Risky
Business.......Take Your Personal Safety Seriously
Crimes are committed against salespeople of both
genders and of all ethnic backgrounds at all times of day, at all types of properties. The common denominator is that all
the victims were showing properties.
Don’t be tomorrow’s headline.
Don't make assumptions, they can get you hurt. Don't
assume that the bad guy always operates alone. Don't assume that the bad guys are all "guys"
In most of the stories we’ve heard, the agents had allowed
their need to do business overcome their misgivings about a potential client who turned out to be one of the bad guys.
There was a case in Florida, where a man met the agent more than once.
In a previous meeting, he brought his wife and kids. He gained the agents
trust and then returned to get her alone to rob, bound and gag her.
This
is not a warning just "for women". Obviously women need to be more careful,
but its not uncommon to hear about a man being robbed or murdered.
That's
exactly what happened to REALTOR® Mike Emert. Mike, a young family man based in Bellevue, Washington, was showing a listing in early January 2001. He was found in an empty house, where his assailant had stabbed him to death.
The
Washington and Seattle-King County Associations of REALTORS® joined
forces with other groups, including local real estate firms, government agencies, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service,
the King County Sheriff Department and the State Department of Licensing to form the non-profit Washington Real Estate Safety
Council. This group developed safety campaigns and resources specifically aimed at preventing other REALTORS® from becoming
victims of assault, injury or worse.
The Council provides all its materials free of
charge and encourages REALTORS® to share it with others. Some of the material is available here, more material is available at their web site, including downloadable Office Forms in both Word and pdf formats, 12 Safety Posters
and a personal Safety Guide available in pdf format. For this and other useful
web sites, see On-line Safety Resources.
Promote REALTOR® Safety
To raise awareness about this vital issue, the
National Association of REALTORS® has officially designated
a week in September as REALTOR® Safety Week. Safety
is a #1 priority for NAR and their commitment to this crucial issue is ongoing. Keep the goals of Safety Week activities
top-of-mind throughout the year.
