As with any career, your own personal safety and the safety of your clients should always be top of mind. And although REALTOR® Safety Month may have just ended, security in your role as an agent should be a year-round goal.
Related: Helping REALTORS® Maximize Safety, Minimize Risk
There are new tech products that can assist you in your pursuit of safety. Here are three of the best that you can employ in your day-to-day work life:
Credit: Homesnap
Safety Timer
Introduced nearly five years ago, Homesnap's Safety Timer is a favorite among agents and is built into the company's Homesnap Pro app, which is available for free to all Homesnap Pro users. The Safety Timer can be utilized whenever an agent is showing a home.
As soon as you're within 2,000 yards of a home, simply click the listing within the app and set the timer for a specific length of time as soon as you enter the residence.
If an agent doesn't stop the timer before it runs out, their emergency contacts will be notified with the agent's location. Additionally, the app has a Distress Alert button that can be clicked at any time to notify the emergency contacts that the agent is in trouble and where they are.
"Agents already use the Homesnap Pro app every day when they're out doing business and conducting showings, so it made sense for us to build features to ensure they can stay safe at every property, too," John Mazur, CEO at Homesnap, tells Housecall.
In the past three years alone, over 20,000 agents have utilized Homesnap's Safety Timer feature.
Credit: SentriLock
SentriKey
SentriLock, owned by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), is a leading lockbox solution for agents. The smart lockbox includes instant showing notifications to let you know when a showing has begun and ended. It also notifies agents of missing keys, and you can utilize your smartphone or tablet to open the lockbox remotely.
For additional safety, SentriKey™ Real Estate app users can now use Touch ID and Facial Recognition in place of a PIN to easily access the lockbox's most used functions.
Lockboxes have long been utilized by agents and property managers because of how convenient they are. Using one that has additional smart safety features and is backed by an institution like NAR should give agents that extra sense of security.
Credit: Trust Stamp
Trust Stamp
Another safety tool backed by NAR is Trust Stamp. The startup gained attention back in 2016 when it was one of eight companies that participated in the vertical tech accelerator program, REACH®, operated by NAR's strategic investment arm Second Century Ventures. The following year, at the 2017 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, Trust Stamp announced that its app would be available for free exclusively to all NAR members.
The Trust Stamp app essentially employs artificial intelligence software to identify an individual before you meet them. In addition to authenticating an individual's identity, the app also analyzes public records and social media accounts to provide a unique color-coded Trust Score.
While details behind how the Trust Score is calculated remain private, agents can improve an individual's Trust Score by inputting additional information about them into the app.
Agents, what are some other tech tools you're utilizing on the job to ensure your safety and the safety of your clients?
Just a few general rules for safety
1. Never meet a stranger at a vacant home especially after dark. this goes for women and men.
2.Never work open houses alone. Always have at least one other person with you.
3. Never enter a home that the seller leaves unlocked because they don’t want a lock box.
For me…I have my conceal & carry license. Put in a compromising situation a phone app is not going to stop someone from harming you. Enough said!