Realtor Safety: What is this feeling?

This month, we're publishing content from a course on Realtor Safety. This is the tenth in a series of articles that teaches Realtors how to prevent being a victim of crime. Read the previous article here.

In the home

While inside the home, there are some guidelines you should follow to help keep you safe. It is important to remember that the ultimate goal is to the make situation unattractive to a predator while not making a legitimate prospect feel uncomfortable.

Every home is different so you may have to adjust some of the following practices to meet the layout of the home and your particular sales style.

• When at all possible, be sure to position yourself in such a way that you are clearly visible from the outside of the house. If a prospect is looking to assault you, they don't want to do it where it can be witnessed.
• When moving from one area of the home to another, let the prospect explore before you enter the area with them. "The next area is the kitchen, go in get and initial feel for it and tell me what you think." This is a "no influence sales strategy."
• Do not enter bedrooms with the prospect, if at all possible. Stand at the edge of the door in the hallway.
  • Master Suites – Be sure to familiarize yourself with the master bathroom because this is an ideal place for a prospect to isolate you; they therefore may ask a question as a strategy for getting you into the bathroom with them. DO NOT ENTER A MASTER BATHROOM WITH A NEW PROSPECT. If you must enter the bedroom to answer the question, stand outside of the doorway to the master bath. Furthermore, stand perpendicular to the doorway, this makes you a smaller target and allows for a faster escape if necessary.

• General body position
  • Always try to stay at least two arm lengths from a prospect. It shows respect for body space to a legitimate prospect and makes it more difficult for a prospect who is a threat to assault you.
  • Wherever possible, make sure you are visible from the outside of the home
  • Always position yourself so that the prospect is never between you and your escape path
• If there are stairs in the home
  • Always allow the prospect to go up or down the stairs first and maintain at least a four stair difference between the two of you.
  • Allow the prospect to move away from the top or bottom of the stairs (depending on the direction you are going) before completing your ascent or descent.
  • Remember that stairs are an ideal place for an attack, they are usually hidden from view, and it's easy to knock you off your feet.
  • If you are ascending stairs and there is a handrail, use it. If a prospect suddenly turns on you, you'll have an anchor point to use the prospect's own momentum against him/her.

Read the next article in this series now: Reading the Prospect

Read More Articles in this Series

September is Realtor® Safety Month. Throughout the month, RE Technology will be publishing excerpts from an educational course on Realtor Safety in partnership with safety app creator Real Safe Agent. Here's the list of articles that have been published to date:

• Crime Prevention for Real Estate Agents: An Introduction
• Realtor Safety: Understanding Crime and Criminals
• Realtor Safety: Anatomy of a Crime
• Realtor Safety: Reducing the Risk of Being Targeted
• Realtor Safety: Setting Expectations in Your Marketing
• Realtor Safety: Screening Prospects Before a Showing
• Realtor Safety: Evaluating a Property and Neighborhood
• Realtor Safety: Using the Initial Prospect Call to Deter Predators
• Realtor Safety: How to Have a Safe Showing
• Realtor Safety: Reading the Prospect
• Realtor Safety: How the Real Estate Community Can Protect Itself

Please consider sharing this important information with your colleagues, your agents (brokers), and membership (MLSs and associations)!