subject: Keeping Yourself Safe When Making A Sale [print this page] Unbeknownst to many customers, real estate agents also run a lot of risks just to make a sale. Many have been victimized by scammers who prey on their need to make a sale and make them lower their guard and before they know it, they've been hoodwinked and scammed out of something. A less worse scenario is that an agent loses a sale he or she has been expecting to make. Simply put, there are a lot of people out there who will not buy and / or will only cause you trouble.
Real estate sales are hard enough without this kind of people - much less the trouble they bring - to contend with, and the burden falls on the real estate agent to take the necessary steps to make sure that his or her interests in the sale are safe and secure.
1. Do a simple background check.
This is one of the most basic ways to find out if a customer or client is legit. A simple call to a contact number (besides that of a mobile or cellular phone, as these can be easily procured and discarded) he or she provides you can confirm whether or not he or she provided your with accurate information. For especially big deals, you can ask for a credit and identity check to be done for the person you are entering into the deal with, to make sure that he or she is capable of keeping his or her end of the bargain.
2. Meet someplace public first.
At the very least, ask first time clients you have not seen or do now know personally to meet and discuss things with your personally in a public place or in your office. Obviously, meeting a stranger in an empty piece of property can be risky, so you need to before time to size a client up and of course, discuss the details of possible deals personally, as not everything can be discussed through email or telephone. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. When meeting a client at a property, take note of his or her license plates and send it to somebody outside the meeting. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry at the end.
3. Coordinate with people outside client meetings.
While you enjoy a degree of freedom with real estate sales, this does not mean that you are a lone ranger. It is paramount that you coordinate with people from your office and inform them of your scheduled client meetings so while you are working; they know where you are at a particular time of day. You can also devise a code word or phrase you can use (hopefully you'll never have to use it) to indicate that you are in some sort of danger or unpleasant situation where you'll need somebody else's help to get out of.
Never ignore your instincts and always keep your wits about you. Always make sure that you never put yourself in a situation where you might be compromised. While real estate sales isn't exactly a dangerous profession, use your common sense to avoid getting yourself into trouble.
