My real estate career is littered with occasions when I have held open houses and private inspections and have not been required to draw a gun and shoot someone.
Call me a bright-eyed optimist who views the world through rose-coloured glasses if you like, but I have never even felt the need to take a gun to a private inspection.
I think my stance on weapons in real estate probably reflects the broader Australian situation but, like so many things, it’s different in America.
Judging by the discussion on several social media real estate support groups, an armed agent is nothing unusual in the US.
A female Mackay agent and friend of mine is a member of several women-in-real-estate social media support groups where participants share their experiences and offer advice to each other about various aspects of the industry.
Most of the women seem to be from the United States, which is where the guns come into it.
Some of the discussion, as you would expect, is about personal safety at private inspections and open homes.
It is absolutely an issue that needs to be considered, particularly for women, because the job takes you out of the office into private homes and requires agents to be by themselves with someone they often do not know.
In Mackay there are precautions that female agents take, including recording the name and mobile number of the buyer and recording that with the address of the inspection in a google calendar that others in the office can access.
But they take it a step further in the States.
On the pages of one group, Women in Real Estate, the admin person gives some tips on “equipping” yourself for inspections: “It would be great to get some input from everyone with recommendations for safety tools.
“Some use pepper spray (I have heard bear spray is a better option), I’ve talked to realtors with razors, knives and ones who carry a gun.”
Another woman, in the group Real Estate Talk for Women, says: “I carry a sling crossbody as my purse. When I’m working my 9mm is safely contained and accessible.”
Another female agent responds with: “I use one of those lululemon fanny packs and a crossbody and keep my gun in there. Fits my gun, keys, pen and some business cards.”
There appears to be a range of guns the ladies like but one called a Kimber Micro 9mm seems very popular, while another called the Sig Sauer 380 is highly rated and the old Glock 43 also gets a favourable mention.
None of this is to dismiss the need for Australian female agents to also take safety precautions but it can’t be a bad thing that they don’t feel the need to be armed at private inspections.
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