the future due to that client. Make sure your boss or co-worker is aware of this file.

Trust Yourself

Becoming a great real estate agent takes a certain kind of person. They need to be hard-working, dependable, and extroverted. They need to love talking to clients and helping people find the house of their dreams. It goes hand in hand that great real estate agents are also better judges of characters than most people because they are so finely attuned to the people around them. To that end, if you don’t feel comfortable around a client, trust that instinct. Never accept a client who makes you feel uneasy and never go out alone with a client who you do not trust. Go with your instincts.

Real estate agent safety shouldn’t be an afterthought. It needs to be at the forefront of your mind every day and in every encounter. Building in some safeguards such as meeting first-time clients at your business and enabling GPS tracking before every showing are just a few ways you can keep safe and have fun in your real estate career.

For more tips on how to be a successful and safe real estate agent, stay tuned to the Premier Commission Blog! To learn more about our commission advance services, feel free to contact us with your questions.

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