How to show Property Safely!

Everyone has done this from time to time: you are in a rush and pull up to a showing appointment running late, pull into the driveway and see your customers waiting by their car. They follow you into the house while you are busy unlocking the door and saying your apologies about how heavy the traffic was... You enter and realize they are a large family, some of them go left and some go right. You flap and just say "take a look around and let me know if you have any questions". After they are gone you may realize how unsafe this showing was for you and how it could have gone better. 

1. Arrive early, that is approx. 10-15 minutes before your customer or client arrives! Be sure to park on the road, not in the driveway, in that way you cannot be blocked in and your car has an easier exit. 

2. Once you arrive early you have time to enter the house without people right behind you, you can turn lights on, familiarize yourself with the floor plan and locate all the exterior doors. You may want to unlock the back door if it is a fairly "safe" neighborhood providing you with a quick exit if needed. Keep the front door locked at this time. 

3. When your people arrive and knock on the door, go outside and holding the door shut behind you, ask the people if everyone is present in their group and if they are all ready to come inside? If there are not then wait until they all gather together, but if they are then invite them inside as one group. If there are several people present, keep the group together and do not let them follow you, instead they should go ahead of you while you direct them politely but firmly where to go. Otherwise, if it is more comfortable you could walk backwards but this can be tricky to master, and you have to make sure you have a clear path behind you throughout the home. 

4. Try to keep an exit close to you, and get used to positioning yourself so that the customer is not between you and an exterior exit. Just in case there is an altercation  you can make the quickest possible exit to the nearest exterior door. 

5. Whenever possible, have a new customer meet you at your commercial office so you can greet them in a professional setting and make a copy of their ID for the office records. Be aware of any suspicious behavior. This may include inappropriate body language, suggestive remarks, or odd requests such as the person wanting to meet a female-only agent (this request may have a valid reason, but you could take another colleague with you and have them sit in the car and come in after a few minutes to check on you). If you are in any way suspicious about a prospect's intentions over the phone, take another colleague with you or just don't meet with them at all. Safety should always be a top priority. 

6. The question about arming yourself for protection may be off-putting to some, but one that many people take seriously. There are many products on the market from alarms, pepper sprays, stun guns and of course firearms. If you choose to equip yourself with one of these devices, ask your employer or broker if they have any rules regarding this, and make sure you are complying with your state laws and licensing. Whatever device you use, be extremely familiar with how to use it, so that if you ever felt your life was in danger you would immediately know how to react and use it correctly. The worst thing you could have happen is have your attacker take a stun gun or firearm from you and use it against you. Therefore I only recommend these for agents who are able to use one safely and can practice regularly with it. 

Happy showings and be safe out there!

Oliver Overton-Morgan
Oliver Overton-Morgan is the Broker of Absolut Realty Inc, an Orlando-based investment real estate and property management company.

Orlando Eye Attraction comes to O-Town!

Now under construction on International Drive "The Orlando Eye" a 425-FOOT-TALL observation wheel which is a sibling of the London Eye on the River Thames in London England. It is scheduled to open with its surrounding development "I-Drive Live"on New Year's Eve 2014 and will be nearly as tall as the 35-story SunTrust Building in downtown Orlando.

It will be so high that when the Eye is running, those riding will be able to see all of the city and as far as NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building on the east coast of Florida.



In addition to the observation wheel, the development will include a Madame Tussauds wax museum and a Sea Life aquarium, Titanic Exhibition, a Ben & Jerry's, Outback, Buffalo Wild Wings and a Yard House, as well as other restaurants and shops.


The developer, Unicorp, is also developing an I-Shops project on the previous location of the Wyndham Orlando Resort at the corner of International Drive and Sand Lake Road. The former hotel was demolished to make way for this development.

Oliver Overton-Morgan
Oliver Overton-Morgan is the Broker of Absolut Realty Inc, an Orlando-based investment real estate and property management company.

 

What to expect from the Orlando rental market in the upcoming months?

As the market stabilizes Landlords and property managers will see more activity... thankfully more than the beginning part of this year which has been a little slow. We probably won't be seeing anymore the explosive rental growth we saw back in 2012 which was caused by a flood of new rental properties and investors. The median rent list price for Orlando, Florida in February 2014 was $1287 which is an increase of 5.8% over 2013. Some areas have experienced a year over year increase such as Celebration by 20% and College Park by 9%, while other areas actually decreased such as Hunters Creek by -0.2% and Baldwin Park by -5%.

Over the last year or so there has been a steady flow of competition from Real Estate Investment Trusts purchasing large amounts of rental properties across the country; and now in addition to that builders are adding dozens of new apartment complexes to the market. This will make it difficult for Landlords to consider raising rents over the next year and they will need to make a decision of whether or not an increase is worth the risk. Our best advice is to be informed of their local neighborhood and nearby up-to-date rental comparables.

On a positive note, rising mortgage rates and home prices shuts potential Buyers out of the homeowner marketplace, and provides a balance so that rental rates should remain fairly strong. The market is still normalizing and growth is strong so you will need to adapt to the changing market to have success.


Oliver Overton-Morgan
Oliver Overton-Morgan is the Broker of Absolut Realty Inc, an Orlando-based residential investment real estate and property management company.