My heart breaks this morning at the news that the ongoing search for kidnapped Arkansas Realtor Beverly Carter has ended. In case you haven’t seen the news lately, the story goes that Beverly was showing a vacant home to a “client” around 5pm. When she didn’t make it home for dinner, around 9pm, her husband called police. Her car was found with her purse inside, and her phone was missing. Her husband got a strange text that she’d gone out drinking with her girlfriends that night, but apparently Beverly was not a drinker. Several days later, her body was found in a shallow grave behind a concrete mixing business that suspect Arron Lewis previously worked for. I cannot imagine the pain her friends and family are experiencing. Beverly’s story is a sobering reminder for the entire real estate community of what to do and what not to do to stay safe.
Beverly Carter had been missing since Thursday afternoon, when authorities say she had planned to show a foreclosure house in the town of Scott to a client she hadn’t met before, but never returned from the appointment.
Police said Carter’s purse was found in her vehicle outside the home Friday and the door to the residence she was showing was left open. Detectives believe Carter was taken from the home.
Lewis, in custody this morning, looked at TV cameras and when asked why he targeted Ms. Carter said “Because she was a rich broker”. How very sad.
As a Realtor, it’s easy to get excited when a new client calls, especially if they say things like “Looking to buy ASAP, cash, I want to see this home right away.” Often Realtors become what I call “pop tarts”. That means they pop out to show a buyer the house the minute they call, just because they called. Or they pop over to show a house because a buyer calls and says “I’m sitting right in front of the house right now.” Popping here and there and everywhere, with no appointment. No pre qualification. No in person meeting in the office to determine what the buyer is really looking for. Therefore, “pop tart”.
Does your dentist or doctor let you just pop in without an appointment? Typically, no. The same should be said for professional Realtors. The safer method is to have buyers come into the office, copy their driver’s license, get them pre-approved or get a proof of funds if they are a cash buyer, and make sure they are who they say they are. The real buyers will do it, the tire kickers will not. Gas is too expensive and our safety is too important to be a pop tart.
I think every Realtor has a few “stories.” I’ll share with you mine.
When I was a new-ish Realtor, I had 3 female attorneys I was working with who’d formed an investment group. We all hopped in my car to go look at some foreclosures in Tampa. Now, I was used to how foreclosures look inside. Sometimes a few personal items get left behind, and old houses creek and have doors that stick. So as I was showing a foreclosure near South Tampa, I thought nothing of it when a bedroom door seemed locked. I took my longest fingernail and shimmied the lock with it, and ta-da – the door popped open! I swung it open to show my clients, and voila – a naked man lying on the floor. He fortunately had his back to me, looked over his shoulder, and started to turn around and push himself off the floor and come towards us. I screamed, slammed the door shut and yelled “run!” to my clients. We ran out of the house and into our cars and I threw the key near the front door. I drove away shaking, and called the listing Realtor to tell him what had happened. His response? “Oh THAT guy, he’s back again? I’ve kicked that squatter out like 3 times!” Oh, thanks buddy, you couldn’t have WARNED me that if I noticed anything weird to call you?! Perhaps he was a harmless homeless man, but it scared the hell out of me at the time. I didn’t know if he intended to just shut the door, or mug us, or what…
Most recently, one of our team’s buyer’s agent got a call from a cash buyer who wanted to look at million-dollar condos on Beach Drive in St. Petersburg. Excitedly, he got a list together to show the client, and showed him. He thought it a bit odd that the million dollar buyer drove a beat up car, and wouldn’t give him a cell phone number, but the client seemed very enthusiastic about purchasing. He took him to some nice lunches at upscale restaurants downtown, but never could get the buyer to sign an offer. The “buyer” befriended the agent, telling him, “You’ll come visit me when I move in, right?” The whole thing started to seem a bit odd, and my client pushed the issue for him to sign an offer. He backed down and said it wasn’t the right time. A few days later another Realtor walked into the office from another brokerage and described the man and asked if anyone had encountered him. My buyer’s agent said he had. Turns out he had been doing the same thing to other brokers, and had prior arrests for exposing himself to people and for scamming professionals out of fancy meals with an intent to do business. My agent was too afraid of offending the supposed “million dollar buyer” by asking for his drivers license and a proof of funds. He had done so, he would have saved himself a lot of time. Thank god the man did not expose himself, because knowing the size of my buyer’s agent, I think he would’ve wound up in jail himself for the damage he wouldn’t done to the man’s face if that had occurred.
We’ve all made a few mistakes here and there or ignored our instincts, but we need to let Beverly, rest her soul, serve as a reminder not to do so.
A few tips for any Realtors who may be reading this, or anyone who is in an industry where you frequently meet with strangers in a home.
1. Trust your instincts. If something feels off, it may be.
2. Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position. Gesture that clients walk in front of you, don’t walk ahead. At open houses, make sure all doors are unlocked and you know the fastest escape route.
3. Bring someone with you to showings or open houses. Lenders are often willing to accompany, or at a minimum, tell someone where you are and when to expect you’ll be done and phone them.
4. Showing foreclosures or other distressed properties – look out for broken windows, kicked in doors. Yell “REALTOR!” as you walk in the door. Get out if you see anything that looks unusual such as personal items or a locked door. Do not attempt to open it.
5. Visit properties during daylight hours only. I’ve had other Realtors get angry with me when I refuse to show one of my listings from 7pm to 8pm. We all know that during certain times of the year, it is dark at 7pm…heck, sometimes it gets dark at 6pm! Oh, and I have a life, too. 7pm is too late. If a buyer really wants to see a home, they will make time in their schedule or plan a lunch break around it.
6. Get a driver’s license and proof of funds or pre-approval letter. At that point the buyer has been checked out, identity verified.
It has become my team’s policy that new buyers come into the office to sit down and meet with us about the buying process, get pre-approved or provide a proof of funds, along with a copy of their driver’s license. When we ask you to do this, as a buyer, it doesn’t mean we think you are a serial killer, it’s just protocol. Not only is this for safety reasons, it also prevents us from showing you homes that are not in the price range you can afford and wasting time. It also helps us to lay out the entire buying process with you up front so there are no surprises and answer questions you may have. Please, please, please don’t ask your Realtor to be a pop tart.
Rest in peace, Beverly.
Update in 2018: It took me a couple years, but in part due to Beverly, I am now the proud owner of a concealed carry license and a .38 revolver – old school I know. It is sad in our industry that this is what it takes for some of us to feel safe. If you get a gun, please learn how to use it. Practice, practice, practice. Always practice safe gun ownership and do what you need to do to stay safe, fellow agents.
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