Top 6 property manager safety tips

Article by Silvia Liu Marketing Specialist 18 October 2019

As a property manager, you probably know at least one person in the industry who has been put in a compromising situation. Just in 2014, this property manager was beaten by a tenant at a final inspection and a year before that, this agent was left traumatised after being attacked by a dog while onsite.

That’s why it’s crucial to take precautions to keep yourself and your team safe. Without further ado, here are our top six property manager safety tips:

1. Have office and emergency numbers on speed dial

One of our top property manager safety tips is to set your office and emergency numbers on speed dial. This allows you to quickly reach someone if you feel unsafe. Be sure to keep a charger in your car as well so you can keep your phone fully charged at all times.

Staff in the office should be aware of your location and your expected return time whenever you’re out of the office. You can do this by ensuring your Google or Outlook calendar is up-to-date and accessible by your team or by sharing your live location on Google Maps, Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to have an agency-wide secret code that staff can use if they’re in trouble. For example, if you feel unsafe, you might call the office and say “I forgot my purple folder”. This would let the office know that you require assistance immediately.

2. Discuss upcoming inspections as a team

Another great property management safety tip is to discuss upcoming inspections as a team once a month. This way everyone can provide their input and raise any concerns based on their past experiences.

If there’s any cause for concern, you can take the necessary precautions to ensure any safety risks are minimised. For example, if a tenant has a history of not securing their pet or being aggressive, you may want to send two staff members to attend the inspection instead of one.

3. Install personal safety apps

With the rapid adoption of smartphones, there are many personal safety apps out there that you can use to alert selected contacts when you feel unsafe. Here are five of the best personal safety apps:

Daniel Morcombe Help Me app (available on iPhone and Android)

Life360 app (available on iPhone and Android)

bSafe app (available on iPhone and Android)

BEAWARE app (available on Android)

Red Panic Button app (available on iPhone and Android)

4. Be aware of your surroundings

Every time you enter a property, you’re putting yourself at risk. That’s why it’s crucial that you’re always aware of your surroundings.

Here are a few things to look out for before entering the property:

• Poor property maintenance: be careful as there may be trip, fall and slip hazards from overgrown yards, uneven flooring etc.
• Escape route: always know your exits and make sure they’re clear
• Unusual noises: listen for any unusual noises or domestic disputes prior to knocking and entering the premise
• Dangerous animals: if your tenant has a pet that isn’t secured, do not enter the property
• Unaccompanied minors: do not enter the property if there are children home alone

Here’s what you need to do If you feel unsafe:

• Trust your gut feeling and leave the premise as soon as possible e.g. say you need to get something from your car
• Call or text your office with the secret code mentioned above to let them know that you’re in trouble and require assistance
• Speed dial your office or emergency number
• Press the panic button in your personal safety app
• Stay calm and avoid confrontation at all costs

5. Wear appropriate footwear

Imagine if your tenant left their dog unchained and it started chasing you. Would you prefer to a) run in your heels or b) run in flat shoes? The obvious answer is to run in flat shoes to minimise any risk of injury and to ensure a quick getaway!

In addition to that, your footwear should be comfortable and fully enclosed so that you’re protected from any insects, nails, syringes and broken glass that could be laying around.

6. Use PropertyMe’s Find My Team and Duress Alert features

The PropertyMe Agent app for iPhone and iPad now has a Find My Team and Duress Alert feature to help you and your team stay safe.

With Find My Team, you can opt-in to share your location with your team members. Your location will display on the map in PropertyMe and will only be visible when you are in the PropertyMe Agent app. You can opt-out at any stage via the location settings on your device.

Additionally, PropertyMe’s Duress Alert feature allows you to subtly activate an alert that will display to all your team members as a desktop notification banner with your approximate location, date and time. From there, your team members can follow through on your internal process or call emergency services and get you to safety quickly.

To activate the Duress Alert, simply hold down the duress button in the PropertyMe Agent app for 3 seconds. In case of an emergency, please dial the emergency number for your country.

All in all…

When thinking about safety, it’s important to take pre-emptive measures before it’s too late. Every agency should have policies and guidelines around what to be aware of and what to do in a potentially dangerous situation.

To recap, here are our top six property manager safety tips:

1. Have office and emergency numbers on speed dial

2. Discuss upcoming inspections as a team

3. Install personal safety apps

4. Be aware of your surroundings

5. Wear appropriate footwear

6. Use PropertyMe’s Find My Team and Duress Alert features

Thanks for reading and good luck establishing or revamping your property manager safety policies and guidelines. You might also be interested in 9 Trust Accounting Mistakes You Need to Stop Making, 10 Incredibly Useful Tech Tools Every Real Estate Agent Needs and How to Prevent and Respond to Negative Tenant Reviews.

Did we miss anything in the Top 6 Property Manager Safety Tips? Please email [email protected] to let us know.