I have two dobermans. Depending on the type of neighborhood, I rotate between the two about "who can go to work with Mom" for the day. Even during re-key I let either one of them (the dogs) go through the house with me.

I always have my husband go with me. We usually take his truck. He stays in truck I go knock on door. If there is no answer I tape my own letter short version about the money. I don’t specify in letter how much, I just say to call me. Then same day I send registered letter from AM. There is one spooky house I’m watching since August, the front door is a second floor it does have wooden stairs going up blocked with big sign do not enter - broken , rotten, missing wood. I had to use back door, that was scary, then my husband went with me. Walking through high grass junk buried in it still give me a shiver. I hate to see what is inside. DO NOT GO ALONE

Don't think it is or should be gender specific if you take someone with you or not. I don't think anyone should go alone. Too may crazies and dope heads out there. I am a male from Texas and we have a concealed handgun law. However, when I go to a house to check for Occupacy for a Realtor or rekey I always have someone with me so they can watch my back. Just good business practices and common sense in the times we are in, unfortunately.

I like the practice of REbySB with the dobermans. That sure would or should get their attention. LOL However, I would always take one because it is difficult to deciper what neighborhood has the crazy or dope phean cause they are everywhere.

I generally have someone with me at all times.. just in case if something happens. You never know if the house was vacant and someone broke in and lives there illegally. =)

I keep someone with me, even on iffy interior inspections. If I don't have someone with me and I feel anything is off at all, I make a phone call and keep someone on the phone while I am there - just in case.

You cannot be too careful - there are just too many variables out there that you cannot control.

Be safe

But hey, loving that Doberman idea!

majority of the time i don't take anyone with me anymore, at first id always take my mom or the husband...if they could'nt go id take my 8yr old and have her stay on the phone with the husband or my mom!!
Now I usually just do a simple drive by and leave my card, i had some cards printed with text on the back and room for me to write in occupants name/date..they state i was sent on behalf of their mortgage co,need to verify occupancy due to foreclosure reasons, and they may be eligible for cfk..without that im sure they would never call. Id rather deal with them on the phone than in person the first time, if they dont want to kill you, they have a sob story i dont need to see in person:(
I HAVE to say, my creepiest moment has been with a realtor..he kept invading my personal space!!!yukkk
i wish the dog idea worked with me, we have danes and im sure after 2 minutes of ferocious barking theyd just lick them to death.

I had both of "my girls", the dobies, trained starting at 9 months old. They are trained to understand German and hand signals. They are generally sweethearts unless they notice a change in my body language or are asked to do otherwise. They have been worth every dime that I have invested in them.

Its imparative to be safe when entering unknown properties. Now days people arent the only ones you need to be cautious of....sometimes abandoned pets can be just as harmful. I can't tell you how many dogs I have had to rescue.

Maybe this is against the rules but I just send a letter with a copy of the agreement and they usually get it the next day then call me with questions. I explain over the phone and they either fax the agreement over to me or drop ti off at my office and I meet them on the specified vacate date.

My property preseration company will do it for free.

I think it's an advertising thing to get more business. I get e-mails from Ocwen vendors advertising for property preservation services. Usually the CFK is FREE for them to do it.

Most PP vendors will do that. We do it, too. But it's not for advertising purposes. We do it for our clients when they get busy.

We do the CFK exchange, then we change the locks, add a lockbox, and do the photo inspection for the client. We e-mail the photos along with the invoice and a bid for anything that might be needed in the way of repairs.

Doing this saves my clients the trip and they know they can count on the property being secured and receive good photos when I'm done.

I'm not sure how advertising would play into this, tho. Did I miss the point somehow?

Linda

I agree, The PP company should do it in return for the work,
No need to go out there.
Most good PP companies will:
CFK, re-key, take and label pictures (email them to you),
and send a trashout/lawn bid.

No reason at all you should be going into vacant houses.

Nick

REO Services
reoservicesofmaryland.com

Just out of curiosity - what is the going rate for a CFK? I see that some PP companies do it for free in the regards that it will lead to work orders, but on the broker side, what are the spiffs? Thanks

[quote=allREOpreserv][quote=april]My property preseration company will do it for free. I think it's an advertising thing to get more business. I get e-mails from Ocwen vendors advertising for property preservation services. Usually the CFK is FREE for them to do it. [/quote]

Most PP vendors will do that. We do it, too. But it's not for advertising purposes. We do it for our clients when they get busy.

We do the CFK exchange, then we change the locks, add a lockbox, and do the photo inspection for the client. We e-mail the photos along with the invoice and a bid for anything that might be needed in the way of repairs.

Doing this saves my clients the trip and they know they can count on the property being secured and receive good photos when I'm done.

[/quote]

Linda, thanks for the info. My company currently does not offer CFK, but I am going to incorporate this into our services.

We work mainly for the nationals who have only required CFK on a few occasions. We are trying to get more local banks and realtors and this is something we definitely should offer.