YOUR NAR: Safety week

BY BARBARA BALLINGER

Safe and sound

You receive a call to show a property. You scoot out the door without mentioning the appointment to anyone, hop in your car, drive to the remote address, and wait for the unknown prospect to show. The sun’s setting. Nobody’s around. You start to feel edgy.

This scenario should have particular resonance for you as the second annual REALTOR® Safety Week approaches, Sept. 12–18. During Safety Week—and all year round—the National Association of REALTORS® urges you to be mindful of the particular risks inherent in your profession and to take advantage of training resources offered through NAR, your state and local associations, and your brokerage. “Safety education and preparedness can literally mean the difference between life and death for REALTORS®,” says NAR President Walt McDonald.

Among the precautions NAR recommends: Carry a charged cell phone, leave at home cash and expensive jewelry, and tell your broker or office receptionist when and where you went and with whom.

Safety Week is also an opportunity for brokerages and local and state REALTOR® organizations to hold safety training classes and heighten awareness. Marcus A. Wally, CIPS, GRI, a broker at New World Realty and Property Management Inc. in St. Augustine, Fla., is planning a week of events—a self-defense demonstration, a video dramatization of unsafe practices, a display of for-sale safety products, and a quiz at week’s end to see if attendees listened—for the entire St. Augustine and St. Johns County Board of REALTORS®.

He also plans to e-mail tips daily to his 30 salespeople and the board membership. Among the tips: Put your police department phone number on your speed dial, photograph your car and license for your company’s records, meet new prospects first at your office and make a copy of their driver’s license, and never let new prospects ride in your car. Most important, he says, “trust your gut instincts.”

Focus on buyers

When you consider the number of National Association of REALTORS® members—more than 1 million—and the number of closed transactions nationally, there’s a clear message: You have your competitive work cut out for you.

A look at just one market bears this out. In April, the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island Inc. (New York) included 13,849 residential listings. During the same period, membership in the Long Island Association of REALTORS® hit 20,640. More than 2,200 transactions closed that month.
In April 2003, 18,000 salespeople vied for more than 14,120 listings; 1,923 closed.

“When you have so many salespeople in your marketplace competing for a limited number of listings, you should start to look at your business in a different way and diversify your activities,” says Quentin Sammis, ABR®, chairman of the board of Coldwell Banker Residential and Commercial Brokerage of Long Island.

One way some practitioners in crowded markets like Long Island try to beat the odds is by practicing buyer agency. Under buyer representation, salespeople act as fiduciaries for buyers and contract with them in the same way that listing salespeople formalize their relationships with sellers through listing agreements. NAR’s affiliate, The Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC), has been promoting the practice of buyer agency since 1996. It has 48,000 members.

REBAC offers courses toward the ABR® (Accredited Buyer Representative) and ABRM® (Accredited Buyer Representative Manager) designations. Currently, there are about 31,371 ABR®s and about 500 ABRM®s nationwide. “The ABR® differentiates me from other salespeople,” says Mark Corbett, with The Buyer’s Choice in Lincoln, R.I., who earned the designation a little more than two years ago. “Consumers know that it’s given me the education and experience to help them find the right home while working in their best interest,” he says.

REBAC also supports its members through an array of benefits, including a searchable Internet member directory and publications, such as Today’s Buyer’s Rep. To promote the ABR® designation to consumers, REBAC has instituted a national marketing campaign, which includes network and syndicated radio and print advertising. To learn more about REBAC, visit www.REBAC.net.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

For more on REALTORS® Safety Week 2004, contact your local association or visit REALTOR.org/Safety.