A warning for those who sell property in Metro Vancouver
Posted May 2, 2016 2:04 pm.
Last Updated May 3, 2016 1:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There is a warning today for those who sell property in Metro Vancouver. It comes after a realtor was sexually assaulted during an open house in Surrey over the weekend.
President of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Dan Morrison, says realtors are encouraged to take precautions, and bring a buddy along when doing open houses on their own.
He says the assault over the weekend was a hot topic today. “It is very frustrating, we are obviously very concerned and fortunately it doesn’t happen that often but even once is way too often so obviously we want to stop it if we can”
“We are relieved that the realtor in this case wasn’t injured but you know it should never have happened and anything that we can do to prevent it from happening we are going to work on to make our systems better.”
Morrison has a few suggestions for realtors looking to stay safe while on the job. “We always encourage people to first of all try and meet any new clients at their office, get identification so that you know who they are and then that information can be put in a file so you know who they are.”
He adds there is an alert system already in place called ‘Realty Watch‘, it advises realtors via text or email to keep them informed about possibly dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, another local realtor has started a new program to help her colleagues stay safe while showing houses.
Monica Donetti-Ross says ‘Safe 2 Show‘ works like a buddy system.
“We issue a roster at the beginning of the month, it’s divided in quadrants, and based on the number of people on that roster, they’re allocated specific times.”
Membership is open to licensed realtors and costs about a dollar a day.
She says she created the system after hearing a number of horror stories from male and female colleagues.
“Someone calls you out of the blue and tries to get them to come into your office,” she says. “Some people they just don’t want to do that so they say ‘I’m just here for a couple of days I can meet you at the property’ unfortunately realtors are paid on commission.”