Today, real estate professionals have many high-tech options to improve their business, but rarely do we fully take into account the value of blocking - the only equipment responsible for preventing agents from showing homes that we sell every day. Over time, the lock itself has evolved over time, and today agents find that they compare the value to a standard lock with a link to a more high-tech electronic lock. Today, real estate agents are being pressed on all sides to fees, charges and expenses, which are the inevitable costs of doing business, so when it comes to making a decision between a gateway that is only a few dollars against a high-tech electronic lock that is significantly more expensive, Does cost increase cost? Also, what are all the possibilities for electronic locks? This article highlights the results of existing industry options.
Having the opportunity to show a house without sellers there to keep track of your every move, this is a move in the right direction for the real estate industry. Agents are well aware of the situation when the seller will stay in the house during the show and “rush”, as if they are thinking about their own business, while buyers stumble around the house, trying not to encourage, trying to understand what the house was like.
This is a wild departure from the typical display when there are no sellers; Customers love to take care to get a good idea of the house. Since there are no sellers, buyers get a good opportunity to get a true idea of how this particular house will feel, and if they can see themselves there. Simply put, it allows for a better and more convenient experience.
From this dilemma the castle was invented. A device that provides a key for entry of licensed real estate agents to show their potential buyers, and allowed sellers (or their agents agents) to show the house without the need for their presence. It saved time and allowed to show better experience. Truly, it was a win-win.
However, the early locks were just a combination lock. They are certainly inexpensive, but the obvious disadvantage was the lack of security for the house in question as soon as the lock code was known. Sellers will rely on professional ethics of real estate agents to keep the code confidential, but sometimes the code could fall into the hands of non-agents. Less often, the code can be found by people with malicious intent.
With the obvious disadvantage of relying on the honor system to keep confidential lock codes, she provided an opportunity for a better solution that would allow accountability along with the ability to show a house without the presence of the seller. As a result, it did not take long for smart locks using electronic technology to emerge, which led to the revolutionary process of demonstrating at home. Before the seller and their agent would really know who showed the property, other than confirmed assignments that were made. Move forward to today, and you have the opportunity to know exactly who and when someone is showing a property using electronic blocking. With these intelligent electronic gateways, only an agent or other authorized party can access the unit itself, further mitigating the seller’s confidence that only licensed agents and duly authorized persons show or enter their home.
Today there are two main companies that provide these smart electronic locks to real estate agency associations. These are the keys Supra and Sentrilock. Together, they consolidate much of the lock market; nobody else is coming.
Supra (or SupraKey) belongs to common electrical devices and provides table solutions for all types of niche industries, one of which is real estate interlocks. Bill Love, Supra National Accounts Manager, says that from a given state or region in a country Supra, on average, supports 80% of the market. Over the years, Supra has sold several million gateways to real estate agents, and Love currently estimates that around 750,000 Supra real estate agents are used in the country today.
The supra key itself has a cylindrical design up to “staples” (the loopback part of the lock, which will be something around and keeps it in its place securely), where the shackles easily fit. Its simplified design is pleasing to the eye, and to activate the lock, the agent has a “digital key”, which is the size of a small flip phone and has a numeric keypad and a screen on it. The agent sets the key for opening the box and points it in the direction of the infrared sensor on the drawer itself. When lockbox recognizes that a remote digital key is accessing it, it will be released to allow access, and the lower part of the lock will fall out when it is pressed by the agent, and voilà is the key to the house. so that the agent can take and open the door for display.
Love says Supra plans to update the current model lock, which will include Bluetooth wireless access and syncing. In addition, instead of having a digital key, if the agent has a smartphone, Supra offers an application to access with the phone instead, which simplifies and simplifies it for a monthly fee. Love claims that the key difference with the Supra Lockbox is that "it holds intelligence in the user's hands." The user has no right to rely on additional equipment or other people who have control. Supra has had a current model for several years with gradual software updates along the way. If an agent wants to buy a Supra blocker, it costs about $ 90, but the actual price the agent will pay is determined by the association to which they belong.
Sentrilock is another major player in the real estate blocking industry. Founded in Indiana and partly owned by the National Association of Realtors, Sentrilock has been in existence for less than ten years and currently serves about 250 of the 1000+ real estate associations across the country and in Canada. These associations include about 250,000 agents and about 500,000 locks in current use. Sentrilock has 2 main models that are currently in use; one of them is a silver locker, resembling a cell phone from the late 1980s, bulky and heavy and somewhat longer in size than the top lock. It has a keyboard directly on the front panel of the lock and holds the key inside the drop-down door that opens upon access.
The other lock they offer is a smaller, more compact blue lock, more cubic in shape, but with similar functionality. The main difference between silver and blue locks is that the blue lock allows more space in the lock itself (which is important for people trying to sell a condominium and who need to turn on an “accessible fob” in addition to the key, the front door of the device itself - there is simply not enough space for a few keys or when the access fob is enabled with silver locking Sentrilocks). Sentrilock sells its locks for about $ 125 per share, but it also depends on where you get it, because the actual retail price is determined by the local real estate association that sells the boxes.
Both companies operating in the airlock provide substantial guarantees for the product itself. They also have a support team, which is almost always available in case there are difficulties with access to the lock or for troubleshooting. Both companies offer a comprehensive online tool that can provide analytics from testimony and use a specific lock that agents can use to exchange with their clients.
Some of the main differences between the two are how the unit itself is accessed. Sentrilock does not need additional equipment to open the box. Rather, they use a “Smart Card”, which is essentially a credit card that fits into the lock and has a chip inside it that shares your information with the lock you are accessing. This card is all you need to access the lock, while Supra requires a digital key, although they turned to this using a smartphone offer so that the agent can use his phone instead of a digital key. Both systems require updating; In other words, the sentrilock smart card requires you to insert your card into the “card reader” that you get when you buy a smart card that connects to your computer. Every few days (the exact number of days is determined by your local association of realtors) you must update the map through a card reader, which will allow you to show the property and at the same time download information about the places that you showed Sentrilock, which in turn then may be visible to agents who owned locks of places you accessed. In a pinch, you can update your card by phone, but you can only do this once or twice.
On the other hand, the supra keys are updated wirelessly. They didn’t always do that when you had to keep your “digital key” docked to the charging station connected to the telephone line. You had to do this every day, and this is how the system will update your map, as well as share your displayed information with the system. The wireless update feature has been around for a year or two and eliminates the headache from the equation of how you update your key every day.
The back end system for Sentrilock allows an agent to create specific access codes for one-time access to a specific gateway. This makes it really convenient for a contractor, appraiser, termite inspector, etc., to be able to access an object with a code, but only once, because this code expires after the day when the code was intended to be used. This is a great opportunity that Supra has no answer for.
Despite the fact that both systems have advantages, any agent cannot simply choose which blocking system they want to use, this is a solution agreed and agreed by contract between Sentrilock or Supra and a local real estate agency. These associations, as soon as they have agreed on a system, can then “set up” the system at their discretion and preference. Things like blocking costs, regardless of whether the landlord is blocked or sold to agents, the number of times an agent can update his key on the phone, the number of days that can pass before an access key needs updating, these and more options can be customized , and most real estate professionals do not know that there are other options or preferences.
When comparing benefits compared to your standard combination lock, an agent should be able to justify the added value of a smart e-lock in terms of the value it provides. This is easy to do, especially if you take on the best interests of the seller, as smart locking will ensure accountability and a better measure of security and safety for the display process and for the house itself. His analytical information and ability to control who can really access the house is equivalent to being able to assess the interest in the house with the help of how many people are interested in seeing it, as well as being able to rest by the seller what the house is demonstrating. but in the safest way.
During this most recent economic downturn, most real estate markets across the country have been flooded (and some are still there) with real estate for foreclosure. Some real estate brokers specializing in this type of problem objects had the best years of production, record years for 2008 and 2009. All these properties that needed to be displayed and sold needed locks, but the value provided by the smart gateway via Sentrilock or Supra did not justify the acquisition cost, since brokers with problematic properties had reserves of 50, 100, 200 or 300 properties certain time. Smart locks were too expensive, especially when you consider that the house in question belonged to the bank, it was vacant, and the analyst testimony did not matter when this redemption property was sold as soon as possible with several bids. If an agent even has 50 lists with a smart gateway, this entails mandatory locks of $ 5,000 for all the properties he sells. At the moment, the less expensive combination lock from Lowes for $ 7 looks better, and the total cost of blocking is much less. This is a combination of utility value and total price paid from the point of view of a real estate professional, so the question is: why are smart locks so expensive?
Simply put, the market will carry the current price of both the Supra and Sentrilock locks, because the cost they provide is worth it. At the same time, there were certain companies that are willing to use the number of agents who want to sell their used locks, as well as agents who do not want to pay for the retail trade (they) they need for their business. Blake Nolan, co-owner of San Diego-based LockboxSwap, created the website where the aftermarket was created and adjusted for both Sentrilock and Supra locking systems. Nolan says his company can help agents buy or sell their locks and save time and money in the process. “Now there is no real place on the Internet that offers what we offer,” says Nolan. He continues: “If you call (any association) and ask about the locks used or where to sell your own locks, they say that you try Craigslist or Ebay.
Nolan & # 39; s & # 39; The company LockboxSwap plans to publicize the business this summer, and preliminary beta testing users have offered rave reviews.
In the world of Realtor locks, it is preferable to use smart locks, because the total value inherent in home security, recording control and analytical accounting far exceeds the alternative to your standard lock (or does not have a lock at all). in the arena of Realbox Lockbox there are 2 excellent products, both do not achieve 100% perfection. They both do some things well and have capabilities that others do not. It would be great to combine both products and concepts together, but since this is not possible, each individual Realtor agency should interview and determine which company is best suited for them. After all, the two companies and related products, although imperfect, are competition among themselves, which provides high productivity and innovation while keeping prices under control. Companies like LockboxSwap help to do this further, inventing and creating a precedent for an industry that still does not exist, but has the ability to offer a cost-effective alternative to Realtor professionals when it comes to their needs in the unit.
No matter what, obviously, the industry is moving in the right direction; We are witnessing technological advances that help serve professional realtors who do their jobs better and more efficiently, and it is interesting to see what the norm will be in the near future, as well as in the long term. At the moment, realtor professionals must be sure that when they are standing today, the future is only getting brighter.
