Realtor Safety: Opening a Lockbox and Door
In-person showings are fraught with potential dangers for real estate agents. So how can agents stay safe on the job? Today, we're introducing a weekly video series that shows agents all the subtle things they need to know to stay safe on the job--while still presenting themselves as a friendly professional. In this week's video, Realtor Jason Ralston of Conway Real Estate demonstrates how to open a lockbox or property door without turning your back on your prospect--a vulnerable position for Realtors alone in the field. Watch this short video to learn: How to subtly position yourself while chatting up your client in a friendly manner How to deal with tricky situations, like homes with an outside door that swings out and an inside door that swings in How to stay safe while treating your client in a warm, welcoming way If you found this video helpful, please share it with your colleagues--and be sure to tune in next week for more Realtor safety tips!

Are Lockboxes Safe? 7 Facts to Soothe Client Fears
Ever had a seller who balked at the idea of using a lockbox? If you're like most Realtors, you've probably fielded questions from homeowners concerned about leaving their house key hanging from a box on the front door. Is it safe, they wonder? Will it make their home more vulnerable to crime? If you're not sure how to answer, share these seven lockbox safety facts to put your clients' fears to rest.

3 Ways Your Lockbox Can Keep You Safe
A tool that real estate agents use every day could be a powerful ally in staying safe on the job. That's great news for REALTORS®, 77 percent of whom report being always or often alone when showing a home to a new prospect, according to the WAV Group Real Estate Victimization Study. In fact, 51 percent of REALTORS® would like more safety support from their brokerage or association—making safety the most requested support category. But did you know that one tool that your brokerage or association provides, the humble lockbox, can help you stay safer in the field? Let's take a look at how. 1. Tap Into Your Lockbox's Agent Safety Feature Technology has changed the lockbox for the better, enabling the introduction of all kinds of new functionality. Today, REALTORS® can use their smartphone not just to open and manage their lockbox, but also to signal for help when needed. Last October, NAR subsidiary SentriLock introduced an Agent Safety feature that alerts your emergency contacts when you're in danger. It works by setting a timer that starts upon opening a lockbox with the SentriSmart™ mobile app. After approximately 90 seconds, the app asks the agent to confirm their safety status. REALTORS® can choose to confirm their safety and reset the timer for approximately 120 seconds later, confirm their safety and turn off the prompt, or send an alert with their location, time the lockbox was accessed and the agent's phone number to their emergency contacts. If the agent doesn't respond to the alert within 120 seconds, the app automatically assumes something is wrong and sends an alert. The feature is opt-in, which means that SentriSmart™ users need to activate this feature one time first before using it. To turn on the Agent Safety feature, go to Settings in the SentriSmart™ app to turn on the service. There, you can choose which contacts should be notified in case of emergency.

HomeSpotter and SentriLock Team Up to Help Agents Impress Clients
SentriLock recently announced their integration with HomeSpotter. Users of the lockbox company's mobile app, SentriSmart, can now access a home's property details page after using the app to open the lockbox. The integration streamlines an agent's workflow, giving them crucial property information right at the start of a showing. This is SentriSmart's third such partnership this year. Sentrilock previously teamed up with Realtors Property Resource and Homesnap on the same integration. After retrieving the lockbox during a showing, agents are prompted to open up the property details page in one of SentriLock's partner apps. You can see how this works in the short video below: Now that it's integrated with three major property search apps, some agents may wondering which option is right for them. Since we've already covered the differences between RPR and Homesnap, let's take a quick look at what HomeSpotter has to offer. Integrations with even more apps - SentriSmart may be HomeSpotter's first lockbox integration, but the app already integrates with several others. These various integrations allow agents to do things like schedule appointments, edit listings, upload photos, and start a transaction--all accessible from the HomeSpotter app itself. Client collaboration - HomeSpotter offers a chat feature that lets you communicate with your buyers throughout the entire home search process. Keep the conversation going even after the showing by encouraging your clients to share their thoughts on the home or save it to their favorites. HomeSpotter is an award winning app, too. Just last month, it won the "Best in Show" award at last month's RESO conference, beating out 21 other competitors. It's known for it's visually striking interface--so if the aesthetics of an app are important to you, HomeSpotter may be the app for you.

Top Security Technologies for Realtors
Susan answered the call just as she was locking up the office for the day. On the other end, a man explained, "I'm flying out of town this evening, but I would really like to see one of your listings beforehand. Can you meet me there in an hour?" She knew this wasn't a safe idea, but she'd been trying to sell that property on the outskirts of town for months. Like Susan, many Realtors say "yes" in these all-too-common scenarios because staying competitive in the real estate industry often compels agents to put sales before safety. Fortunately, our online Technology Guide introduces Realtors to some of the top security technologies for protecting both themselves and the properties they represent. For instance, Real Safe Agent is a crime prevention system deployed throughout an MLS or association. The system drives collaboration between agents to keep each other safe by enabling them to use their mobile phone to discreetly request help from colleagues. Should an agent send an alert, all nearby agents receive a drop-in alert along with the meeting location. Other agents can then casually check in to determine if there's a threatening situation—without creating any undue uneasiness that could ruin a potential sale. Real Safe Agent also enables both the vetting of prospects and sharing of agents' post-meeting comfort levels with specific clients. Before a first-time meeting, agents can send a text message requesting that the prospect provide their name and a picture of themselves. The information is then stored in the system for safety reporting. After the meeting, agents may rate how comfortable they felt with a prospect. This rating is averaged with the responses from all agents who engaged with that client. The average rating is available to agents when they book an appointment with a new client who is in the system, giving them the opportunity to take precautions if warranted.

5 Things You Didn't Know Your Lockbox Could Do
A new partnership between two NAR Realtor benefits is making it easier for agents to impress buyers during a showing. Sentrilock has teamed up with Realtor's Property Resource to offer agents one-click access to RPR property data from the SentriSmart mobile app. According to a post on the RPR blog, "When opening a SentriLock box, the SentriSmart app will ask users if they would like to view the property by way of the RPR app. Choosing yes will open the RPR app seamlessly." That means that Realtors can open the front door and immediately pull up data on the home, and easily answer buyer questions throughout a showing. We think that's pretty neat, and it got us thinking about other cool things that lockboxes and their mobile apps can do. So we took a look at Sentrilock, the lockbox solution highlighted in our free, annual Technology Guide. Here are the top five things you may not know your lockbox can do: 1. Get text alerts when your listing is shown - Set up showing notifications to find out when a listing is being shown, right as it's happening! This feature will send you a text or email when your lockbox is opened by another Realtor. If you prefer getting a summary of showings at the end of the day, rather than real-time alerts, you can opt for a daily digest instead. 2. Send automatic feedback requests to showing agents - RPR isn't the only app that Sentrilock plays nice with. It also integrates with showing software, like Showing Sync from Showing Suite, which automatically sends feedback requests to the Realtor who opened your lockbox. (It works with Supra lockboxes, too.)

Choosing a Lockbox
This is the latest in a series of 'Buyer's Guides' that feature questions to ask and options to consider before making a new purchase. See our previous guides to purchasing a CMA, CRM, Document and Transaction Management, Electronic Signature, iPad App, and Lead Generation solution. What do I Need to Know about Lockboxes? Lockboxes have become standard for most real estate professionals. You've become accustomed to seeing them on your own listings and those of others – but are you really taking advantage of what this technology has to offer? A lockbox can be so much more than a mere security and accessibility tool. It gathers valuable data that can be used to make important strategic decisions about your listings. By doing your research and being selective, you can unlock the possibilities of this new technology. Questions to Ask There are some important questions to ask when buying any real estate technology product and some that are unique to choosing a lockbox. First, let's look at general questions you'll want to ask. What are my objectives for this piece of technology and will this product help me achieve those objectives? What is my budget? What kind of customer service and training programs are available? Are there webinars and, if so, are they recorded so you can view them at any time? Is the vendor's online help sufficient?

5 Reasons Why Electronic Lockboxes Make Sense in Today's Market
In today’s market, Agents and Brokers are constantly looking for ways to list more, show more, and earn more. While it’s easy to focus on the marketing and exposure of the listing, a commonly overlooked feature is the type of lockbox being utilized. Electronic lockboxes are not only more secure, increasing your value to your client, but they will save you time and money as well. 1. Differentiate yourself from other Agents. Smart Agents know that Smart Sellers look for agents that have an edge in the marketing of the property to attain a successful outcome. An electronic lockbox system provides an essential part of the marketing strategy to gain feedback and generate showings into offers.