Thread: Sorry we don`t allow clients to open doors without a Realtor!

I was cursed yesterday by an irate women who was given drive-by`s from another Realtor.
It seems that she was able to convince other Realtors to give her their combination lock box numbers and allow her to enter a home by her lonesome!
She was upset that I had the gall to refuse her request,after all "Her Realtor" told her that most will cooperate. There seems to be a major problem in my area. I don`t like taking responsibility in allowing strangers to walk into homes by themselves.
We require a Realtor to be with them and go through great lengths to insure that anytime you wish to view a home we`ll be able to show it to you within a 60 minute time span!
I`ve had some of the wildest requests from people who feel that "I should trust them".
For the record, I used to be one of those agents until the house that I represented was robbed. That was 8 years ago, I thought I could "cut corners' and quite naturally, assist the client.
I didn`t feel it necessary to be with every client!
Again, in today's world you don`t know who`s on the other side of that telephone, it pays to be "super careful".
Back to the insane women who cursed me out! I finally asked her if she would allow me to send people into her home all by their lonesome. Her response was an astounding "NO", gee whiz I wonder why!?!!

Agreed. It's a really, really bad idea to allow clients though listings unattended. It's even worse to given them the codes to key boxes, effectively giving them unlimited access to the property at any time! Besides the liability of theft and damage to the property, and even lawsuits from the client who was 'injured' at the property, what happens the first time someone is at the home when the 'client' shows up in the middle of the night? Worse still if someone figures out they can get unlimited access to listings. Add to that, some companies and banks always use the same codes. Heaven forbid if someone figures that out.

Not to mention I think it's a good sign that your Realtor is lazy and you probably ought to find another one.

Fortunately most of these cases are solved here becuase we use electronic keyboxes. If you don't have an active electronic key, you can't open the keybox. Plus it records who had access to the property and when.

-Tim

This is foolish. I wouldn't have been on the phone long enough for her to curse me out, I would have hung up. Agents like this put everyone at risk.

By doing my job? I`m putting others at risk?

Originally Posted by realestatefla1

By doing my job? I`m putting others at risk?

No the agent you were describing who sent their clients out on there own did the wrong thing. You did the exact right thing. We need more folks like you.

Oh man, what happens when that person enters the home in the middle of the night with the combo you gave out and kills the homeowner while robbing the place? Your career would be at risk and you would probably end up in jail....ouch.

Now we`re debating shoulda,coulda and would of..
What`s next?

Look up all the listings the agent has and let them know what is going on. Yikes! That is scary.

We've run into that situation here as well. Even situations where the buyer gets the combo by glancing at the agent's notes and then accessing the property without anyone's knowledge.

Also, I've had to take lockboxes off of listings under agreement because the buyer's agent felt they or their buyers were entitled to unlimited access to the home, even after home inspections were completed.