September Is REALTOR® Safety Month: Are You Prepared?

For nearly 20 years, the National Association of REALTORS^® (NAR) has designated September as REALTOR^® Safety Month, in an effort to ensure that real estate agents get home safely every night. As your title partner, we’re joining forces with NAR and encouraging you to review a few security tips that can help keep you safe:
 

• Be aware and share
  Busy agents are always on the move, and you are at your most vulnerable when you are in a place you don’t know or surrounded by people you don’t know. Wherever you go, be aware of your surroundings. Let a buddy know where you will be and with whom. Also, consider sharing your cell phone location in case of emergency.
   
• Create sensible open house procedures
  • Arrive early and have everything staged and set up before potential buyers start arriving.
  • Bring another agent, a friend or a spouse with you for extra security.
  • Take note of where all the exits are located.
  • Don’t lead when giving a tour; direct guests around the property and follow behind them.
  • Don’t wear expensive jewelry. Hide or lock away your personal belongings and any jewelry, medications or small expensive items the homeowner may have left in plain sight.
     
• Take a self-defense course
  Having a weapon like pepper spray in your pocket and knowing a few hand-to-hand self-defense techniques can help you to stay in control.
   
• Download a phone security app
  There are many you can download for free to help you stay safe when in the field. Some send out alarms or alerts, activate your phone’s camera and/or pair with a keyring device in the event you cannot get to your phone. 

NAR offers more safety tips and other resources online, including a webinar, “REALTOR^® Safety Coast to Coast: How Safety Differs Across the Nation,” to be presented on Thursday, Sept. 22, 1:30 p.m. Central Time. Register at www.nar.realtor/safety/safety-webinars.
 
Barbara Pronin is an award-winning writer based in Orange County, Calif. A former news editor with more than 30 years of experience in journalism and corporate communications, she has specialized in real estate topics for over a decade.