Website Offers Safety and Security Products and Tips For Real Estate Agents. Realtor Safety Week is in September.

This year marks the 3rd Annual REALTOR® Safety Week, September 11-17, to raise awareness about the important issue of real estate agent safety. Over 54% of agents surveyed on a national basis acknowledged some concerns over their safety while on the job.

A Kansas City, Missouri business owner is focusing on educating agents about what products are on the market to help keep them safe on the job and offering job training. Tracey Hawkins, owner of Safety and Security Source, has been a real estate agent and has a sister who is currently an agent. She offers firsthand insight and perspective to the sometimes-dangerous job. Her website, www.safetyandsecuritysource.com has a page devoted to real estate agents and their safety; including forms, safety tips and products.

“Many agents want that extra assurance that they are not meeting clients without any way to protect themselves in case the client has criminal intentions.” Hawkins emphasizes that she offers pro-active training and non-lethal, non-contact products as solutions. “My job is to make sure my clients, the agents, have peace of mind when they are working with new clients. I have to make sure they are trained to screen clients properly and are carrying the most effective products on the market to defend themselves. The goal is to avoid a problem.” Nationwide a little over 200 agents have been killed n the job in the past decade.

If an agent is going to carry a safety product, they need to make sure it’s the right one. There is a difference between pepper spray, Mace and tear gas. Know what it is before you make a purchase. Mace is a brand name; the company makes sprays, alarms and even owns car washes. Tear gas is antiquated; it is not the most effective formula on the market. However, pure pepper spray is the product of choice among law enforcement officials. That is what Hawkins recommends.

Sometimes agents need to be discreet. “You don’t want to offend your clients and walk around with your finger on the trigger of a pepper spray. So there are pepper sprays that look like ink pens or pagers. “No one knows that you have a safety product in hand. But you know. Sometimes you want to be discreet and not let anyone else know that you have it, but the peace of mind that you have knowing it is handy, is immeasurable. Other times, it needs to be visible, hanging right on your key chain (which you should always have out when walking to and from your car), criminals see it and will steer away from someone who is obviously ‘armed’.”

Other safety products featured are fire safety items; many agents like to offer small easy to use fire extinguishers as listing or closing gifts to their clients since most homes don’t have one. Door alarms (great for travel as well as homes) are popular among safety conscience agents. Since agents spend a lot of time in their cars, auto safety products are suggested, including auto escape hammers, a tool for getting out of a car in an emergency, it has a glass break tip, a seatbelt cutter and a flashlight. Highway emergency kits are offered as well, with jumper cables, flat tire inflator spray, bright safety vest and first aid supplies among other necessities.

Hawkins conducts safety presentations for new real estate agents through the Kansas/Missouri joint real estate board on a monthly basis. She has scheduled presentations with the St. Louis, Missouri Association of Realtors, as well. On a monthly basis she trains agents for one of the largest real estate companies in the greater Kansas City area. “When an association or company invites me to train their agents, they are taking a step in the right direction. They are telling their agents, not only do we want to train you on how to write a contract correctly, how to list more properties, basically making money, but, we care about you and your safety. That speaks volumes to agents when deciding who to work for.”

Hawkins is available to travel to offer the program to companies throughout the U.S. Sometimes once a year is enough, but in a business where agent turnover is so great, it really needs to happen more often, at least every quarter or twice a year at the least. According to Hawkins, many companies do not offer any safety training at all. “It could be as a result of the mentality, that if we don’t talk about it (an attack on an agent), maybe nothing will happen, or, we will wait until something happens, then we will bring someone in.” Hawkins states that she hears so much gratitude from agents after her 35- 45-minute training sessions. “So many agents state that they have been thinking about dangerous situations and worried what they would do. But even more say they have family members who discouraged them from the job because of the perceived dangers.” After the classes student feedback indicates a better sense of how they can eliminate some of the dangers and what they can do to protect themselves.

Program cost is typically not an objective because Hawkins is able to keep her expenses low since she is able to offer recommended products to the participant’s onsite, immediately following a presentation and generates revenue in that manner. She is typically the featured speaker during regularly scheduled sales meetings. She has been invited to speak during companywide training programs and annual sales rallies as well.


Many agencies are choosing to use the week to kick off safety events as opposed to being limited by the week. Hawkins can be reached at her toll-free number: 1-866-365-4542 or by e-mail safetyandsecurity@kc.rr.com. The website address is: www.safetyandsecuritysource.com.