Since there have been several murders and hundreds of attacks on real estate agents, the National Association of Realtors has conducted a survey of over 2,800 agents and I thought I’d share the results with you!
The common situations that cause fear are:
- Open houses
- Vacant homes/model homes
- Properties that were unlocked/unsecured
- Properties in remote areas
And the survey says:
- Percentage of agents who experienced fear/personal safety: 40%
- Percentage by gender of agents who experienced fear/personal safety
- Male 25%
- Females 48%
- Types of crimes committed against Realtors: Robbery, assault, identity theft
- Types of self-defense weapons used: Pepper spray (17%), firearm (12%), taser (4%), baton or club (3%)
- Percentage of agents using cell phones to track their location and the location of other agents – 13%
- Common phone apps used to track whereabouts
- Life 360
- iPhone Find My Phone Feature
- bSafe
- Gardly
- Google Family Locator
- Percentage of Broker Companies that provide safety procedure/classes to their agents: 46%
- Percentage of Agents who took responsibility for their own safety
- Self-defense classes: 38%
- Realtor-sponsored safety classes: 18%
Just a couple more things the NAR mentioned in their survey:
- The typical agent meets 50% of their prospective buyers (that they do not know) in their real estate office or a neutral location before first viewing a home.
- As a safety precaution, agents notify a spouse, friend, or family of their location before showing a home.
What safety precautions do you take before showing a home?
Remember, Fairway Independent Mortgage is an Open Door Partner offering a safe place to go for meeting new clients for all our real estate partners.
