Thought About Safety Lately?

I’ve seen a number of articles about safety and real estate agents.  I think it’s a good idea to revisit the issue of safety from time to time.  It’s easy to stop thinking about it in between news stories about REALTORS® who have been injured or killed “on the job”.

I came across some safety information from NAR that includes some interesting ways to keep yourself safe.  One that I particularly like is the idea of setting up a code that everyone in your office knows.  Using colors is an often quoted idea.  Let’s say that you need someone to call 911 at your location – you call your office and ask them to find the red folder on your desk.  Red is the code word for needing immediate assistance.

And, yes, all these things can be considered just common sense.  If you have a way to ask someone to call 911, then obviously, you should also have a way to keep the office updated on where you are, or have a way to weave the address where you’re located into the conversation.

Safety Sounds Simple, But. . . 

It sounds simple, but have you ever tried it?  Practiced what you’d say and how you’d say it?  If not, do you think the most effective time to try it out is when you’re alone in an empty house with someone you think is about to harm you?  I don’t think so.

So, to me, the key is not just knowing what to do, but also being comfortable doing it.  If I had a code like that, I’d want to be confident that I could make that telephone call without tipping off the person I was afraid of.  I think that would take some practice.  It needs to be so automatic that you can do it even when you’re panic-stricken!

The 10 Second Rule

The other tip I really like relates to the 10 Second Rule.  This is the first time I’ve seen that on a list of safety tips.  It’s another thing that is so simple, but would take some discipline to do consistently.

The idea is that when you’re on the road, whether alone or with clients, you take 10 seconds when you arrive at a location to look around.  Well, not 10 seconds all at once, but the article identifies 5 times when spending 2 seconds to become aware of your surroundings could make a big difference.

That idea really makes sense to me because I’ve always been amazed at people who are surprised by an attacker when you know they should have had some idea that trouble was brewing.  But, when you’re late for an appointment, that 10 seconds might seem like too long a delay unless you really focus on your own safety

You can visit Realtor.org to see the complete safety review and you can even take a quiz.  The quiz is pretty simplistic, but I didn’t get them all right – do you think you would?