Realtor Safety: What is this feeling?

This month, we're publishing content from a course on Realtor Safety. This is the tenth in a series of articles that teaches Realtors how to prevent being a victim of crime. Read the previous article here.

In the home

While inside the home, there are some guidelines you should follow to help keep you safe. It is important to remember that the ultimate goal is to the make situation unattractive to a predator while not making a legitimate prospect feel uncomfortable.

Every home is different so you may have to adjust some of the following practices to meet the layout of the home and your particular sales style.

• When at all possible, be sure to position yourself in such a way that you are clearly visible from the outside of the house. If a prospect is looking to assault you, they don't want to do it where it can be witnessed.
• When moving from one area of the home to another, let the prospect explore before you enter the area with them. "The next area is the kitchen, go in get and initial feel for it and tell me what you think." This is a "no influence sales strategy."
• Do not enter bedrooms with the prospect, if at all possible. Stand at the edge of the door in the hallway.
  • Master Suites – Be sure to familiarize yourself with the master bathroom because this is an ideal place for a prospect to isolate you; they therefore may ask a question as a strategy for getting you into the bathroom with them. DO NOT ENTER A MASTER BATHROOM WITH A NEW PROSPECT. If you must enter the bedroom to answer the question, stand outside of the doorway to the master bath. Furthermore, stand perpendicular to the doorway, this makes you a smaller target and allows for a faster escape if necessary.