Being a REALTOR® often means you’re on the go. From meeting with clients to showing listings, the car can feel like the second office – and many treat it as such. We checked in with several top agents to find out what they keep in their car, and the results were surprising. From tools to good luck charms, agents are rolling around with car kits that can handle any real estate emergency. The most common item taking up trunk space? A hammer!
Kathy Goetz with Ocean Pointe Realty in Sea Girt, N.J. rides with essentials like a lockbox, tape measure and hammer, as well as a few tokens of good luck: a St. Jude prayer card and eagle feathers from an Indian reservation.
Handiwipes for sanitation are a must for Don Godwin, broker/owner for RE/MAX Real Estate Group in Iowa, as well as concrete form stakes for sticking signs in frozen ground, a telescoping magnet to retrieve keys from any hard-to-reach places, and zip ties for signs that don’t quite fit.
Aki Kladis, a broker with Century 21 Affiliated, keeps sign panels, a toolkit and hardware, and a snow shovel to stay on top of the Illinois winters.
For Wendy Harris of RE/MAX Allegiance in Arlington, Va., key car essentials are notecards for clients to take property notes, and a measuring tape so they can take room sizes.
Kevin Love of RE/MAX Allegiance keeps a file cabinet with buyer and seller pre-prepared packages and an electrical outlet tester.
Nina Hollander with Carolinas Realty Partners in Charlotte, N.C. keeps a hammer, wet wipes and zip ties, as well as a few other essentials, like old shoes for walking muddy construction grounds and several umbrellas of all shapes and sizes.
“I’ve found too many clients forget them and if it starts raining, I can keep them dry without sacrificing my own umbrella,” says Hollander, who also keeps several plastic bags handy to prevent dirt from the ground-end of signs from getting in her car.
REALTOR® Tammy Hoogstad, RE/MAX Allegiance, keeps extra light bulbs, a first aid kit, a stapler and staples, children’s story books to occupy the children of clients, WD-40 and ice freeze for accessing property witih frozen locks.
In addition to an emergency flag and rubber gloves, Arlington agent Marcia Stone keeps a large screw driver, a crow bar and a safety cat keychain for self-defense.
After learning what takes up trunk (and back seat!) space in agent’s cars, we’ve compiled a REALTORS’ Essential Kit you can create for your own trunk!
1. A safety device
2. A hammer
3. Zip ties
4. 2-3 umbrellas
5. A flashlight
So tell us – what’s in your trunk?
View this original post at RISMedia’s blog, Housecall. Check the blog daily for real estate news and trends for both you and your client.
