Why Real Estate Agents are at Risk for Theft and How to Prevent It

Open houses are becoming targets for thefts more often, and real estate agents are at risk of losing valuable items, as are the homeowners.

As a real estate agent, you’re inviting the public to a property, which is an invitation to anyone, from thieves to those who might want to harm you.

A common tactic thieves use at open houses is teamwork and distraction. Linda Powers of Specialists Real Estate in Las Vegas told her story of such an encounter on Realtor.org.

“Last year I was holding an open house on my listing, and four women walked in and said they were sisters and looking for a home for their mother. Two of them walked out to the yard while I stayed with the others.

“The two in the yard then called me outside because they had a few questions. When we walked back in, the gals stayed a little longer talking and asking more questions about the house.

“It wasn’t until the next morning that I noticed my debit card and a few dollars missing. They managed to spend a few hundred dollars before I canceled the card. I found out later that these ladies had been making the rounds around Las Vegas doing the same to other agents while sitting on their open houses.

“Needless to say, I now keep my wallet in the trunk of my car. It also helps to do open houses in twos, especially when the home is lived in and has things to steal. This economy is bringing out the worst in people.”

SAFETY TIPS

There are preventative actions, such as those mentioned by Linda, that will help you protect yourself from theft.

Promote security in your advertisements.
When you advertise the open house, note that identification will be required at the front door and video surveillance will be in use. “The bad guys will be less likely to show up,” Siciliano says.

Partner up.
When would-be assailants see two people at the front door, they’ll be less likely to go in. (Read one agent’s story how the buddy system protected her).

Introduce yourself to neighbors.
Let them know you’ll be showing the house so others know that you are there.

Watch for patterns.
At an open house, note any patterns in arrivals, particularly near the end of the open house. One common scam: Thieves come near the end of the open house, working as a team. They have “buyers” distract the agent as others steal valuables in the home. (Read what happened to one sales associate.)
Stow away your valuables.

Never leave your purse, laptop, or wallet unattended on the counter in plain view. Keep them in the trunk of your car. However, always keep your cell phone on you so you can call for help if you need to. Also, before the open house, tell your clients to put away all of their valuables, prescription drugs, and mail.

Seven Financial New Year’s Resolutions to Keep

Small changes in your financial behavior can add up to big savings over the long term, and New Year’s is a perfect time to make some financial resolutions.

DailyFinance.com has listed seven great resolutions that are simple and will fatten up your wallet in 2012. Click here to see the full list; a shortened version is below:

1. Get healthy by losing weight and quitting smoking, which can lower your insurance premiums.

2. Be a smart shopper by using sales, coupons, and programs and apps like LivingSocial and Groupon to find good deals.

3. Simplify your day to day finances with things such as online automatic bill pay.

4. Increase your financial literacy and educate yourself about things you don’t understand.

5. Be prepared and start an emergency savings fund in case something unexpected happens.

6. Pay down debt and try to pay more than the minimum each month.

7. Create a basic household budget that makes sense and is easy to follow.

This Week’s Market Commentary

This week bring us the release of only three monthly reports that are relevant to the bond market and mortgage rates, but two of them are considered to be highly important.

In addition to those three reports, we also will get the minutes from the last FOMC meeting that may influence the markets and possibly mortgage rates. The financial markets are closed today due to the New Year’s Day holiday.

The first report is the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index for December late tomorrow morning. This highly important index measures manufacturer sentiment. A reading above 50 means that more surveyed manufacturing executives felt that business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened.

That indicates manufacturing sector strength rather than contraction. Analysts are currently expecting to see a 53.4 reading in this month’s release, meaning that sentiment strengthened from November’s 52.7. A smaller reading will be good news for the bond market and mortgage shoppers, while a higher than expected reading could lead to higher mortgage rates tomorrow morning as it would point towards economic strength.

Also tomorrow is the release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting. This will give market participants insight to the Fed’s thinking and concerns regarding the economy, inflation and monetary policy. It is one of those pieces of information that may cause a great deal of volatility in the markets or be a non-factor, depending on what the minutes show. They will be released at 2:00 PM ET, so they won’t affect the markets or mortgage rates until afternoon hours.

The Commerce Department will post November’s Factory Orders data late Wednesday morning. This data gives us a fairly important measurement of manufacturing sector strength. It is similar to the Durable Goods Orders release that was posted late last week, except this report includes orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Durable goods are items that are expected to last three or more years such as electronics and autos. Examples of non-durable goods are food and clothing. Analysts are expecting to see an increase of 2.1% in new orders. This report generally does not have a huge impact on the bond market or mortgage rates, but it can influence bond trading enough to create a minor change in rates. The smaller the increase, the better the news for mortgage rates.

The final report of the week comes Friday morning when the Labor Department will post December’s employment figures. The Employment report is arguably the most important monthly release we see. It gives us the national unemployment rate, the number of jobs added or lost during the month and average hourly earnings, which is a key measure of wage inflation. Rising unemployment, a decline in payrolls and earnings would be ideal news for the bond market.

Current forecasts call for a 0.1% rise from November’s unemployment rate of 8.6%, 150,000 new jobs added to the economy and an increase in earnings of 0.2%. If we see weaker than expected results, mortgage rates should improve Friday. However, stronger than expected readings will likely raise optimism about the economy, pushing mortgage rates sharply higher.

Overall, the key data of the week will be Friday’s Employment report, but look for tomorrow and Wednesday to be active due to the economic data and FOMC minutes scheduled. If they give us favorable results, mortgage rates will likely move lower for the week. But if not, we can expect to see mortgage rates move higher on the week.