If you haven't shopped for a house in the last 4 years, you may not be familiar with the new lockbox system that the Minneapolis and St. Paul Associations of REALTORS have put in place. The old system comprised a very solid key box that had either an alphabetical dial or numeric push buttons for accessing the key. Opening the box without knowing the code was nigh on to impossible. I know this from personal experience with a sledge hammer, hack saw, and failure to get into the box whose code I had forgotten.
But the new system is very different. The new lock box is electronic and requires batteries as most REALTORS learned the first time the box would not open because of dead batteries. A most embarrassing scenario when your client is standing waiting to see their "dream" house! There are 2 parts to the system. The box that attaches to the house and contains the key and the "keypad" which is assigned to each professional. The keypad is registered to a specific user and when that user places the keypad in the lockbox cradle and enters his/her code number, the lockbox records that that agent entered the house. This information can be downloaded by the listing agent to verify who gained access.
Why is this sytem important to the consumer? Security/safety/peace of mind/paper trail . . . The combinations for the alpha and numeric boxes could potentially be viewed over an agent's shoulder and the "client" could use the code to enter the property later for malicious reasons with no record of who was entering. The old system's "code" could also be given out to unauthorized or non-licensed parties to allow them access. The keypad prevents this being done surreptitiously. Even if the code is viewed over the agent's shoulder, one would have to steal the keypad and when the keypad was used, it is tracked to the agent owner. When agents lose their keypads, they call their association immediately to report the loss. That keypad's access is then locked out of the entire lockbox system preventing future unauthorized entry. There is also a scheduled update system which deactivates the keypad when it is not utilized. The system is designed with the seller's safety in mind.
Another advantage to the electronic lockboxes is that they can be programmed to only allow access during daytime hours, i.e., only between 9 AM and 9 PM. This prevents an agent who is late for their final showing from accessing your property too late in the evening.
About 18 months ago, an agent's keypad was stolen with the "code" written on the back of the pad. (A hefty fine is charged to any agent whose code is found with their keypad. I don't even have mine written down anywhere. If I forget it, I'm in trouble.) Before the media became aware of the theft, the REALTOR associations sent an emergency e-mail to all REALTORS and their brokers notifying that ALL houses with the electronic lockboxes needed to be secured from entry. Agents were on the phones calling their clients to chain lock or otherwise secure their doors until the listing agents could retrieve the lockboxes for re-programming. Before the media published the theft, many lockboxes were already changed out with the stolen code "locked out" of the system. An unfortunate situation actually ended up being handled quite smoothly although there were one or two thefts that occurred before the system wide alert occurred.
I'm amazed that these lockboxes are not used everywhere in the country for realtors.
They are so useful to show due diligence and to know who/what agent has been showing the house.
They've been used in the Northeast for years.
Posted by: pbr | August 11, 2009 at 02:02 PM