According to the National Association of REALTORS® 2020 Member Safety Report, 31% of agents feared for their safety while hosting an open house and 31% felt fear during a showing. It’s no wonder that 58% of agents surveyed (an all-time high) use a smartphone safety app to track location and to signal for emergency assistance.
There’s a lot of real estate agent safety apps out there to choose from, and sometimes it’s hard to know which system is best. We’ve put together our top nine real estate safety and security apps. If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable at work or wished you had an extra layer of safety and security, this article is for you.
Best App for Real Estate Agents Who Want Real-time Monitoring: AgentSafeWalk
Price: $2.00 per agent, per month; must be provided by company or association (no individual sign-ups)
Available on: iOS and Android
Agents who use this AgentSafeWalk are never alone. They can virtually introduce prospective clients to their “safety partner,” who’s on the screen live in real time. This eliminates lone showings and open houses. Agents can also upload client IDs so there’s a record of who they’re meeting, even if they do not activate the “safe walk” live feature.
What I Love About AgentSafeWalk
This app has live video and two-way talk-back features, a major standout for this space. With AgentSafeWalk (ASW), an agent can get a safety partner on their smartphone face-to-face and “introduce” them. This increased visibility makes criminals think twice.
The platform also allows for mass broadcast messages so that brokers/managers/owners can notify agents of any emergency or dangerous situations.
Steve Dinerman, AgentSafeWalk co-founder, says:
“Because we already had the technology, it was easy to develop the features [that are] needed in the real estate industry. We saw a need that wasn’t being met with the video and live features.”
ASW also offers a live two-way talk feature that property managers, investors, and landlords can use to communicate in real time, via video, with tenants.
2. Best App for Showing Safety: SafeShowings
Price: $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year (group pricing also available)
Available on: iOS and Android
SafeShowings is a verification app for agents to use when asking prospects for an ID before showing. Their information is stored privately and securely, and this act alone puts those with potential malintent on notice that they can be identified if something were to happen to the agent.
Think of SafeShowings like the preshowing process in the apartment leasing community, where prospective tenants are required to show ID before seeing an apartment. Most soon-to-be homebuyers are accustomed to this process, so it won’t be a burden or out of the ordinary.
If there’s ever a problem, an agent can activate their distress alert, sending a message to three preselected emergency contacts or 9-1-1.
What I Love About SafeShowings
This app was developed five years ago by a real estate agent who had a close call while conducting a showing. Her passion to help other agents stay safe led to its creation.
CEO and founder of SafeShowings, Helen Hudson, left the showing shaken, but motivated to not feel that way again. She searched for a safety app to help her feel safe going forward and couldn’t find one, so she created one.
3. Best App for Community Safety Alerts: Kinetic Global
Price: $500 per year (enterprise pricing also available)
Available on: iOS and Android
Kinetic Global is a company that takes threat intelligence seriously on a global scale. They inform on all sorts of issues that can impact a real estate professional—things like climate, transportation and traffic, terror, crime data, COVID, and more.
Even better, Kinetic Global isn’t limited to notifying you (and those you care about) to major community events; they also work diligently to ensure the real estate agents who use their services maintain personal safety as well.
If your emergency alert on the Global Kinetics app is triggered, Global Kinetic will call you to confirm your safety, alert emergency services, and will alert other parties you choose (like your broker, the head of your association, and so on).
What I Love About Kinetic Global
One particular feature that is great about Global Kinetic is their geo-tagged threat and danger alerts. If you’re a Global Kinetic real estate agent, you will be given an alert on your phone if you come close to a community-identified threat or emergency situation. Having someone in your corner with the alerts you need at the time you need them is extremely helpful.
4. Best Location App for Real Estate Agents: Google Maps
Price: Free
Available on: iOS and Android
Everyone knows about Google Maps, but very few real estate agents realize how this tool can be a powerful safety net too. With Google Maps, you’ve got the best GPS app on the market, it’s totally free, and the mapping is super-accurate.
To use this as a safety app, simply enable the sharing of your location data with chosen contacts for a specified time frame. This allows your contacts to check in with where you’re at in real time, and if you’re ever in danger, you can send a special notification to anyone on your contact list with your current location.
What I Love About Google Maps
The Google Street View feature allows you or your emergency contacts to take safety a step further by not only knowing your location, but also having a visual image of where you’re located with a full 360-degree view.
Many people don’t know this, but Google Maps is a great lost and stolen phone locator too. By enabling location sharing on your phone, you can track your device’s location from any computer.
5. Best Screening App for Real Estate Agents: Forewarn
Price: $20 per month (enterprise pricing also available)
Available on: iOS and Android
It’s not uncommon for real estate agents to get calls from potential buyers who ask for a showing as soon as possible. While this sort of lead activity feels like a business opportunity, it can also feel like a threat when you’re being asked to go into a home alone with a stranger.
Forewarn is a quick and easy background check app that can get all the information you need about someone just by using their phone number.
For 90% of people, Forewarn can get a criminal history, verify their current vehicle and property ownership statuses, identify any financial risks (like bankruptcy), as well as provide a complete residential address history.
What I Love About Forewarn
I don’t like feeling leery or suspicious of people. Forewarn gives me the chance to meet new people and feel comfortable that I know that what they’ve told me is true and that I’m making a good decision from a personal safety standpoint to meet them in person.
Since so much of our business is done on the go, the fact that I can run all these searches and get all this information right from my mobile device is really convenient.
6. Best Lockbox App for Real Estate Agents: SentriLock
Price: FREE with purchase of SentriLock lockbox
Available on: iOS and Android
SentriLock is a smart lockbox company that is taking secure property entry to the next level. Their lockboxes sync with their smartphone app so that access is only given to those who are supposed to have it, so concerns that someone could be in a property prior to your arrival are subdued.
They really take safety to the next level with their Agent Safety App. This app allows you to let the system know when a showing has started. The app will periodically check in with you to verify that you’re safe and secure. If you don’t feel safe, you can alert it immediately and a message will be sent to your designated emergency contact. If you are unable to respond to the Agent Safety check-in notice, a message will be sent as well.
What I Love About SentriLock
This company brings together both the security of a high-functioning lockbox as well as a personal safety app. With both of these things working together, your safety on site at a property showing is in really good hands.
7. Best Auto Safety App for Real Estate Agents: CarLock
Price: $9.60 per month
Available on: iOS and Android
A real estate agent’s car is integral to their work, and the bad guys know this too. CarLock’s small electronic beacon is installed in your vehicle and becomes a super-accurate car locator and movement tracker.
This app will alert you if someone is tampering with your car or if it’s moved without your authorization. If you’re working in an area where auto theft is a problem, this app is a must-have.
What I Love About CarLock
This app offers 24/7 monitoring and GPS positioning anywhere in the world. Notifications are sent and you can be notified even if your phone is on silent mode, and there’s even an SMS notification option that doesn’t rely on your cell phone’s data plan, which is perfect if you’re in a spot that has spotty cell coverage.
There’s also a multicar option that makes this app perfect for families or real estate teams.
8. Best Home or Apartment Security App for Real Estate Agents: Brivo
Price: $10 to $15 per month + hardware and installation
Available on: iOS and Android
Many real estate agents also have property management duties, which makes a powerful and convenient property security app a must. Brivo makes entry into your units keyless and accessible via smartphone, and it’s connected to on-premise security feeds, so not only will you know who’s coming and going and when, you’ll be able to see them in the property in real time.
What I Love About Brivo
COVID-19 changed a lot in the real estate industry, including the way we handle shared assets like keys. With Brivo, you can share digital keys, monitor the activity of those you grant access to properties for things like showings, and secure your client’s personal property.
Also, in the event of an emergency, there’s a fantastic lockdown feature that not only secures the premises, but also alerts the authorities that there’s trouble. Many real estate agents who use Brivo end up using the same system in their own personal homes.
9. Best App for Real Estate Agents Working Virtually: Zoom
Price: Free
Available on: iOS and Android
If you haven’t heard of Zoom by now, you’ve probably been living under a rock (a rock that gets no internet or phone service). But, you might be asking yourself, “What is Zoom doing on a list of real estate agent safety apps?
Quite simply, meeting virtually before actually meeting someone in person is a great way to start conversations with new prospects and to weed out those you’d feel uncomfortable seeing in person for the first time.
Also, if you aren’t feeling comfortable meeting someone in person at all, thanks to Zoom’s mobile app, many real estate agents are actually conducting showings and working through entire transactions virtually.
According to Tomas Satas, founder and CEO of Windy City Homebuyer:
What I Love About Zoom
Zoom is literally the easiest product on the internet to use. It delivers exactly what I’m looking for, it’s easy for even the most technologically challenged clients to use, and there’s a fantastic free option that will cover 95% of real estate needs.
Your Turn
What are your favorite real estate agent safety apps and why do you love them? Tell us in the comments below.
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