President’s Message-September /October
September is REALTOR® Safety Month, so it’s a good time to review the standard measures in place in your office/team, and the routines that you practice yourself when you are meeting with customers and clients. There have been too many instances of REALTORS® going to meet a potential client, who turns out not to have any real interest in purchasing a home, but only nefarious intentions.
As was made clear to those of us who attended the safety class that was held at NYSAR’s Mid-winter Meetings, it pays to be wary not only with buyers but even when going to a listing appointment with sellers who say that they want to list their house. This happened to an upstate REALTOR® who was meeting a seller at a house in a remote location with a long driveway. She was brave enough to recount her harrowing experience in that safety class. Fortunately, she had taken the precaution of backing her vehicle into the property, and after an extremely unsettling encounter inside the house, was able to escape.
Just a few tips here:
- Conduct showings only during daylight hours.
- Ask new clients to complete a Prospect Identification Form (online at nar.realtor/safety).
- Make sure someone knows where you will be and with whom.
- Advise your sellers not to engage with buyers or other agents and to refer them to you.
- Have prospects walk in front of you.
- Learn some basic self-defense skills.
October is the month to focus on professional development. We will be spending less time outdoors in the fall, and it is a good time to take those courses that we have been meaning to take but didn’t get around to. This might also be a good time to go for a professional designation in an area that is particularly appealing. Real estate is a profession that offers a plethora of acronymic possibilities. Sometimes it is good to go outside of our comfort zone and learn something new. Knowledge is power, and it can give you a leg up in this competitive profession.
In addition to elective courses, there are new CE requirements mandated by NYSDOS.
Starting September 21st, licensees will be required to take 2 credit hours of cultural competency and 2 credit hours of implicit bias training. REALTORS® who have taken these courses report that they have been surprised by some of the things they have learned about themselves and about the ways implicit bias affects the way people go about their daily business routines. This is good training for all of us.
