Inman

6 mobile safety apps for real estate

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The following is a list of six mobile applications recommended by safety trainer and former real estate agent Tracey Hawkins of Safety and Security Source in recognition of Realtor Safety Month.

survey conducted in the spring from Moby, a company that develops personal safety mobile applications and is featured on this list, found that the most common safety devices respondents carried while on the job were phones (95.5 percent).

Hawkins advised agents planning to use a safety app to have it ready in advance.

“One thing that is important in using a safety app as a tool … (as with) any other safety tool: it must be accessible. The emergency button needs to be on the screen, ready to be pressed in an emergency situation. Agents will not have time to fumble with their phone, find the app, open it and press it in an emergency situation. It needs to be ready to go,” she said.

“The good news is that most developers offer one-time low payments or free basic plans. For a monthly fee users can add services that include live emergency monitoring, medical monitoring, advanced GPS features and more. However, the basic plan is enough to allow agents to work with an additional safety net and safety partner beside them 24/7.”

Hawkins is currently writing a book on real estate agent safety. As part of that process, she is running a contest for agents to submit their safety tips to her blog. Those who submit the best tips will win an agent safety kit. Winners will be chosen Sept. 30.

The following apps are in alphabetical order. Unless the app is a paid download, the features described here are those available on the apps’ free basic plans.

1. Guardly

2. IcePics

3. Moby

4. RealAlert

5. SafeTrec

6. SmrtGuard