Real Estate Agent Safety Tips | Never Do This Alone

Would you drop everything and meet a complete stranger 
at a vacant house to show them a property?

Some agents do it every day without a second thought. 
And some have processes and procedures they follow 
to a T. In this video I'm sharing everything I know 
about staying safe as a real estate agent — from 
converting cold leads to running open houses — so 
you can grow your business without putting yourself 
at risk.

Because no commission check is worth your safety 
or your life.

In this episode you'll learn:
✅ Why you should always get unknown clients 
   into the office first
✅ How to get creative with meeting space if 
   you're at a cloud based brokerage
✅ Why you should never meet an unknown client alone
✅ How to use Forwarn and ID verification to vet 
   clients before you meet
✅ Safety tools to keep on your person at all times
✅ Open house safety — how to park, position 
   yourself and control the space
✅ Why you should never let anyone get between 
   you and the exit
✅ How knowing the area before you show up makes 
   you safer and more valuable
✅ Why walking with confidence and keeping your 
   head up matters more than you think
✅ How to follow your intuition and get out of 
   any situation that feels wrong

 🔗 Book your FREE Discovery Call with Angie: https://calendly.com/angiegerber/real-estate-business-builder

▶️ Subscribe for weekly real estate coaching tips! youtube.com/@angiegerber-5
 

Transcript

Cold Leads And Clear Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Have you ever flat out refused to take business because it was a cold lead? Maybe they called off your sign or they're an internet lead and you're just not gonna drop everything and go meet them at a vacant house to show them a property because you have no idea who they are. Well, I know agents that have done that and that agents that refuse to do that. So when you're looking at cold leads and wanting to convert them from a customer to a client, I want you to know that there are options. There are many different ways that you can do this. And I will point out some different safety tips and different things that you can do and implement into your business today. So stick around, let's get to it. Again, this is your business to build the way you want. That's why so many of us got into real estate for the freedom and to own our own business. And with that being said, I know agents, again, at a drop of a hat, will run out and meet people they've never met before and start showing them properties. And I know other agents that have processes and procedures and they follow them to a T. And I've done both, I've been both. In the beginning of my career, I can't tell you how many people I just sign call, I'll be there. Or I'd worked internet leads, and that's how I grew my business. A lot of what I used to do years and years and years ago, I would never do again today. But I built a big business doing it that way. It's just a different world now. So, what I like to do is take some precautions,

Meet First Then Show Homes

SPEAKER_00 1:37

some tips and tricks, and just ways of thinking about this differently and looking at it differently. So, first and foremost, if you have a customer that you're wanting to convert to a client and you've never met them before, I would always say number one, get them into your office. So you meet them in person and you do a buyer presentation. When I used to do buyer presentations, I had a close rate of over 90%. They signed at the table. You really want to understand what they're looking for. And if you're running out and just starting to show them property and you haven't asked their proper questions and you don't know if they're pre-approved or you don't have all the information, you might be wasting your time and their time. So be a professional and get them into the office. Now I'm at a cloud-based brokerage, so I don't have a technical office. I do rent office space. I have a lender who has office space. I have two different title companies. I have about four different conference rooms across the cities that I can stop in and use and reserve at any time I want. So if you have an office space, great. If you're a cloud-based brokerage, get creative and at the very least, meet in a public spot, like coffee shop, or somewhere where there's plenty of people around where you can have a good conversation. Coffee shops can get pretty noisy, so just think about where you're meeting them. So if you have to meet at the property for whatever reason, they're like, nope, just meet me at the property, bring someone with you. Bring another agent with you, bring a lender, bring a spouse, bring a friend, bring someone that's in the business that might want to get in front of a customer that could potentially become their client as well. But know that you don't have to necessarily do this alone. And if they want to meet at a property and you have no idea who they are and you just want some more information, there are tools out there like Forwarn. It's an app that you can put on your phone, and with the phone number, you can look up the individual and just vet them a little bit more, get a little bit of their background and kind of get a better feel about who they are. So that's one thing that you can do. The other thing is again, bring them in your office. If you can't get them in your office, get a copy of their license. So ask them to send a photocopy

Vet Buyers With Tools And Paperwork

SPEAKER_00 4:04

of it. Or when you meet them, you take a copy or a picture of it. And just understand that if they are serious about this home buying process, then they should be serious about giving you the information you need to do the very best job that you can for them. And with the NARS settlement last year, we have to have paperwork signed before we can show a home. So this is actually to our advantage on the safety aspect of things because you do have to meet them up front, you do have to get paperwork signed, you do have to explain things. So why not take the time up front again to vet them, to let them know about the buying process, to find out more about who they are, what they're doing, and all of that. And if you're in one of those markets where you have to go, go, go, things are selling in hours, which not many markets are anymore, but some do it smart. Just be smart about it. So, with that said, if you have to rush through everything and you can't vet them, you can't do all the things we've talked about up to this point. I want you to take your safety into consideration. There are so many tools that you can have either on your person or in your car. You have mace, you have tasers, you have keys where you can put a key in between your thumb and use it as a weapon or tool. I know people that have their concealing carries that make them feel a lot more confident and going into any situation, especially situations or meeting people who they don't know. But just be sure that you're taking care of yourself

Personal Safety Gear And Training

SPEAKER_00 5:39

and that you feel confident walking into that situation. Another thing you could do is I actually run a self-defense class. So every spring and fall, my title company sponsors it, and I get a whole bunch of agents, usually all women, to show up. And if they've already been to the class, they can take it again and refresh their memory. And if they haven't been, then they get some really good moves and just tools and resources to use and ways to think about safety that they might not already be thinking. Now, if you found any value up to here, I'll drop my link below. I do have a free discovery call where I would love to learn more about you and your business. I help agents get from where they are to where they want to be in a fraction of the time, and I'd sure love to talk more and see if we're fit. Now, I think a video about safety can't go without talking about open houses. So we've talked about meeting people you don't know, whether it's uh, you know, a customer that you want to become a client, maybe they came from a sign call, maybe they came from an internet lead. We talk about all that. And then we go that weekend and we open a home and we invite anyone to walk through the front door. It's kind of contradictory, I get it, but there are still things that you can do for sure. First and foremost, and this goes for showings are open houses.

Open House Safety And Exit Control

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Make sure you're parked in a way where you can leave if you need. So don't pull all the way in the driveway up to the front of the garage where people can block you in. I would park on the street and even be aware of the street parking. Is it a dead end? If it is, make sure your car is facing out. So if you have to exit a situation, you give yourself every available means to do so quickly. And parking is a big deal. The other thing would be when you're in the open house, never let the person or people that are entering the home get between you and the exit, either the front door or the back door, or just however you can get out of the home. Make sure that you have that space available to you. If someone's in the way, make you move, you move yourself, you move them, you reposition yourself so that you have that authority to leave. This is your open house. You you own the house at that point, so you can dictate where you stand and where you don't stand and what they're doing. You show them the way. And with that said, if someone's downstairs or maybe upstairs and they're like, Oh, can you come here and look at this? Be like, you know what, I can't right now. I gotta go take this call. But you just let me know what it is. You go ahead and look, or I'll I'll check that out in a little bit, or I'll let the owner know. Pretend you have a phone call, get outside, take the call, wait for them to leave the house. And it's always good if you can to have someone else there with you. Think about people in this industry. Is there a lender? Is there a title person? Is there an inspector? I mean, people that would come and partner with you at an open house, especially if it's gonna be busy, they're probably looking for customers too that can become their clients. So why not partner with someone in the business? I know agents that have brought their friends or their spouses or significant others as well to sit at the open house with them because they don't necessarily want to do it alone. Maybe they're not as familiar with the area, not so just some things to think about. And in being not familiar with the area, go the day before or the days before. I coach all my agents to do that, anyways, because I want them door knocking and inviting the neighborhood to the open house, finding other people that are thinking about selling. You can do your just listed and just sold door knocking around open houses as well. It's genius and it's key, and you will get clients from there. I've seen it over and over and over. Plus, I want you to know the area. Do a Google map search, look, look around and see where are the local stores, if it's around a lake, where's the lake access, the boat access, the trails, the schools, shops, groceries? I mean, all of that stuff is gonna matter. And the more you know about their area and the more you can say and sound like an authority as these people are walking through open houses, the more you're gonna find customers that will become your clients because you've already shown and proved your value because you have all this knowledge and information. Another thing is when you are meeting someone or waiting in your car, don't be on your phone. Don't be walking on your phone, don't have your head down. I want you to be 100% aware of your surroundings. And really, that goes for life in general. If you're at a grocery store, if you're in public and you're sitting in your car, don't be looking down. You want to be aware of your surroundings. I know so, and I'm guilty of it. I know so many people that just sit there on their phones, but you're kind of give you're kind of becoming a target. If there is someone in the area or someone that has less than desirable things that they want on their mind, you're a target. So the more aware, the more head up, the more you walk with confidence and conviction, the less likely you're a target. So just think about that for real estate and really in general in life. Again, if you found value in this video, and I sure hope you have, reach out, let's talk a little bit more, and I can show you what I can do differently to help you grow your business. And the bottom line no matter what, no commission check is worth your safety or life. Follow your intuition always. If something is screaming for you to get out of there, definitely get out of there. Don't wait around, just exit. I hope again you found value in this, and I will see you in the next video.