Realtors' guide offers tips to avoid violent attacks

Calling attention to the very real danger of violent attacks against real estate agents, the North Carolina Association of Realtors and the North Carolina Real Estate Commission have released a safety guide to help them stay out of harm's way.

The 20-page North Carolina Real Estate Safety Guide, which uses the Washington Real Estate Safety Council's Personal Safety Guide as a model, offers a number of safety tips that are designed to minimize risk of being exposed to potentially dangerous situations.

Among the tips:

• Keep a cell phone at your side, with emergency numbers set to speed dial.

• Tell someone where you are going, who you are with and when you will be back.

• Meet new clients or customers at your office, verify their identities, photocopy their driver's licenses.

• Have a prearranged distress signal.

• Have a "buddy" who you can call when your instincts tell you that something is awry.

• Don't wear expensive jewelry.

• Dress for the weather and wear shoes that you can run in.

• Park in well-lit areas and don't get blocked in.

In 2000, 21 U.S. real estate professionals were murdered while on the job, and 206 agents died as a result of violent assaults between 1982-2000, according to the guide.

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