REALTOR® Safety in the Adirondacks
REALTOR® Safety in the Southern Adirondacks- “This is a safe area- why should I care?”
Members of Southern Adirondack REALTORS® do business in a huge variety of places: from busy little cities and vacation towns, to rural farmland and some of the most difficult to access wilderness areas on the east coast in the Adirondack Mountains. Because of the diverse geography, an agent may drive through all 4 seasons in a single day of showings! Listings can be multi-million dollar lakeside vacation homes, farms in rural locations, suburban starter homes, or backwoods camps on unpaved roads with no cell service on top of a mountain. Doing business in so many unique locations, especially in a beautiful region that draws millions of visitors each year means lots of out-of-town clients, vacation home buyers and potentially risky situations.
Being safe as a REALTOR® isn’t just about taking a self defense class, it’s about being aware of the risks of your profession and having a plan.
REALTOR® Safety involves humans, animals, weather and more. While it can be a rewarding and enjoyable career, due to frequent travel & contact with strangers, REALTORS® face more on-the-job risks than many other business professionals: traveling alone to vacant properties with strangers, visiting unsafe neighborhoods, inclement weather, or showing a rural, vacant property during evening hours.
Southern Adirondack REALTORS® would like to make their members, especially REALTORS® that are new to the industry, aware of these risks, and share tips and resources to keep yourself, your clients and their belongings safe during the home buying and home selling process.
Safety Resources:
Tips to share with Clients
- Homeowner Safety & Security toolkit <- Tips for keeping clients’ homes safe while it’s on the market
- How to talk to clients about safety
- Home, Safe Home: Tips for Securing Your Home
- Garage Door Safety Tips for Homeowners (in conjunction with LiftMaster)
- Safety Tips to Share With Sellers
For Agents and Brokers
- 56 Safety Tips for REALTORS®
- 10 Safety Tips for Holding a Safe Open House
- Are You Too Nice for Your Own Good? (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- Don’t Be a Target for Harassment or Stalking
- Fight or Flight?
- 14 Simple Steps for Safeguarding Your Office
- A National Open-Door Policy (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- Let’s All Open Doors for REALTOR® Safety (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- Make Safety a Brokerage Priority (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- REALTOR® Safety Forms: More Than Just Space Filler
- Don’t Show Fear to Shady Open House Guests (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- Model Behavior for Staying Safe at Model Homes
- Opioid Safety and Open House Practices
- Safety Checklist for Showings (via REALTOR® Magazine)
- Showing Properties the Safe Way
Office Safety Forms & Action Plan
- Agent Identification Form (DOC: 26 KB)
- Agent Itinerary (DOC: 33 KB)
- Office Safety Action Plan (DOC: 35 KB)
- Prospect Identification Form (DOC: 31 KB)
- Click here for more resources from NAR