Agent Told Buyer Elk Grove is Unsafe Due to Security System

Claiming Elk Grove is unsafe due to home security is absurd.

Any agent who would tell a buyer that Elk Grove is unsafe because the owner has a security system needs to have his head examined. When I hear things like that, the first thing I do is take a peek at the agent’s Cal BRE license number. If it’s a really high number, say, near or over 2 million, it means the agent has been licensed for less than a year. To be fair, new agents are not always a problem if they are supervised and trained. Those who work for small brokerages, though, sometimes are not. Only thing worse are those who think they know everything simply because they have a license.

A license means the agent passed a test. It’s not a competence factor.

The basic way an agent learns about real estate is by closing transactions. The more sales an agent closes, generally the better informed. Lately, most of my problems seem to be with agents attached to license numbers over 2 million. In fact, I didn’t even realize we had obtained the 2 million pinnacle in California. Yes, this Sacramento Realtor holds number 697,006 from when I became first licensed in the 1970s. It’s taken us over 40 years to reach 2 million real estate licensees. That doesn’t mean that we have 2 million agents because the majority never renew their license.

I ran into 3 of those agents yesterday. All three said silly things. The agent who said Elk Grove is unsafe pointed to security cameras inside the home in Elk Grove. He noted several neighbors also had security systems. Therefore, the conclusion his tiny brain reached? This must be an unsafe neighborhood. When I looked at his sales numbers, he has never sold any homes in Elk Grove. Such really bad information to lay on a poor unsuspecting buyer.

Almost every home in Sacramento has some sort of surveillance. The number of security systems goes up when you move into newer areas like Natomas and Elk Grove. But saying Elk Grove is unsafe for that reason is absurd. Not to mention, even I have a security system installed in my home, although we don’t use it. I don’t think I’ve ever listed a home in Elk Grove that did not have a security system. Either builders include them or security companies go door-to-door offering free systems and free installation.

You would think the agent would have exercised his right to faulty reasoning by at least noting the security alarm was not armed. If the neighborhood was so bad, wouldn’t the security alarm be set? But now his buyer probably wouldn’t buy in Elk Grove if his life depended on it because his agent told him Elk Grove is unsafe.

Notwithstanding, many risk management plans don’t cover agents who speak to buyers about “safe” neighborhoods. Further, any bonafide real estate instructor would tell an agent never to make comments about crime because agents are not criminal specialists. An experienced buyer’s agent would refer a buyer to the police department or other websites for crime statistics and would never put themselves in such a precarious position.

I’d like to predict this is not a guy who will make it in real estate. But experience has shown me over the past 43 years that would not be a true statement.