You can't be too careful

Two weeks ago someone emailed me to see a vacant property, and wouldn't provide me any contact information other than a nickname. I offered to make arrangements for a showing and asked for additional information, and after a couple of replies without providing me any name or number, and without me agreeing to meet, the communication ceased. Realtors deal with strangers each and every day, most often without issue. That exchange made me stop and wonder what would have happened if I had just dropped everything and met a perfect stranger, at a vacant house, without being able to tell anyone who I was meeting because I didn't even know.

Last week a North Carolina Realtor was raped while working at a model home:
REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Practitioner Assaulted While On Job
Shared via AddThis

In 2006 a Boulder Realtor was raped by a man posing as a potential home buyer:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/5952827/detail.html

And in August of 2003, a similar assault occured in Park Hill in Denver. A Realtor was showing a home to a husband and wife. While they were in the basement, a man came in through the unlocked door, tied up the Realtor and the husband and raped the wife. Shortly after that attack, my brother sent me a taser gun and police issue pepper spray to carry with me.

September is Realtor safety month, so here are a few thoughts:

If you call me to show you a house, don't be offended if I ask for personal information. First of all, I want to know if you are a legitimate buyer who is ready and able to buy a home. Second, I want to be able to tell my staff, my business partner and my husband exactly where I will be and with whom.

Don't be surprised if I don't go into a basement with you the first time we look at a house, and if you are a single guy, expect me to bring another agent with me. Please don't be offended, I just want to make sure I don't end up on the 10:00 news.

While we are looking at a home, I will lock all of the doors behind us. Don't read anything into that - I have been asked "Are we in a bad neighborhood? Why are you locking the doors?" It is good practice to lock all doors in every house in any neighborhood, period. See above regarding what happened in Park Hill in broad daylight.

Homeowners, here are some tips for you:

Don't open your door to just anyone who rings the doorbell. I had a client call me and tell me she let the buyer's agent and appraiser in on a Friday afternoon but neither of them left a business card. Funny, nobody had notified me of an appointment. I called the buyer's agent and no, she hadn't gone to the house and neither had the appraiser. Who did my client let in her house?

Ask your Realtor to use an electronic lockbox. The old dial or push button lockboxes might be a little easier to use, but once someone has that code they can come in at any time.

Parents, I love the decorations in your children's rooms with their names, but please take them down before the house goes on the market. With the internet marketing that is available, your address and photos of those rooms with your kid's names will be out there for anyone to see.

Open houses aren't for everyone:

Imagine putting an ad on the internet, directional signs to your house and inviting anyone and everyone to just walk through. You don't know if someone is a sex offender, drug addict or thief. That is what an open house is like, and you never know who might walk through. A few years ago in Highlands Ranch I caught a woman going through the nightstand drawers at my clients' house, and I tell everyone to remove prescription drugs, jewelry, etc. Another Realtor told me she had two 'creepy' experiences at open houses and actually called the police on one guy. Remember that the Realtor can't watch everyone at all times, especially if there is a lot of traffic. Open houses are kind of like garage sales, except imagine all those people actually coming into your house.

Every person is a stranger before they become a client or a friend, and the vast majority of a Realtor's interactions end with a successful closing. A little common sense and a lot of caution can go a long way in today's world.

What to expect in this blog...

I haven't successfully blogged before, and as I spend more time on social networking sites, I figure it is time I started. As I sit and think about what to post and what other people may want to read about, I realized there are already so many sites/blogs/tweets dedicated to real estate that speak to the usual subjects: What is the market like? What does it take to sell my home in today's market? Will the first time homebuyer credit stick around?

So instead of adding to the white noise, I have decided to blog about what I see every day. Names and addresses will always be withheld to respect everyone's privacy. But if I see a homemade firepit in the backyard - you know the kind where you dig a hole, add some logs and promote it as a firepit? That might end up here.


Hence the name of this blog, Keeping the Real in Denver Real Estate.