GAINESVILLE - Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic has issued an awareness alert to all real estate professionals in the Gainesville area in light of the murders of two real estate agents in Cobb County last week.
Lt. Gene Joy says the department has received some calls from concerned local real estate agents since the murders.
In September, almost exactly two months before the Cobb murders, a Cornelia man was arrested and accused of luring female real estate agents to remote locations in at least four northeast Georgia counties - including Hall.
The sheriff's department offers a 50-minute Real Estate Professionals Safety Seminar free of charge.
The following is the complete text of the Hall County Sheriff's Office Realtor Safety Alert:
1. Never meet a strange or unqualified prospective buyer alone at any property. Always ask a prospective buyer to come to your office first! Consider it a danger signal if he or she refuses.
2. Remember that both your dress and your behavior should always reflect professionalism and self-assurance. This alone can avert a great many potentially dangerous situations.
3. Most assaults are robbery-motivated. You can help avoid them by not wearing expensive jewelry or carrying large cash amounts during house showings.
4. While driving to and from appointments, take the safest and best-lighted route night or day and keep your car windows and doors locked.
5. If you have any suspicions or uneasiness about a buyer, do not go to the showing alone, no matter what time of day. Instead, ask another salesperson to accompany you.
6. Before leaving for a showing, inform your office where you'll be, who you'll be with, and when you'll next be in touch. Make sure the person you're meeting knows you've given your office this information.
7. Be aware of the neighborhood in which you're showing a listing. If that neighborhood poses any possible threat to your personal safety, have another salesperson go with you to the showing.
8. When showing a property, let the client proceed ahead of you. This will reduce the possibility that you can be pushed into a room and the door closed behind you.
9. Your office should keep a file on each agent's vehicle to include the make, year, color, and license plate number.
10. If at all possible, have someone else sit with you at an open house. If you must be alone, keep the door locked and be alert.
For more information, contact Lieutenant Gene Joy at the Hall County Crime Prevention Office at 770-533-7806 or E-mail [email protected].
Friday
December 27th, 2024
5:51PM
