Each September, as part of our ongoing efforts to keep members safe, EMTAR joins the National Association of REALTORS to mark REALTOR® Safety Month.

Here in Eastern Middle Tennessee, we affirm the importance of focusing on this vital aspect of the real estate industry as our members work to help people in our communities to achieve the American dream of homeownership.

Safety is a top priority, of course, and it is something we never take for granted. It calls for vigilance and ongoing awareness.

This month, we are spotlighting some of the many resources available to agents and brokers to emphasize the importance of being cautious when working with prospective buyers and sellers, showing homes, hosting open houses, traveling to and from properties, and more.

One of the resources we are proud to provide at no extra cost to members is the FOREWARN app, which brings intelligence to the real estate industry through innovative solutions to help ensure safer engagements and smarter interactions.

FOREWARN gives an agent the ability to gain instant insight on a prospective client (within seconds, without exposing any protected class information) using only a phone number! Don’t have a phone number… you can also search by name. Learn more here.

At the national level, September is devoted to sharing the core components of REALTOR® Safety: knowledge, awareness, and empowerment.

The goal of the national Association’s REALTOR Safety Program is to reduce the number of safety incidents that occur in the industry, so every REALTOR comes home safely to his or her family every night. The aim is to accomplish this goal together with members like ours here at EMTAR by improving the Safety Culture in the real estate industry.

Also to mark this month, NAR offers updated online REALTOR safety resources, including new webinars and seasonal safety tips for associations and brokers to share with members.

Those resources include:

1. A comprehensive REALTOR® Safety Training Presentation to download and share
2. The REALTOR® Safety Video Series
3.  A Planning Your Safety Strategy page
4. REALTOR® Safety Webinars
5. Safety Resources for Associations & Brokerages
6. NAR's Safety Topic
7. A page of articles on REALTOR® Safety

We hope you will explore some of these valuable tools for yourself, for your firm and agents (especially if you are a principal/managing broker), and for your clients. Not only is it essential for REALTORS to focus on staying safe, but it adds a level of confidence and assurance among buyers and sellers when they know that we are thinking of them and their safety as well.

In the coming weeks, we will delve into three more aspects of REALTOR safety.

Stay tuned—and take care out there!

#MakeItHome

About EMTAR: Chartered in 1969, our Association’s 1,200+ REALTORS are a proud part of the 36,000+ members of Tennessee REALTORS and of the 1.5 million+ members of NAR, all working to serve the public and protect the rights of America’s property owners. EMTAR members are known not only for their unmatched real estate excellence and high ethical standards, but also for being generous, hospitable, others-focused, loyal, hardworking, and eager to help wherever and whenever help is needed.