Did something happen to you to make you so cautious....or has stuff happened to people you know? I had no idea there were dangers associated with selling homes.
In my first year, I did an open house in a new construction subdivision, in late fall. Open houses, at that time, were traditionally from 2-5 on Sunday afternoons. It was a rainy afternoon, no one was showing up, and this really creepy guy came in sometime after 4. I was alone in the house (about 3000 SF). I told him to look around and I would answer any questions. I didn't move out of the great room. Made the hair on the back of my neck go up. I decided to end the open house. Finally got him to leave, I locked the house, bolted to my car, and went back to the office. The agent I was doing the open house for, happened to call me at 4:45 to ask how the open house was going. I told her what had happened, she reamed me a new one for leaving the open house before scheduled time. Told her I wouldn't be doing anymore open houses for her. We have since both changed offices and are still in the same office. Took several years, but we get along.
Several years later, I was the list agent for a new condo subdivision. Had to be there every Sunday afternoon from 2-5. The model was at the very back. Some guy came in, creeped me out, left but kept driving through the rest of the afternoon. He never came back, and I continued to do the open houses for about a year. But I just decided, it just isn't worth my personal safety to sit in an empty house waiting to see who shows up. The bad thing about open houses is that they are advertised, it's logical to assume there is a real estate agent in there alone, and because it's advertised as being "open"
anyone is allowed to come in....and even with a phone in your hand, it's going to take the cops longer to get there than it is for you to be seriously harmed.
We have been told ever since I started, to never meet someone that we don't know, without letting someone know where we are. There have been several times, I have asked one of my secretaries to call and check on me, when I have gone to show houses.
Female agents have been raped and/or killed all across the country. Whenever one is, we get an alert on our entry page into the mls warning us to be careful. I seem to remember one being killed here, not to long before I started. She was showing a new construction house.
We just recently had an alert, that a guy was stealing Rx's from open houses. Guy's is about 6'2" and 220lb. Not a lot of women can hold their own against someone that size.
I don't have a carry permit, but a lot of the agents do. I know several women that have them. Men have had them for years, but I'm amazed at how many women do, these days. Selling foreclosure properties, I know I should have one, but I also know that if I'm not prepared to use it, I shouldn't have one.
I never do interior inspections on foreclosure property by myself anymore. Most of the times, M arranges his schedule to go with me. I have taken Runnin' Buddy with me on ones I need to do on the weekend. Just never know if the property is empty or if squatters are there, or some nasty critters. I had a lake house that I know had some critter living in the basement. It wasn't a foreclosure, but had a nasty ex husband involved....who carried a gun. M either met me there or went with me, every time I showed it....and he brought along a shotgun. I've had a foreclosure that was being used as a crack house. Hated, HATED going there. I only went 3 times....once by myself (but I didn't go in), once with M and once with the cops. The cops told me to avoid coming back there if possible. Thought it would take forever to sell, and it sold in about 7 days!
I have made a decision to just not go to several areas, it's just not worth getting shot. Surprisingly, I am safer down around Martin Luther King Blvd, than I am in some of the surrounding counties. M went with me a week or so ago, I had to take exterior pics on one house, and interior on another. We were in "hill country"....on the driveby M was saying...."take those pictures fast and let's get the hell out of here!!"
I was talking with one of the women who works at the Board of Realty a couple of weeks ago. She's been there forever, and is in charge of the mls, computer system and education. We both agreed that the business has changed so much in the last 4-5 years, and it just really isn't "fun" anymore. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the economy, but it's also we have to be so careful to "CYA" in case of lawsuits. If I could think of something else to do, make the money that I do for the hours I work, I would.
