Junk in the Trunk: What Do Agents Carry in Their Car?

Posted on Mar 19 2015 - 11:08am by Zoe Eisenberg
#18

junk in the trunkBeing 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_ThumbZoe Eisenberg is RISMedia's Associate Editor. She keeps an abundance of dog hair in her car at all times.

 

18 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Thomas Weddingfeld March 20, 2015 at 10:50 pm -

    dog biscuits

  2. deidre st romain March 24, 2015 at 12:17 pm -

    Graphite for dried out door locks…saved me on more than one occasion

    • Nick Caruso March 24, 2015 at 12:25 pm -

      Great idea!

  3. Malinda Kelly March 24, 2015 at 12:48 pm -

    I keep extra keys of my listings, measuring tape and measuring wheel, flashlight, riders, wd40, tape, tool box, lockboxes,

  4. Val Smolinski March 24, 2015 at 1:25 pm -

    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.

    • Nick Caruso March 24, 2015 at 1:51 pm -

      Definitely was a rough winter! Good call on the torch!

  5. Lisa Jones March 24, 2015 at 2:42 pm -

    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.

  6. Susan March 24, 2015 at 4:42 pm -

    Question should be what do Realtors keep inside their car 🙂

  7. Mary Schreiber March 24, 2015 at 4:48 pm -

    Bolt Cutters

  8. Cindy Albright- Parrish March 24, 2015 at 5:30 pm -

    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 !!

  9. mike humphrey March 24, 2015 at 10:30 pm -

    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)

  10. Luetta Newnam March 25, 2015 at 11:21 am -

    I always have a small spray air freshener to freshen up a vacant listing just before showing.

  11. Therese Vezeridis March 26, 2015 at 7:26 am -

    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!

  12. Larry Porter March 26, 2015 at 5:29 pm -

    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!

  13. Vicki Marsh March 27, 2015 at 7:09 am -

    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.

  14. Nick Caruso March 27, 2015 at 4:10 pm -

    Great responses, everyone – keep ’em coming!

  15. Deidre St Romain April 24, 2015 at 8:46 pm -

    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.

  16. John Amherst July 8, 2020 at 6:52 pm -

    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.