Being a REALTOR® often means you're on the go. From meeting with clients to showing listings, the car can feel like the second office – and many treat it as such. We checked in with several top agents to find out what they keep in their car, and the results were surprising. From tools to good luck charms, agents are rolling around with car kits that can handle any real estate emergency. The most common item taking up trunk space? A hammer!
Kathy Goetz with Ocean Pointe Realty in Sea Girt, N.J. rides with essentials like a lockbox, tape measure and hammer, as well as a few tokens of good luck: a St. Jude prayer card and eagle feathers from an Indian reservation.
Handiwipes for sanitation are a must for Don Godwin, broker/owner for RE/MAX Real Estate Group in Iowa, as well as concrete form stakes for sticking signs in frozen ground, a telescoping magnet to retrieve keys from any hard-to-reach places, and zip ties for signs that don't quite fit.
Aki Kladis, a broker with Century 21 Affiliated, keeps sign panels, a toolkit and hardware and a snow shovel to stay on top of the Illinois winters.
For Wendy Harris of RE/MAX Allegiance in Arlington, Va., key car essentials are notecards for clients to take property notes, and measuring tape so they can take room sizes.
Kevin Love of RE/MAX Allegiance keeps a file cabinet with buyer and seller pre-prepared packages and an electrical outlet tester.
Nina Hollander with Carolinas Realty Partners in Charlotte, N.C. keeps a hammer, wet wipes and zip ties, as well as a few other essentials, like old shoes for walking muddy construction grounds and several umbrellas of all shapes and sizes.
“I’ve found too many clients forget them and if it starts raining, I can keep them dry without sacrificing my own umbrella,” says Hollander, who also keeps several plastic bags handy to prevent dirt from the ground-end of signs from getting in her car.
REALTOR® Tammy Hoogstad, RE/MAX Allegiance, keeps extra light bulbs, a first aid kit, a stapler and staples, children's story books to occupy the children of clients, WD-40 and ice freeze for accessing property witih frozen locks.
In addition to an emergency flag and rubber gloves, Arlington agent Marcia Stone keeps a large screw driver, a crow bar and a safety cat keychain for self-defense.
After learning what takes up trunk (and back seat!) space in agent's cars, we've compiled a REALTORS' Essential Kit you can create for your own trunk!
1. A safety device
2. A hammer
3. Zip ties
4. 2-3 umbrellas
5. A flashlight
So tell us – what's in your trunk?
Zoe Eisenberg is RISMedia's Associate Editor. She keeps an abundance of dog hair in her car at all times.
dog biscuits
Graphite for dried out door locks…saved me on more than one occasion
Great idea!
I keep extra keys of my listings, measuring tape and measuring wheel, flashlight, riders, wd40, tape, tool box, lockboxes,
I carry a butane torch in my trunk to unfreeze lock boxes during the Chicago Winter! It got me & my clients into properties that otherwise would have been missed.
Definitely was a rough winter! Good call on the torch!
In addition to a lot of the items listed here, I carry scissors, a stapler, paper clips, envelopes, my preferred lender’s business cards (in addition to my own) and a couple of pieces of marketing materials.
Question should be what do Realtors keep inside their car 🙂
Bolt Cutters
I have most of what has been mention except the torch! In Ky it hasnt been necessary, Yet! One item I have used more times than the predictable items is a Piano template for vaious grand pianos – sold lots of music lovers on a particular house !!
toilet paper for those vacant houses. binoculars for checking out roof issues. Like most others, i too carry lock lube (my locksmith insists on tri-flow not wd40)
I always have a small spray air freshener to freshen up a vacant listing just before showing.
Hammer, nails, screw driver, Duct tape, scissors, Hedge clipper to trim branches that are blocking walkway, Magic markers, pens, business cards, 25 ft. tape measure, box w/maps, phone books, Welcome to East Greenwich, RI 02818 books!
I keep a full tool box, batteries for smoke alarms, rubber mallet for signs. A cleaning kit and it is not in the trunk mace and a 9mm Smith & Wesson!
I have jumper cables, an emergency tool kit, contractor lockboxes, clips for sign riiders, cloth bags, old towels, several umbrellas, and most important ar partial roll of toilet paper for empty homes when children need to use the facilities.
Great responses, everyone – keep ’em coming!
I keep graphite in my car for sticky door locks! The summer heat seems to dry out the tumblers and I have saved many a showing by carrying a little tube in my car. Of course the usual tape measure, flashlight and little toolbox.
Haha interesting! We just bought a house in the Orlando area and asked our realtor to borrow a sold sign so we could take a family picture on our own time – he said he only has one so he can’t lend it to us! Lol.