With technology fueling the “need it now” attitude more and more, many people are requesting property showings from the first phone call or message. After all, you can click a few buttons and get practically anything you want delivered to your door lickety split. Why should real estate or rentals be any different? Click, click, maybe enter a little info, and bam! An agent should be ready to show you homes.
Not so fast. Would you rush to meet a total stranger at a vacant property, after one phone call or chat? According to this article, an average of 75 real estate professionals are killed on the job every year. Many others are assaulted and / or robbed. It’s easy to find lots of news and reports on this subject, all over the internet. For example, a female agent in Austin narrowly escaped an attack just a few days ago. Another agent was killed while showing a vacant home in Arkansas. A Las Vegas realtor was stabbed while showing a home in 2016. I have personally experienced an uncomfortable situation while showing property to a potential renter.
Real estate / rental agents make easy targets, especially when meeting strangers at vacant homes. Once you enter a vacant home with someone, anything can happen, and there probably won’t be any witness. Now, this is not to say that everyone is suspect – far from it. But it is simply not wise to trot off to meet people at properties, without taking some simple precautions.
As such, our policy is to get a copy of ID from the tenant prospect, before making an appointment to show a rental. The identity of a licensed real estate / property management professional in Nevada is public. We have to pass background checks to get licensed. We put our information out there so the public can feel safe, knowing who we are. It’s only fair that a potential client identify themselves to us as well. If anyone refuses, we simply won’t make an appointment.
Furthermore, our job is to help protect an owner’s rental investment. We wouldn’t be doing a very good job of that if we didn’t have any information about the people we bring to their property.
It’s a matter of safety first, but it’s also a matter of courtesy. We like to build positive relationships, and that starts with a proper introduction.