Optima Biltmore Tower Lock Box Policy Update

Several months ago I wrote that the home owner association at Optima Biltmore Towers was outlawing real estate agent lock boxes.  I had expected the policy to make it much harder to show condos in the community.  Well it has.  Here are a couple of things agents have resorted to doing to show condos for sale in the building.

Some listing agents are asking buyer’s agents to go to the listing agent’s real estate office to “check out” a set of keys to the condo.  The process is far from secure.  In most cases the only identification required to get the keys and a key fob is a business card, sometimes not even that.  I doubt the home owner association at Optima Biltmore Towers had this in mind when it outlawed lock boxes for security reasons.  Another problem with this system arises when more than one agent wants to show the property on the same day.  Why?  Because let’s say an agent checks out the key at 10:00 but can’t return it until 1:00 but another agent wants to show the property at 11:30.  Chances are the second agent won’t get to show the property.  Obviously this is bad for the home owner trying to sell their property.

Another thing I have seen is listing agent’s hiding lock boxes at neighboring buildings.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this but if agents are using lock boxes anyway they may as well be hanging them at Optima Biltmore Towers….make it easy for agents to show the building for goodness sakes AND control the access to boot.

Biltmore Towers could easily mount a steel bar to a concrete wall in a secure (locked) location on which all agent lock boxes would be required to be hung.  Access to the secure location could be managed via a lock box, owned by the home owner association, containing a key to wherever the security bar is located.  Modern real estate agent lock boxes record when they are accessed and by whom so building management would know which agents were in their building and when.

A set up like this would cost the home owner association about $1000 max and would provide much better security than the “check out” system mentioned above or lock boxes sitting at neighboring buildings.  Oh, and of course the easier it is to show a property the easier it is for agents to sell it.  And with the state of today’s real estate market we agents can use all the help we can get.

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8 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. It seems like outlawing lock boxes has not brought much good to showing condos. However, top security is important in the real estate industry. It is important to always use the best key management tools available.

    1. Key Cabients on November 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am

  2. Key Control Systems are very important when it comes to safety and security.

    2. Key Control Systems on June 28th, 2010 at 6:10 am

  3. This must be VERY frustrating for buyer’s agents. Any obstacle to show a property will tend to lower the total number of showings and this hurts everyone involved including the condo association that is probably enforcing this stupid rule. Low showings equates to fewer sales and lower sale prices.

    3. Chris O'Connor on May 11th, 2010 at 9:39 pm

  4. I could not agree more with your steel bar idea. They did something similar at Biltmore Square and it seemed to work well. Hopefully a member of the HOA at Optima reads this and implements your idea!

    4. Jenna King on May 10th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

  5. Ralph – You are sooooo right. It can be a real pain in the neck to show there. I jump through the hoops because I specialize in urban but I’m not surprised at all to hear that others just give up. In all fairness I’d like to point out that there are some fantastic agents with listings in the property as well and they try very hard to accomodate everyone. Unfortunately, unless they work next door AND have absolutely nothing else to do, undoubtedly there will be times that they are not available to show their listings. And, of course those are the times that buyers want to see them (Murphy’s Law right?). Regardless of who the listing agent is, the HOA should make it easier NOT tougher to show properties in the building. Thanks for sharing your experience. W

    5. Will Daly on May 10th, 2010 at 1:10 pm

  6. heeeyy and where’s the personal security? how come that everyone can get the keys only using business card or even withoout that?

    6. Executive Suites on May 8th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

  7. I tried to show three listings in the condos recently and gave up after I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. One lister didn’t return my calls, e-mails or texts. Another wanted me to drive to Surprise (my office is in Gilbert) a distance of 60 miles one way and the other told me I couldn’t pick up a key cause it was late Thurs and the key was only avaible Mon-Thurs at his office.
    I wonder if the property owners are aware of the “lazy” Realtors they have hired.
    By the way all the listings said “lister will meet at property to Show”

    7. Ralph D Bredahl on May 1st, 2010 at 6:13 pm

  8. Great blog! The information you provide is quiet helpful, why I was not able to find it earlier. Anyways I’ve subscribed to your feeds, keep the good work up.

    8. dissertation discussion blog on April 27th, 2010 at 12:13 am

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