The Difference Between Electronic and Combo Lockboxes
Just like real estate agents who have achieved the title of REALTOR®, there are certain lockboxes that are held to a higher standard and can be a game-changer for agents. Lockboxes might not always get the spotlight, but they're incredibly important. They serve as the gatekeepers to your listings, and they not only protect your client's interests and help facilitate successful showings, but they can also help establish the important element of trust between clients and agents. But here's the thing – with so many lockbox choices out there, it can be tough to spot the ones that truly bring something special to the table. Let's explore the different lockbox options and explain the most important features to look for when investing in a lockbox. Combo boxes vs. Electronic Lockboxes Real estate lockboxes can essentially be boiled down into one of two basic categories: combo box or electronic. A combo box refers to the simple, manual devices agents can use to secure the keys to gain entry to a listing. These types of lockboxes typically operate with a code entered into a numeric keypad or padlock that opens a door to reveal a house key inside. Combo boxes have multiple disadvantages Added Risk: Once set, the code will open the lockbox until the agent visits the property to change it, costing the agent valuable time. Less Control: Agents also have no control over access hours or knowledge of who visited the property. Not Secure: Many combo boxes are known to be easily breached with hand tools, posing further vulnerabilities to the security of the home. How Electronic Lockboxes Are Changing the Game Enhanced Security: Where combo boxes rely solely on physical keys or combinations, electronic lockboxes offer additional security features such as encryption, unique access codes, and audit trails, all of which provide greater protection against unauthorized access. Real-time Activity Tracking: Real-time activity tracking and reporting features allow agents to monitor who has accessed the property and when. Remote Access: Grant access to the property from anywhere, at any time, with remote access. With electronic lockboxes, there's no need for physical presence. This flexibility is especially valuable for agents managing multiple listings or conducting showings outside regular hours. While electronic lockboxes often cost more than their mechanical counterparts, agents will quickly recoup this investment in the time and energy saved by not having to visit properties to change manual access codes, allowing them to focus their efforts on selling. Choosing the Best Electronic Lockbox: 3 Key Features to Consider 1. Battery Life While clearly a more advanced and secure option, electronic lockboxes have their own set of challenges. A dead battery could cause major issues since it needs power to open the door. That's why the SentriGuard® lockbox from SentriLock offers the longest-lasting battery on the market, which is easily replaceable by the agent and supported by a backup battery, just in case. Unlike other lockbox solutions available, these batteries are replaceable so that the lockboxes can last for years. 2. Durability and Weather Resistance Your lockbox is going to spend a lot of time outside. Make sure it can handle whatever the weather throws at it—rain, heat, cold, you name it. A tough, durable design is a must. The best electronic lockboxes will come with credentialed security and durability. 3. Access Control Being able to track who accesses the box and when is super useful, too. Look for lockboxes that let you create custom access codes or use an app to control entry. Through the SentriConnect® app or FlexCodes™, you can provide temporary access to authorized guests. It's safe and convenient, allowing you to focus on selling. Need to control access around showing schedules? Easily set up appointment times to restrict when properties can be accessed. Lockboxes perform an incredibly important task by securing access to what is often clients' largest asset. Likewise, it's well worth agents' careful consideration to do their homework and select the best tool for the job. This is not only for the safety and security of their listings, but also to ensure they can focus their full attention on achieving success in the hyper-competitive real estate industry. To view the original article, visit the SentriLock blog.

Quick Tip: Accessing Lockboxes in Remote Areas
One of the most frequent questions SentriLock got from customers at the NAR Legislative Meetings in DC was how to access lockboxes in remote and rural areas. Fortunately, we have anticipated this issue and have a solution. By following a few simple instructions, real estate agents can easily operate lockboxes without cellular data or Wi-Fi access. Prior to going to the remote location, open the SentriKey® app on your phone while still in range of cellular data or Wi-Fi. Doing this allows the phone to sync with the SentriLock® network and update its information on listings and lockboxes. Once this has been done, you can exit the app but should not force close it. Upon reaching the remote location, put the phone in airplane mode to stop it from automatically searching for nearby connections. This will help improve the phone's performance. Then, open the SentriKey® app and press the Enter key on the lockbox. The phone will connect to the lockbox using Bluetooth and open, granting access to the key inside. Once back in cellular data or Wi-Fi, don't forget to open the SentriKey® app again, and allow it to update and send showing notifications. If you have additional questions please contact SentriLock's Support Team. To view the original article, visit the SentriLock blog.

SentriKey Mobile App vs. SentriCard
Wondering about the benefits of using the SentriKey Real Estate mobile app versus using a SentriCard to access your properties? While the SentriCard gets the job done -- it opens SentriLock lockboxes -- it's not able to provide the robust experience that the SentriKey Real Estate mobile app does. Check out these benefits of using the mobile app, and you'll understand why over three-quarters of all SentriLock lockbox accesses are with the app! Benefits of the SentriKey® Real Estate Mobile App With the SentriKey® Real Estate app, you can: Open SentriLock lockboxes. Use your smartphone or tablet to open lockboxes. Learn how to open the key compartment on a SentriLock REALTOR® Bluetooth® Lockbox Learn how to open the key compartment on a non-Bluetooth® lockbox Access via Touch ID / facial recognition. Use Touch ID or facial recognition instead of your PIN to quickly and easily access your most-used functions. Learn how to enable Touch ID Release the shackle and assign/unassign a lockbox to a property. Release your lockbox shackle and assign and/or remove your lockbox from a property easily. Learn how to release the shackle on a SentriLock REALTOR® Bluetooth® Lockbox Learn how to release the shackle on a non-Bluetooth® lockbox Learn how to assign a Bluetooth® lockbox to a property Get property details. Upon opening the lockbox, you're presented with powerful features, including showing instructions, property details, listing agent information, and more. Learn about property details and how useful they can be Grant secure temporary access. Use the mobile app to generate One Day Codes or grant SentriConnect® access, which provides secure, trackable access to out-of-area agents, contractors, and more, and receive notification upon access use. Learn how to get a One Day Code Learn how to grant SentriConnect access Receive instant notifications. Get instant notifications via the Message Center to learn about missing keys, the beginning of a showing, the end of a showing, and more. Learn how to view access logs Keep track of showings. Use the My Schedule feature to schedule and stay on top of showing appointments. Learn how to schedule an appointment Learn how to edit an appointment Make your showings safer and more secure. When enabled, the Agent Safety feature automatically and discreetly alerts your designated emergency contact when you do not feel safe or cannot confirm you're safe. Learn how to enable the Agent Safety feature Access property data integration listings. Transition seamlessly into other apps to access all the detailed listing information you need from our integration partners. End a showing early. If you finish before the end of the allotted time, let the listing agent and sellers know. Learn how to manually end a showing And, best of all, there's no need for card renewals – ever! Worried that you won't have SentriKey® Real Estate mobile app access if you're outside of cell-service coverage? We can help make sure you stay connected. Here's how: For Bluetooth® boxes: A good practice is to update your SentriKey® Real Estate Mobile App credentials each day. Whether you're a listing agent, showing agent, or an affiliated user, before you leave home or the office, launch the app on your mobile device. By authenticating, your credentials are good for 24 hours. When interacting with the SentriLock REALTOR® Bluetooth® Lockbox, it requires only a Bluetooth® connection to open the key door, even if you're out of cell-service coverage. For non-Bluetooth® boxes: If you're going to a showing in a remote area and that listing isn't using a Bluetooth® lockbox, we have a solution for you, too. Success is achieved by using the My Schedule function in the SentriKey® Real Estate app. This is done either by the listing agent creating the appointment directly in the SentriKey® Real Estate system, or through leveraging our integrations with other third-party showing services. When the showing is scheduled, and the app detects low or no cellular coverage, you'll be presented with a Mobile Access Code in the app. No card needed, no Bluetooth® needed! You don't need to use a SentriCard® to open your SentriLock lockbox. Instead, always stay connected with the SentriKey® Real Estate mobile app! Get Started with the SentriKey® Real Estate App Want an overview on how to use the SentriKey® Real Estate app? Sign up for our App School, which will guide you through the process screen by screen. To view the original article, visit the SentriLock blog.

20 Features of the SentriKey App You'll Want to Use ASAP
The SentriKey Real Estate app and software give SentriLock real estate professionals a competitive advantage when it comes to property access management. But, as an agent, are you fully leveraging all the features available to you? Consider these 20 SentriKey app/software features that put the power of mobile access at your fingertips.

Safe Selling: Opening a Lockbox and Door
Never turn your back on a client... and we mean that literally. To prevent finding yourself in a vulnerable situation with a prospect, we know to never physically turn away from them. But what should you do in times where that seems inevitable--like opening a lockbox or door? In this week's Safe Selling video, we talk about just that. Watch the video above to learn: Precisely how to stand so that you can open a lockbox while still being able to see the client How to open a door and walk through so that your back is never to the client How to come off as warm and welcoming when opening door or lockboxes, rather than awkward or standoffish. Next week: Simple tips for navigating stairs safely during a showing.

Realtor Safety: Opening a Lockbox and Door
We're re-running this popular agent safety video series from Real Safe Agent on our broker channel to highlight the importance of safety on the job. Brokers, please feel free to share and/or reuse this content on your own blog, website, social media account, internal communications, and beyond! 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.