Have any of you ever had a showing turn into a concern for your safety? Or a home visit? Would be interesting to hear about these.

I enjoy showings in person and prescreen interested parties prior to meeting them using facebook, court records, fast people search, google search and anything else I can find on them. Twice surrounding showings I was concerned about my safety. I'm taking measures to keep my current tenants safe by not advertising the address in ads, just the general area and inside pictures but not the outside. With the crop of dicey calls we're getting at this time in history, recently I was reminded I should be concerned about my own safety. Other than a thorough prescreen, are you prepared if a showing goes south? If so, how?

the chorus of lock boxes will come up. BUT I like personal showings. there is no document or piece of paper that can screen like personal contact. You know, the single mother swears it's just her and her child living there but whose boyfriend tags along and announces "this room is great for a man cave". Out of control kids bouncing off your kitchen cabinets. The smell of smoke on non smokers. And no matter how good they are (and some of them really are), the majority can be seen through in a heart beat if you've been at this for a while.

So to answer your question .... I've never been in a situation that made me uncomfortable. Probably a combination of the prescreening like yours, my area, and a healthy dose of good luck. I rented "city" properties for many years. I then migrated to "city limits" for the majority of my years.

This is a serious matter. For myself I studied martial arts, have carried guns in bad areas but have a large pepper spray can and a Taser Dart Stun Gun -- non lethal.

But for people showing units for me, I never allow them to do it by themselves. There is safety in numbers.

Also:

Tell someone the time you are meeting who & make sure they know where to find the applicant's info. Text / call them at the time you expect to be done.

Dee Ann, not sure how long you've been here, but many of us use lock box showings for the very reason you are discussing.

There is no end of weird people out there today who would just as soon bash your skull in or do other horrific things to a person just to get a few likes on social media. Don't believe me? Do a quick Google search on "violent social media for likes" and read the stories.

Your health and life are MORE IMPORTANT than if someone forgets to wipe their feet. I'll even go far out on a limb and say safety is more important than if you get a squatter. There are ways to minimize the chance of a squatter that are cheap, easy, and highly effective. There is no way to undo a person who decides to do violence against you for a quick thrill.

Now, more than ever, land lords must be careful. Plus, lock boxes make you able to show multiple properties at the same time, any time of the day, without having to coordinate schedules and drive for 30 minutes only to have someone not show up.

There are too many advantages to doing lock box showings to ignore it. Even professional realtors are using that tool now during C-19. Get creative, get bold, and learn a new technique to staying safe, increasing your freedom and getting more profits!

Nicole I hear you on being able to see through the lies when you meet in person. Prior to meeting prospects I email the lease and application, ask them to review them and have the application ready to hand to me if they want to go forward with the rental process. Comments made during the showing tell me if they've not done their homework; they would know they can't attach shelves to the walls, or stencil the walls! I will spend a great deal of time during a showing if I think the prospect(s) are good for the property. In that time, they begin to feel comfortable, and to my dismay, they burst my bubble.

I was near the end of a 2 hour showing and conversation with a couple who at first seemed ideal when one of them went "out of character". He mentioned something about the last place they lived, but hadn't listed it on the application. Red flags went up as his girlfriend tried to tamper his talk, while I realized I knew the complex he was talking about, 250 miles away. I politely ended our showing, saying I would let them know.

I still prefer to show houses in person. It works for me, though if you have a LOT of units, lockbox is the way to go. Like others said, stay outside and let them roam the place. After each showing go inside and lock the door behind you. Then verify that the house is secure. I've had roamers leave the back door unlocked, windows unlocked, and unscrew the back porch light just enough that it doesn't come on.

I can tell by the way the applicant approaches the situation that it could be a problem. I don't who until i have had a couple of conversations, phone or email, with the applicant.

However, the tenants that just left to buy a house were male and female and the male behaved strangely from the first meeting. He got there first and didn't acknowledge me and sat across the street in his car until she got there. I was outside waiting. I waved to him and he pretended he didn't see me. Trust me, this was odd. As a tenant he broke two doors, one by kicking it at the bottom when it got stuck and the other, I'm not sure but it was off the hinges. There were other incidents where he behaved strangely. She has to know he has a problem but some women just want to get married.

When I have to show a property, I allow the prospect to go inside by themselves. All the paperwork is on the counter, and I stay outside, saying I have to make a business call, or arrange for a relative or friend to call me, or I call a relative or friend, an "ACT" as if it is a business call. Lock up when they leave.

We tried RENTLY for a while. It did work on one property in a larger city, but most of ours are in small towns, and most of the prospects did not seem comfortable with it.

Hi Busy...thanks for thinking of me. Hubby and I are fine now.

So in my protective mode for my tenants, I realize I'm not protecting myself. I show while people are living there if their decorating and furniture makes the place show better. In the last case the tenant was breaking the lease and it looked superb with her decorating. So letting someone walk through with someone else's belongings didn't set well with me. Because she had teenage girls I didn't feel it smart to bring someone through with them or the mother due to my past stalking incident.

I usually show the place when no one is home. I text the tenants when I am done, lock up and leave after the prospect has left. Thinking about what I've been doing is scary. I can't pass on in person showings; what I can change is bringing pepper spray and my husband along to wait in the car or alert neighbors when I have a showing. I thought maybe I was being a bit paranoid, but a few of these stories tell me I'm naive, not paranoid.

"I was near the end of a 2 hour showing and conversation with a couple who at first seemed ideal when one of them went "out of character"."

Two hours? Personally, I wouldn't do a showing this long with one applicant. I try to schedule a bunch of showings 30 minutes apart so people will move on.

Dee Ann,

SID beat me to it - NOW MORE THAN EVER you MUST be concerned with your personal safety. DOn't be naive and think everyone is a decent person. The baddies don't wear a sign and some look good, smell good, and are charming.

Right now every loser is chasing every opening.

We just evicted 3 and 2 of those left horrible messes. Not a single LL called for a reference. And their evictions show on court records so HOW!? did the find a new place? They LIED to the next LL.

After years of traditional showings I reversed the procedure and it works BETTER! App approval THEN a showing.

Good curb appeal, yard sign, great pics online (free), a video walkthru on YouTube (free), $25 app fee (brings in THOUSAND$$$), we screen. Of the one or two that look good we give the lockbox code or you could go open the door for them and wait outside. Check the locks and windows after they leave.

We approve 1.5 out of 10 apps. Don't waste your life showing every person cuz MOST will not qualify.

Please note: I am not hanging around for 2 hours while every stranger and homeless person walks by and comes in for a look-see. People LIE LIE LIE at showings. They best liars know how to fool a LL, especially one who brags they can "read" people.

LL are sued over what they SAY so less talk if I am not in the room.

The best liars WANT to meet you and sway you.

If you think meeting the prospect and wondering if he/she is "right for the house" you are discriminating. This could lead to huge fines.

You'll know if they smoke when you do the ONE 2 Minute In Home Visit on the ONE FINAL applicant. Smokers know how to hide the stink with fresh clothes to fool the LL during showings.

Re-think the showing.

BRAD

PS Any gun instructor will tell you a gun is useless when someone grabs you from behind. Best is to not be in the room with them.

Brad,

Thanks for some new ideas! With COVID, we had to change things and filled 4 openings using facebook ads and virtual showings done by the current tenants. Interested prospects emailed their applications (I asked them to leave off sensitive information that I later got over the phone). I thoroughly vetted them...met them when they moved in. Saved me lots of time, easiest rental season ever, and am rethinking everything about my procedure.

Couldn't be more pleased with everyone's answers from this group! I have one late opening due to a broken lease. Took one person in at roommate rate, hoping to find a roommate for her as full house prospects had no income Standby roommate applicants (we had one and a backup one) dropped out due to riots and increasing COVID here.

Great Topic!!! Lots of great input!

I don't put any rent sign in the yard for safety or potential break ins. I will also stop posting address from now on.

Pre-Covid, I did

1) Weekend Open Houses, 2-3 hour window, schedule prospects 15 mins apart.. I let them all know there will be other people touring same day and they need to wait in the car if they arrive early. I usually gather 10-20 showings each open house. Fewer than 5 I do lock box showing, since often less than half show up.

2) I have all doors wide open and sit near the door and let them tour on their own (after reading the post, I think I should have just sit out on the patio)

3) only serious prospects gets the appointment ( pre-screening over the phone, and I get their full name and phone number)

4) those who can't make it gets lock box code, I take down their home address first. Couple tenants showed occasionally, that case I will need a picture of their ID and have tenants ID them first-- I stopped tenant showings a year ago for liability.

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After Covid-- Virtual Showings only, I just rented 2 houses with no physical showing. New tenants never saw the inside until they moved in since both homes were occupied at the time of marketing.

1) had tenants take videos of very room, for very serious prospects, I allow Facetime or zoom with tenant incase they have further questions (luckily didn't have to do that)

2) lots of photos online

3) Vacant home show on lock box only-- I plan to FaceTime with them during the tour if possible.

4) All prospect must pass pre-screening questionnaire before I respond with any video or lockbox info.

5) lease signing over Facetime.

I've never had a fear for safety. But if you want to do personal showings here are some ideas:

1) Tell the person that when they come to the showing, you may have cameras positioned within the house and they may be recorded.

2) Bring a friend with you...strength in numbers.

3) Ask for them to send a photo of their driver's license...they can block out SS# or other private info

4) Have window shades/curtains open

5) Schedule group showings, where there are multiple prospects...sometimes encourages people to act quickly to get application submitted also

6) Ask each person to sign in before entering the house, with name and phone number. Yes, they can forge a fictitious name...

7) Only meet during daylight

8) If you have one particular person you are concerned about, just tell them when they arrive "please park over there, as I'm expecting some other people any minute now"...knowing others might come may deter them