Simple Safety Measures All Real Estate Agents Can Take

When it comes to real estate agent safety, RE/MAX affiliates agree: It’s better to be proactive rather than reactive.

For many agents – new and tenured alike – safety protocols aren’t top of mind, though, especially in a busy market with new opportunities and prospective clients popping up daily.

That’s what Carl Carter and his team at the Beverly Carter Foundation hope to change.

Carter says his mother Beverly helped hundreds of wonderful clients and showed thousands of properties during her real estate career. But it took only one showing appointment for his family and the world to lose his mom forever. Carter, an agent with RE/MAX Elite in Arkansas, is the founder and president of the Beverly Carter Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in honor of his mother, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2014 during a home showing.

The criminals responsible for Beverly’s death admitted she was a desirable target because she worked alone.

“What has fueled my passion for agent safety is the agents I’ve met who have been victimized themselves,” Carter says. “When I started down this path of telling my mother’s story, at the conclusion of safety training sessions, agents would come up to me and share how they – or agents in their brokerage – have been [attacked] on the job.”

To help prevent future incidents, RE/MAX agents, including Carter, share extra safety precautions real estate professionals can take during home tours and open houses.

Verify who’s who

“As Realtors, we sometimes take our safety for granted,” says Meru Maharaj, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Oasis Dream Homes in Ohio.

Maharaj became a real estate agent in 2010 amid the financial crisis that plagued the U.S. During this time, he represented many foreclosed properties. Consequently, Maharaj found himself in multiple unsafe situations.

Later becoming a broker, Maharaj pursued agent safety courses for his agents and now teaches them himself, including the safety portion of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) C2EX course.

The current seller’s market reminds Maharaj of the hustle he felt when he first started out.

“This year was so busy for every real estate agent. There have been a couple of incidents that could have ended really badly [for agents] – and some actually did,” he says.

Maharaj recommends real estate agents take initial meetings with clients outside of a home setting.  

“Meet them first [in places like] a coffee shop or in the office,” he advises.

Verifying the identity – and intentions – of each and every prospective client is a relatively simple precaution real estate professionals can take.

“An easy starting point is to obtain identification,” Carter says. “It is an excellent practice, not only from a safety perspective, but also to ensure you’re not wasting time. [It’s best to] not show a property unless you have verification of funds or pre-approval to purchase a property.”

Keith Pike, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Elite in Arkansas, shares that he subscribes to the Forewarn app, a platform that does an extensive background check on any individual.

Pike grew up with Carter in a small suburb of Little Rock. Until Beverly’s tragic death, he was unaware of the risks real estate agents routinely face.

“[Beverly’s murder] made me think twice about all the times I did exactly what she did. Somebody called me wanting to see a house and I just dropped everything to show it to them without doing any kind of due diligence beforehand,” Pike says.

Be aware, everywhere

“Most people think that [attacks] happen in big cities and metropolitan areas. Statistics actually show that they happen mainly in rural areas,” Maharaj says.

He also explains that men and women are equally susceptible to being attacked when working alone.

The buddy system has quickly become regular protocol for agents showing homes and hosting open houses. Rather than going alone, real estate agents are smart to bring along a colleague, mortgage professional, friend or family member to ensure they’re never completely alone in the home with strangers. At the very least, agents can share their schedule with others so someone always knows where they are – or should be.

Protect with tech

Countless technological resources are also available for an agent’s trusted friend or loved one to track their location. Many are completely free of cost and are easily accessible on a smartphone device. Carter believes pocket technology should play an integral role in any agent’s personal safety strategy.

“People often ask me, ‘What’s the best [tech gadget] on the market [for staying safe]?’ It’s the one you use. If you have something that just sits in your iPhone never touched, [then it’s useless],” he says.

The Find My Friends and Find My iPhone features are the most popular options for ensuring others have safe access to an agent’s location.

“Always let somebody know where you’re going. Then, turn on the tracking capabilities on your phone,” Pike says.

Pike also uses Apple AirTags, small tracking devices that cost under $30. He keeps them on his keyring and in his bag.

“If something were to happen, there are multiple people who are able to locate me through my phone,” Pike says.

Location tracking services – as well as apps that help account for other aspects of safety – are also available through Android smartphones and app stores.

“These things weren’t available to [Beverly] back then. But they’re available to us now,” Pike adds.

Next steps to implement safety protocols

In addition to verifying identification, using technology for extra protection and bringing a buddy to client meetings and home tours, agents can seek out local agent safety courses as well as national ones through NAR.

When it comes to real estate professionals taking charge of safety, Maharaj says the best advice is simple:

“When something is uncomfortable, go with what your gut is telling you. Most of the time, you’re right,” he says.

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