September Safety Check: Are You Protecting Yourself as a Realtor?

Um, a listing, had a. Or property, had a fentanyl in the property, and a contractor, somebody went into the house to do work or whatever the case may be, don't know, and was exposed to the fentanyl and touched it somehow and actually ended up passing away from an overdose of fentanyl. And, you know, when I heard that, like, of course. How devastating. How freaking awful. Welcome to the Leading Lane Podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros, with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Steven Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic, and raw perspective, you found it. Welcome, everyone, back to the Leading Lane Podcast. As we roll into the month of September, hard to believe, we thought that it might be a good idea to recognize that September is Realtor Safety Awareness Month. I believe it started in 2003, so almost 22 years ago, to raise awareness as far as just things that can happen. So I think that a lot of things. I think this is outside of real estate, too, but you don't think about doing something until it's too late or. Or it happens to someone else. So I think there are a lot of things that are in place now that we should be using for our own safety, our realtors and agents safety. So, Steven, I'll start that off with you as far as if you have any specific safety protocols in your office. Well, first, I. First of all, I have to say that in 2003, I was still in high school, so just want to make. Sure I was one year out. But anyway,. You know, like, I think that the safety. We don't talk about it enough, and it really is sad that we don't talk about it enough. And, you know, I try to really make sure that we incorporate it on our onboarding and everything else, but it's awareness, and it's hard to teach awareness. And especially in this industry when we're so prone to hurry up and jump at every single opportunity and run. We're meeting people we've never met before. We are meeting people that we don't know, like, their background. We don't know anything at all. Like, these are these people that come in from the Internet inquiry, a call in saying that they're at the house right now. Right. Like, I know that some of that's changed a little bit with the recent events and how we handle transactions, especially with buyers and such. But for me, I make sure that when I go in, first off, I want to make sure, like, who am I talking to? We've recently started using Forewarn, so verifying Phone numbers. And I know that I was using white pages before, so, like, I don't remember how much the cost was, but I would spend the 25, 35amonth and being able to check the phone number and everything else just to verify who it is. But if it's something, if it's a property, like rural, way out there, I always want to make sure that I tell people where I'm going. I always put it in my, my calendar, my Google calendar. So the phone number, the email, any information I know about the person. So if somebody is looking for me, at least they have the contact information that I just verified. I also make sure that I never turn my back when I'm like going down the stairs. Like, I don't go down the stairs first if I'm going into the basement. I mean, there's all these little small things that I just. I'm just very way more conscious and aware than I ever was before. And you, you used to. I used to think like, well, I'm a guy, I'm. I'm a big dude. Like, nobody's gonna be able to do anything. Yeah, right. Like you don't know if what they have, you know, if they have any weapons, a gun or anything else. So I don't carry anything with me. I should. Right. Like we talked before, but there should be so much more that we do and I just don't because it's just kind of out of sight, out of mind type of thing. But there's more and more recent things that have happened and it's a wild world out there. So what do you do as far as, like, for yourself and for your team? Yeah, you know, I think that that's one thing why I really like to focus my business on repeat and sphere. And part of that is because, like, it came from a warm LeadingLane. Right. It came from someone that, you know, that's not always going to happen. You know, even Facebook, I use, I'll put their name into Facebook. And if we have like 25, you know, mutual friends, I'll feel a little bit better about it. If we have none or you can't find them, it's a little strange. I don't know if you guys have a circuit court page, but we have a circuit court page that I'll put them in the circuit court and then I'll see if they've been charged with anything. Right. Which kind of is what forewarn helps with, to oppose those criminal records. But I think that, you know, on the buy side, I think that that's a really easy thing to take advantage of by having the buyer consult first. So you're meeting them in your office and if they won't come, a little questionable. Right. And I always feel bad. I think it's more so like when I'm. If I am meeting someone that I haven't known. Like, I. Like a couple times when I was out, you know, in the rural properties, like, I'll take Ben. Or I used to have my parents, like, follow me and then they would be like the sweetest people on earth and I'd be like, I cannot believe. Right. But again, it takes the one time that I didn't have it that something happens. But I think, like, there's this intuition too. You have to like, feel out, like the conversation, those types of things. So I really do as much research as I can ahead of time. If it isn't somebody that I know. So Facebook, white pages, Google in general, but otherwise, for the most part, if I. If I don't feel comfortable, it is a requirement of mine that I just say like, you know, like before I look at houses, I'd really like to sit down and get to know you better. I'd like to tell you about our process, you know, And I would say nine times out of 10, right, like, you meet them and they're great people and whatnot. But we always have to just be thinking about the one person that isn't, if you will, but you are. Right. I also have my calendar available to staff. I used to just put like, who I was meeting, but now I start to put in like in the notes part, I'll put like their name, their number, and the address of where we're going. Again, it might feel like over the top, but all it takes is the one time that I didn't and there's that. You know, I think two weird things to think about are just like checking your cell coverage before you go into a property. Like, are you a cross out? Right. There are still these areas which I still don't understand. How I put a man on the moon and I can't get my cell service to work all the time. But anyway, right? Like, that might cause more concern for me. Like if I have a X through my data and I'm meeting a stranger, like, what other things can I do? Which there's a couple, you know, pepper sprays, obviously. 1. There's also this little clip that I bought all of our agents. It's called. I think it's called Chirp. And it's where, like, it's on your keychain and you just pull out the bottom end and it makes this like, astronomically loud siren type sound. So. Right. Like, there's just little things that you can do. I think that that's probably more in big towns because what I tell people is like, small town usa. Like, we don't lock our vehicles. Like, I don't carry a purse. Right. So it's a matter of what do you have to change to make sure you have something on you, but going back to like, knowing your exits, not turning your back to people. We've talked about it before. We should probably bring it up again. But do you guys have like a code word in your office? We don't have a code word that is something like that. I know we have talked about, but we do not have a code word. What we did do is make sure that we are people's emergency contacts on their phones so that like on Apple you can click and hold. Right. Like, or on your watch you can click and hold that emergency so it's broadcast out. But we don't have actual code of words, per se. Yeah. So I have a couple of things that I'll do. So we have a. We have a code word. And it is just something enough that. Right. So like, I might call, like, I might call someone. Be like, oh, like call coming in. But I'll call someone. And then I'll be like, hey, I just wanted to follow up on xyz. And for them, they know that that is code word for Ashley's in trouble. So I think it's important, you know, if you don't have a code word in your office to think about what that might be. And something that wouldn't seem strange. It's just a certain word. And you use it in a sentence, I think too. A lot of times I'll tell someone where I'm going. But then I'll also say, if you don't hear from me in 30 minutes, I need you to either call me or do something. So a lot of times, like, that's kind of my way to. Let's be honest, I do it with talkers, too. So if I'm going to a somebody that I do know and they talk, like, too much, I'll be like, okay, call me in 30 minutes. Because then I'll be like, oh, oh, my gosh. Like, yep, that I really need to take that phone call. Can, like, rewrap it up or whatever. So I've done it for that too. But if I'm somewhere. And then I, you know, I think there was one time I didn't have service and they couldn't get ahold of me for like 45 minutes. And I think everyone, this office was losing their minds. Um, right. Like that's where having that service part of it or if you don't can't make a call, a lot of times you can still, you know, make a text. So just making sure that people are aware. You know, I think I have like a love hate relationship with open houses because I think it's strange to broadcast like where you're gonna be and like what times. And I had a situation where I had a stalker and like it was a gut, gut feeling that something wasn't right. I was going to go out to a property that was like in the middle of nowhere on 55 acres, but something told me that it didn't feel right. And sure enough, there's a whole story behind that. But after that I stopped doing open. I mean, that's why when I stopped doing open houses, I do them infrequently now. But at that time, which we could always talk about, we took away like putting one agent was there. We just had an open house. You know, I think that's hard too because we're trying to market our agents. So we've kind of gone back to that too. But I've been very clear with agents too. As far as you know how to park your car. So like don't park it so that you can get parked in for a showing. Like park it on the road. Like I'm notorious for that. And buyers will always be like, why didn't you park in the driveway? You know, And I'm like, I'm getting my ass out of here when I need to, you know. So I think just things like that, like at an open house, don't make it so that you're parked in. Make it so that you could get out. But same thing, like knowing where your exits are. Another app is like that Life 360 app too. So same thing. You know, there's all kinds of apps that you can be using as far as like a safety feature I think too, just like being aware, right? So people are so in their phones, right? Like even an open house, etc. And I think just making sure you're aware before you go in. Like with their cars that drove by numerous times. Just that like extra height of awareness I think can help. Right. Even on like for central lock for our lock boxes, there's a emergency There. Is on our SupaBase too, now that you say that. So then we used to have it set up and honestly, I haven't had it for a while, so that either means that it's fixed, nothing has happened. But I used to get alerts all the time because if somebody doesn't respond back to the notification within a certain amount of time saying that yes, they're okay, then it would broadcast a test that there's an emergency at whatever property. So I'm going to make the assumption, hopefully that they fixed it to where it wasn't so sensitive. But also there's. There's so many different little hidden safety features that I think, again, we overlook it, like when we're setting up our profiles or we're setting up whatever, like, oh, it's not that big of a deal. Why do I need a medical, you know, point of contact on my iPhone? What does that mean? Or emergency? Like, we don't need all that. No, you really do. Those are in play for a reason to be able to help you. The other thing, and don't quote me on this, that we had an article on it, is that there are settings, sorry, for iPhones specifically, that you can actually, in emergency situations when you do not have cell service, that it will hit satellite service. And so that those emergency calls and everything else still will go through. Even I think that is on. On an Android, I'll be out of it. And it'll say, like, is this an emergency? And then it'll find a satellite to connect you to. Yeah. So there. There are things that, I mean, technology that's there that if you happen to be alone, that it can alert other people. But the good old buddy system too, like, take somebody with you. We always have newer agents that want to learn, other agents that want to go see houses that they have not been into yet. You know, I think there's nothing wrong with being able to put somebody else with you as far as in your office to make sure that you're a. Okay. Same with open houses. We now have two agents. Typically at every open house. We buddy up on that. It's just you never know. You hate to think that way, but you never know what's going to happen or you know what you're going to run into. So. Well, like with our open houses, a lot of times we try to buddy up as far as like someone that has a nearby property for sale. Oh, yeah. So like, if there's someone that's one street over, we'll schedule it for the same time. And that kind of has to do with trying to get traffic. But I think it's also a safety thing. You know, I think it was last year we as an office did a martial arts course. So we went to the like local martial arts. And I think that that was great. We really, I think it was really eye opening as far as just like little things you can do to protect yourself or like little movements. So I'd encourage that. But you know, recently we had a situation just where some comments were made by a client that had me feeling uneasy. And so, you know, there's just simple things as far as like a civilian assist. So we actually called dispatch and I think that there's always like the give and take. Right. So sometimes when you add law enforcement, like people can like heighten their senses of being like overwhelmed. But I also think that there is still the underlying, like there is calmness and safety with that. So, you know, we called for a civilian assist and I think it actually did de escalate. I explained that they were there for their safety. So I think, you know, having those types like again following your, your gut and also like we're not, we're not taking the matters lately, like we're taking those concerns to heart. But you know, with that we are going to have police department come in and just talk about deescalating because I think, you know, there are a lot of things like I think buying and selling real estate is one of the most emotional, like volatile transactions that people ever go through. And I think just trying to be like that sounding board can go so far. But sometimes as the agent, you do become the target of their frustrations. And I think maybe being able to recognize when maybe it's gone too far or whatnot. So I think we're going to talk about that. But you brought up a good idea about situation you had about some stuff that was found at a property. And I think that that's another avenue that we should talk about with our law enforcement. Yeah. And what I was going to be perfect segue into the fact that like we're talking a lot about safety as in safety as in humans. Right. Like another person harming you. But there's a lot of different chemicals and substances that are out there that can harm you just as much. And it's being aware, you know, I don't know too much about the, the situation and you know, I can just share what I know about it. But I was told a situation that a listing had a, or property had a fentanyl in the Property and a contractor, somebody went into the house to do work or whatever the case may be, don't know, and was exposed to the fentanyl and touched it somehow and actually ended up passing away from an overdose of fentanyl. And you know, when I heard that, like of course, how devastating, how freaking awful. I don't know enough about the substance to even give any sort of insight or anything whatsoever. But it's something that is there that can harm you. I mean, I remember in high school anthrax being such a, a scare on everything. Like I remember the high school being shut down multiple times just because of the substance, unknown substance or the, you know, postal service, etc. And again, I don't, you don't think about those things because it doesn't necessarily happen all the time, but it takes that one time an innocent person took their life. And you know, we're supposed to have some education standpoints on it coming to our area so that we are more well versed on what it is and how to handle these different things. So I definitely want to learn more because I don't want that to happen to anybody whatsoever. But you never know what you're walking into. You have no clue. And we probably are one of the, the most, I don't want, I don't want to say exposed, but kind of. Oh really? You know, it's this industry like we, we go into strangers homes, like we're working with strangers. Right. Like we don't know what we're walking into. And so as a professional, I think that you have to continue to educate yourself. You have to continue to think worst case scenario and make sure that you are preparing for whatever may be coming your direction and not be naive in the fact that it's never going to happen to you. Right. I'm sure this full list of people that we can go through that things have happened, devastating things have happened to, never thought it would happen to them. And that's why now there's these awareness months and such to continue to bring insight and foresight of making sure that you're not just sweeping it underneath the rug. Yeah. And I think, you know, one of the most probably prolific cases was the Beverly Carter story, which that happened in 2014. And you know, when you read the stories like she followed all of her normal protocols but it still, you know, wasn't an enough. It was kind of like somebody was sitting, waiting, you know, it kind of went back to, she drove a nice car and she, you know, had nice things. So they thought that that was A prime opportunity. And I think you think about realtors, and we kind of joke, right? But I mean, like, realtors drive nice vehicles and have nice things. And I think that you have to remember that, you know, you can be a target without even thinking that you're a target. I always say, too, that, you know, it's weird, maybe more so in a small town, but people know who I am, but I don't necessarily know who they are. Right. Because that's our job is to promote ourselves. So, like, I'll be someone that. And they'll be like, oh, you're Ashley. And I'll be like, no, I was actually a little stranger went to the post office yesterday, and the guy was like, oh, I love your house. And I was like, what? And he's like, you're Ashley, right? And you live wherever. And I was like, yep. And he's like, I love the color of your house. And I was like, that's the strangest thing ever. But right. So, like, everything's open to the public. So I think just remembering that not everybody has, you know, good intentions, but I think, you know, if you were to follow any of the Beverly Carter suffer family started a foundation to help bring awareness. They do a lot of it in September. I mean, if you go to, like, the, you know, there's a website as far as education and resources, they have very awesome things as far as, like, before the open house, during the open house, after know, helping sellers stay safe, which is a whole another thing, Right. Like, I took almost all my listings off of Craigslist because the way that Craigslist works is there's, like, these bots that change it into a your house is for rent scheme. And I can't believe that people fall for it, but they'll say, just go to my house. I'm not there. You can look in the windows. If you like what you see, send me a security deposit and I'll send you the keys. So I remember there for, like, it was like a year, like, people would show up to people's houses that they lived in. And, like. Right. That's a whole another situation because now the seller is trying to protect themselves. They don't understand. So, you know, I. I normally have that conversation with my sellers about, I don't use Craigslist for this reason. But also, if someone does just show up to your house, like, it's an automatic no. Like, they're not allowed, you know, So I think that there's some great resources on there, but I think ultimately it comes down to having systems in place, you know, following your gut and just making sure that communication is key with your, your team, your spouse, whomever, just so that someone knows where you're at or, you know, there's all kinds of tracking devices now, so making sure that they're open and being used. Absolutely. Well, I mean, definitely things that I learned from this conversation that we need to revamp and look at again for our office. And I encourage every single person that is listening to go back to your office, to go back to your teammates, whomever, even if you're not in real estate. Right. Like, I think it's so important that, you know, we work. I mean, when you're at work, typically we are around our co workers and employees more than we are our own family members. So making sure that you have safety protocols, these conversations, the safe word, all of it is so important. And continuing to educate one another and helping one another out and being conscious of where other people are as well. Being a team player really can go a long way. And there's nothing wrong with just making sure and checking in that, hey, haven't seen you for, you know, 45 minutes or heard back from you. What's up? Just making sure you're okay or. Or how'd that showing go? If you want to be a little bit more. Less straight to the point on it, but safety, it's important be. Be conscious of what's going on out there. So appreciate you guys listening in and tune in next time. We're excited to have you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please, like subscribe and share with others. Stay connected. 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