How Realtor Safety Technology Protects Agents During Showings

Cathy Hickman00:00:00

I, I feel like, honestly, the slower it is, it's actually a better opportunity for someone who wants to commit a crime because then, like you said, there's not anyone really around to watch it. There's more opportunity for them. Unfortunately, in our industry, we're a very predictable lifestyle. If you think about it.I mean, my name, my number, my brokerage, everything is listed all over the Internet. You can find me if you want to find me, pretty easy.I feel like as things slow down, I feel like it actually is even a better thing for us as agents just because we have that, you know, added peace of mind that we're not, we're not alone. You know, you may feel like you're alone, but you're really, you're not alone. You do have help that can, you know, come out to you if you need it.

Mike Mills00:00:52

Well, hello everybody. Welcome to the Texas Real Estate and Finance Podcast. I'm your host, Mike Mills, a north North Texas mortgage banker with Service First Mortgage.And if you didn't know already, September is Realtor Safety month. And here's why that matters. Because according to a recent NAR survey, about 40% of realtors have feared for their personal safety while on the job.In nearly one in five have actually experienced a situation that made them fear for their life. So that stat alone should get your attention and realize why an episode like this is important.So today we've got a special episode focused around Realtor safety and joining me is Kathy Hickman and she is a an award winning DFW Realtor and co creator of Safe Agent.And we're going to break down some practical safety workflows and the, and the tech that actually helps you in the field with these issues and how having a clear safety plan doesn't just protect you, but can also build your client trust and strengthen your business. So, Kathy, thank you for joining me today. How's how is life treating you this afternoon?

Cathy Hickman00:01:54

It's fantastic. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be a part of this with you and your podcast.

Mike Mills00:02:00

Yes, absolutely. I love talking about this stuff because, you know, it doesn't get focused on a lot.But it is incredibly important, whether it be, you know, how to, you know, safety protocols while you have, when you're showing homes or also just even, you know, I think, you know, everybody should learn some level of self defense because when you're dealing with the general public and meeting people that you don't always know, I mean, a lot of times, you know, in real estate relationships, you get referred by A friend of a friend. And, you know, you have.Usually have some sort of connection, but there's plenty of people that reach out on their own and, and, and want to talk to you and want to meet up. And, you know, vast majority of real estate agents are women.And so when you're out there alone and, you know, at a house you've never been to before in a neighborhood you don't know, meeting somebody, it's. It can be scary. So, so this kind of stuff is important and, you know, I think should be focused on a little bit more.Now, obviously, in order to get something rolling like this, I imagine there had to be some sort of a, you know, I don't say an incident, but something that happened or that you heard about that really kind of solidified in your head that, hey, maybe, maybe this is something I need to start thinking about. So, so what, what was it that kind of caused you to start moving down this road?

Cathy Hickman00:03:12

So I, prior to doing real estate, I actually was a teacher for 20 years.And so when I wanted to trans into real estate to be, you know, an agent, my, My husband, who is a former police officer and works for the NFL security and now does corporate security, he made sure kind of what you're talking about to kind of prepare me for meeting people you don't know, vacant homes and stuff like that. So did the whole, like, learn pressure point stuff, awareness, like awareness of your areas, things like that, as well as.He even had me take jiu jitsu classes with my son.

Mike Mills00:03:45

Yes, I think that's a great.Jiu jitsu is a great thing because when you, when you look at, you know, size and leverage and what you can do compared to someone that's bigger than you, you know, it's. It's a very, It's a very, It's a very good skill to have if you can have it.And I, I've actually brought that up to both my wife and my daughter before about, you know, going, going down that road. They don't always listen to me, but I try.

Cathy Hickman00:04:07

Oh yeah, definitely. It, it can definitely. Some of the biggest gentlemen I've seen in the gym and get taken down by our, you know, our instructor who'5 3, it's.It's incredible. So definitely on that aspect. So he had me do all of that and I, and I felt like, you know, I truly was prepared.I was like, okay, I know all of this stuff. I'm married to someone like this, like, you know, safety like crazy. So it's going to be great.And for the most part, you know, really has been, but there were some circumstances that came up that honestly all of that didn't. Didn't do anything for me, didn't help me.And I think the biggest one was I actually ended up was going to a vacant house to show a client this new or new vacant house that just popped up, right? And I go up to the door and these three gentlemen popped the door open right when I was about to unlock it.And they were like, the house isn't for sale. And I was thinking, well, it is. I mean, it's on the MLS listing. You know, I was really confused by it. And then they slammed the door in my face.So I was just kind of standing outside the front of the property, just kind of not sure what's going on. My client wasn't there yet, so I was like, okay, well, kind of walked around a little bit, and then they came back out.And when they came out, it just, it was a total unease. I was like, okay, this doesn't feel right.And so I ended up going to my car and just kind of sat there for a minute and was watching them, and they were like walking around the property kind of watching me. And at that point I was like, okay, they don't, they shouldn't be there. And so I ended up having to call the police to come out.And what it was is it was some squatters that had taken residents over the house without the owner knowing. And so after that episode, you know, of course, called my husband, told everything happened.You know, we really started doing a lot of research and we realized, like, for agents, there's just not a whole lot out there for us in circumstances, you know, that we, we walk into on a daily basis.And if I would have had my product safe agent at the time, you know, the minute I fell on ease, I could have discreetly just called the police right away and would have been there in a lot faster time period than me waiting, trying to figure things out and that aspect of it.

Mike Mills00:06:13

Yeah, yeah, well, and, and that's, that's nerve wracking for, for anybody in that situation because you, you don't know what to do. And unfortunately, you know, a lot of us, I think we, we. It's not that we're unaware, you know, the folks aren't unaware that something could happen.It's just when it does happen because your adrenaline kicks in and your, you know, your fight or flight starts to take over, if you don't have something that you've planned for or some sort of, you know, know, contingency in that situation, then you, I'm gonna say you panic, but you, you don't know what to do. You know, it's like, okay, what, what, what do I do here?And, and I think, you know, it's just something that going into it, it's all about kind of being prepared. It's like, well, we don't want the worst thing to, to happen. Right? But at the same time, you need to be ready for if it does.And it's not necessarily a, a great thing you want to, you know, talk about because it makes people nervous and feel bad. But at the end of the day, you kind of need to be ready for it, right?

Cathy Hickman00:07:09

Absolutely. Absolutely.You know, even like on the, A lot of times the vacant properties, people, there have been people that they'll mention, well, you, did you miss a sign? Did you, you know, see something that looked off? And, and honestly, there was nothing wrong with the property.I mean, as far as I walked up to it, it was everything. The lawn was maintained. It wasn't anything off about it.There wasn't any cars in the driveway that would have indicated something was off from the front area. There was no windows broken, and, and the lockbox was still on.So when you walked up to it, I wouldn't have thought anything different than I'm walking into a vacant property until literally the door was flung open.

Mike Mills00:07:47

So having your husband be in law enforcement over the years, I'm sure this is definitely something that he kind of played a role in, you know, helping you develop and put together. I'm sorry. You have a dog there?

Cathy Hickman00:08:02

I do. I'm sorry. Can you hear him?

Mike Mills00:08:05

I was like, what, is there a lawnmower? I don't know what's going on. Is he sleeping?

Cathy Hickman00:08:11

Yes, he's sleeping. He weighs 220 pounds. He's an English master.

Mike Mills00:08:15

So I can hear. Apologize. No, no, no, it's okay. It's all right. I was just like, what is, is it something that's going on over here for me?I don't know what's happening. Sorry.No, but, but with him, with, with him being in laws, in law enforcement, I'm sure he, he played a role in, you know, kind of helping come up with, with how this would be put together. And, and what, what kind of, you know, what kind of role did he play when you first, did you bring it to him?Did he come to you with this idea or how did you guys come up with it?

Cathy Hickman00:08:41

After, well, after all kind of that happened, then he Started really digging in and do a lot of research. So in his, his job right now, you know, he deals with his, the people that work for him actually use panic buttons.And with that, he actually sees a lot of issues with it, whether, you know, his clients forget the panic buttons or they're not wearing them properly or, you know, they just get left in the car. And so he's realizing that it's just not a really good, like, foolproof system.And so through his research, what he was realizing he's looking out there is that there just wasn't anything that seemed really more foolproof to, you know, really help someone. Because even with the panic button, if.What he was finding too is that if the perpetrator sees that, they know exactly what it is and they'll tell you not to push it. And so that's where it kind of, he really, he looked and saw out there that in real estate they actually do sell panic buttons. You can buy them.So then you'd have to pay for the device and then now you have to pay for a subscription.And so for a lot of agents, that's a lot of extras that on top of all the other extras that we have to pay for just in order to, you know, do our livelihood. It just was, yeah, it's just, it was a lot of extra, a little too much. And.And then when you look at it, it just, I mean, I make a joke, but they're not really attractive. It's not something I'm going to want to wear all the time and for the most part, not my daily wear.So I'm not going to have it on me where I would something that it's with me all the time. And so he was really looking for something to integrate with. Well, what is something that I use on a daily basis.And on a daily basis that's going to be my, my, my smartphone and my smart watch. And so that's what he was looking for, something so I wouldn't be in the habit of forgetting it was, was the big deal.

Mike Mills00:10:25

Right. So, okay, so, so tell us then, how does Safe Agent work? What's the, you know, what's the mechanism? How, how do you guys monitor it?Like, generally, how does it function?

Cathy Hickman00:10:37

So what it is, it's just, it's a wireless panic alert system that is actually an app that you download onto your smart, your smartphone. And so when you book an appointment through like showing time or broker bay, it actually will sync it up to the app.And so the app knows kind of your schedule for Wherever you're going for the day.So once I show up to an appointment on my phone, it actually will pop up with a little like reminder like, hey, you need to check in, you need to check in and you'll, you'll open up the app and you actually will, you can push a big green button saying I'm here.And once you do that, what then is another text message will pop up and it sends it to whoever you want your, you know, your mercy contacts, whoever you want it to be sent to. But then it sends your actual location.So for me, it'll send my location to my 19 year old son and my husband, My exact location, what time I've arrived and I'm actually there.And so once you're, what you're, once you're at the property, you just go and show the property like you normally would and the app will interact with your, your smartwatch. So I also have a button on my smartwatch that if I needed to in a panic, I can actually push that on my smartwatch, the panic button.Or if I don't have my watch, I can actually push it on my phone and it's a nice big red button. Or you can, you also, on the iPhones, you have those on the side, the little buttons on the side action items, you can actually use that too.And what it does is it will send an immediate alert to our monitoring service system that works 24 hours a day. And what they'll do is they'll immediately text you asking you if this is real or did you accidentally do it.If you don't respond, they call you immediately. Within 30 seconds.If you don't answer the phone call, it's immediately then sent over, dispatched to the police department and the police will be dispatched to your live GPS location. You know, as soon as you don't answer after about a month, after that 30 seconds to that minute time period. Yeah.

Mike Mills00:12:39

Okay, and is it, do you guys charge like, is a subscription fee or is it a one time, like how do y' all set that up?

Cathy Hickman00:12:45

So it is a subscription fee, it's just that you can do it month to month. If you decide to do it for the year, you do obviously save some money.What we did is we had it to where you actually sign up online because what we found is if you sign up through the app programs, they actually charge you quite a bit more and we didn't want to put that cost onto our clients. And also if you do it through the app system, it actually saves all their personal information.Where if you sign up online, we don't say any of their personal information or, or any of actually the data that you collect on your showings and things like that, that actually is all of your data and you get to keep it all. So. But it's not a month, it's 999amonth for you to have, you know, peace of mind when you're out there showing those properties.

Mike Mills00:13:31

That's less than a Starbucks coffee. So I think very reasonable to be sure.Especially when you do it on an annual basis, you probably save a little bit more than that and it's helpful for you.

Cathy Hickman00:13:42

Yeah.

Mike Mills00:13:44

Do you guys find. When you know, users are on it, do y' all ever.Do you feel like you run into any issues with, you know, people actually registering that they're at their locations and doing that thing or is it pretty self intuitive that it reminds you to do that when you're going out and showing.

Cathy Hickman00:14:00

It's a great question. It actually is. It reminds you.So when once you roll up within 500ft of the property, your phone starts going off already, it's already like sending you like a message, hey, you need to check in and if you don't, you ignore it, which, you know, we all do it again, it'll pop back up. It continues to do that until you actually check into the device.So that's what's great is that, you know, a lot of times we do, we show up to the property and then maybe you're pulling your notes and your whatever else you're trying to get together for, your client gets there and you know, it may not be that top of mind but it keeps reminding you you need to do it and then it's just as easy and you just, it's an easy. Just tap.And even if you don't want to do on your phone, you can tap on your watch as you're walking up to the door and then you're checked in and ready to go.

Mike Mills00:14:44

And did you say. And I may have missed because I think you said something about it.But is it directly linked to the showing service that you use to schedule the appointment or do you have to set that up or do it every time or how does that work?

Cathy Hickman00:14:55

That's a great question too.So once you schedule your showings to showing time and broker bay, then what it does is it actually, those apps actually automatically sync with your calendar and then Safe Agent then actually syncs with all of your calendar invites and so then it brings it in there and what's. What's also good is it actually looks for keywords that we use in real estate. So it's not going to sync your entire calendar.It's not gonna be like, oh, you have a doctor's appointment or anything like that. It literally is.

Mike Mills00:15:21

You might need it. You never know, you know where you're gonna go to.

Cathy Hickman00:15:24

True. Yeah, very true. But it does look for keywords showing, confirmed, open house, things like that.So then that way the MySafe agent will pull it into their app, into our app, and then you're able to use it.

Mike Mills00:15:37

Okay. And then how many, how many contacts does it let you put down as your. Because you mentioned you have your husband and your son.Is there a limit to that or can you put as many as you want? I mean obviously you don't want to alert 500 people when you're doing a showing.But, but how do you, how do you determine, you know, how many people they connect?

Cathy Hickman00:15:55

You can put as many as you want. Honestly, I mean if you wanted to put like 20, you really could.Yeah, so I just, for me, I put, I just put obviously my husband and then funny enough, my, my 19 year old son, he's. He's real funn stuff and so he actually loves smile alerts.So you know, he's at college at Texas, Texas A and M. And when I'm out showing, he'll get him alert and I'll get a thumbs up or I'll get a, he'll text me later, mom, how is the showing? So he it for him and he actually told me later on he goes his mom.It just gives me peace of mind because at least I know when you're out showing properties, I know where you're at and you know, I know that you're, you're taking care of. So yeah, for him he loves that. So it's kind of funny and how I feel like now he's tracking me, but he's not.

Mike Mills00:16:39

Have you guys or are. Do you, you know, ever. You know when you're bringing it up to.Or not bringing it up, but have you ever brought it up to buyers or even sellers when you're going on maybe a listing appointment or something like that to.Is is there any benefit in some cases with people that you know, obviously you're not going to tell the strangers but, but with people that you know does. Do you feel like it offers any other level of peace of mind for them too or you know, what's. Has that situation ever come up?

Cathy Hickman00:17:06

It hasn't come up, but I really do feel like it does offer a peace of mind also for my clients because, you know, you can be in any type of situation and in another situation I was in, this is a while ago, but my client and I, we're, he's an investor. We're looking at these beautiful homes and while we were in the property, we heard gunshots going off.And so, you know, it would have been nice at that time if we had safe agent. I could easily, you know, call the police, let them know this is going on.You know, I don't know where it was, but we heard it close enough, you know, and so it would have been nice to be able to do that. Obviously, my client, I decided, you know what, let's just go ahead and leave. And so we locked up and left.But it would have been, would have been a really nice, comforting thing to say, hey, don't worry, you know, I can call the police very quickly and get someone out here for us to help us if, you know, if need be.

Mike Mills00:17:53

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's tough because, you know, especially nowadays as the market shifts.You know, we were, we were in a, you know, crazy frenzy for a very long time with buyers and sellers and you know, you would have multiple showings at a listing and people kind. Coming and going all the time and, and now that's kind of subsided quite a bit.I wonder, you know, from your point of view, do you think this becomes a greater issue when there is a lot of activity because there's so many different people, or is it a bigger issue when it's slower because there's, there's less activity and more, more likely to not have as many people around and therefore, you know, create a better opportunity for someone that would have any inkling to do something like that. This.

Cathy Hickman00:18:37

I, I feel like honestly, the slower it is, it's actually a better opportunity for someone who wants to commit a crime because then like you said, there's not anyone really around to watch it. There is more opportunity for them. Unfortunately, in our industry, we're a very predictable lifestyle if you think about it.I mean, my name, my number, my brokerage, everything is listed all over the Internet. You can find me if you want to find me pretty easy. You know, whether it's my listings, open houses, events I'm going to.So if you are really unfortunately, you know, a perpetrator or someone like that, I'm a very predictable person. You can actually track out what I'm going to be doing, you know, not on a day to day, but you can get a pretty good idea.And so I feel like, as things slow down, I feel like it actually is even a better thing for us as agents just because we have that, you know, added peace of mind that, that we're not, we're not alone. You know, you may feel like you're alone, but you're really, you're not alone. You do have help that can, you know, come out to you if you need it.

Mike Mills00:19:40

Yeah, yeah. One of the things, you know, I, I teach, I do, I do classes on using AI within Inside Real Estate and I have several classes I teach on that.And we also talk a lot about, you know, social media and how to use it effectively and things of that nature.And one of the, one of the things that I run into from time to time when I talk to agents because we joke about being what I call a secret agent, where, you know, you're a realtor. But if I were to look you up on the Internet, I can't find you. You're, you're nowhere to be found. Right. Or, or only in a very few spots.And, you know, for business sake, right.That's not a good thing because, you know, especially these days with, you know, the younger generation, you know, the Gen Z's and millennials, you know, even if they get a. Because there are people say, well, I work off referral. It's like, okay, great, that, that's awesome.But when you know your best friend from high school who's, you know, in her 50s or 40s or whatever, and she recommends you to her 20 year old kid or you know, their nephew or whatever, and they're 25. Yeah, you have the recommendation, but the first thing they're going to go do is look you up online and they're going to try to find you. Right?That's what they do. That's what I do. Anytime I meet somebody or get a new client or whatever, I'm like, okay, who's this? Right, Exactly. We all do that.And so as, as a professional in real estate, it is critical that you do have your information available that people can find you, because that's how you get business and that's how you maintain and stay in front of people.But on the safety aspect, and this is where I was saying, where I run into it is agents will tell me like, oh, I don't want my information everywhere because I don't want people to know, you know, how to find me because I don't feel safe. And it's like, I mean, I understand that rationale for sure.

Cathy Hickman00:21:18

Yeah.

Mike Mills00:21:18

But at the same time, it's, it's a difficult one to have if you're going to be in sales, right, of any, of any capacity.And so, you know, having something like this to where you could say, okay, yes, you need to be out there and do that, but here's a, here's an avenue, you know, to try to keep yourself so you don't necessarily have to worry. It doesn't mean it's not a risk because, you know, existing in the world is a risk.You drive on the road in your car, you know, to your doctor's appointment, that's a risk, right? There's, there's always risks, but it's just how can you mitigate the risks and bring them down as much as possible?And I think, you know, that that's the key to, to most everything.When you're, you know, talking to agents about this and, and even brokerages, are you, are you finding, or are you guys reaching out to brokers themselves to say, hey, look, this isn't just something that, you know, we think your agents should do, but, you know, I mean, obviously it's a business and we want to sell things, but at the same time, you know, if I was a broker running a shop, especially the smaller ones these days, I would want to know that just for liability and all kinds of other reasons that my agents were protected when they were out there in the field. Do you all have a lot of conversations around that?

Cathy Hickman00:22:28

We do, we do.We actually do try to try to talk to a lot of brokers as much as we can, you know, just to educate them on it and to, you know, share the, you know, what, what it actually, it does, how it actually, you know, can help all of their agents.And you know, we get a lot of, you know, we have, in my brokerage, we have a lot of really new, young, like, like 22, 23 year old fantastic agents that I look back and I'm like, I wish I would have started then. Y' all are so smart, you know, adorable agents.And so, you know, it's nice to be able to talk to these brokers that have been doing it for years and years and years, but still, you know, they stress that importance for safety, you know, to even our young agents and putting things in place to help them as well, because, you know, they may, they're not going to, they're not going to have as much of experience as someone who's been doing it 40 years.And so being able to, you know, share that experience with them, but also kind of on their level too, with all the technology, you know, they can do technology faster than most of us and so, you know, it's something easy for them to use type of thing.

Mike Mills00:23:30

Yeah. When you're at a certain age, you think you're invincible and you never consider the, the, the risks and things.I experience that on a daily basis driving around with my teenagers in the car. It's like I feel like I'm, I've lost more hair, if that's possible.Just stressed out because they're not concerned about the car that's six inches away from them in the cor. Because they're like, yeah, forever. It's not a problem. You know, that's where the, the age and wisdom kick in for sure.So are you feeling like, you know, when you guys look at yourselves compared to other. Because obviously there are things that exist in the market that do similar things.But like you mentioned in the beginning, you know, with the, the wearables and stuff, you know, where are you seeing, you know, ultimately that you guys start to differentiate yourself from what's already available to, you know, the differences that you have, you know, as far as your product goes.

Cathy Hickman00:24:19

So a couple of things that makes us completely different is one is that it is a completely run AI software that is behind all of it. So it's constantly within the system, it's constantly checking, making sure things are running accurately.If there's a issue that comes up, it's catching it right away. So really keeping the, the actual program up and running, you know, to the best of its ability. The second thing is the, the watch integration.Right now there is nothing out there that actually integrates with your smartwatch. And so it, so that's kind of our two piece. And the last part is really the discrete part.So you can honestly hit the button whether you know, it's on your watch or the action items on your phone, and nobody knows. So even if I hit the button and I get that text message asking if it's a, you know, a mistake, you know, most people don't.You know, as agents, we get text messages and calls all the time when we're showing property. So it's not going to seem off if that happened.And then if it goes to a phone call, again, it's not going to seem off because again, as an agent, that stuff happens quite a bit where you show.So if, if you really did need to use the service and it, and it goes up to the level that police need to be dispatched to you, it's still a discreet thing, which, you know, in any type of situation when you're like that, the big thing is you don't want to make it work. So you actually are trying to keep it at, you know, a lower, I guess a lower level of where you're at and not, you know, trying to.

Mike Mills00:25:44

Draw attention to the fact that you're calling the cops. Yeah.

Cathy Hickman00:25:47

Yes, yes. There you go. You got it for me?

Mike Mills00:25:49

Yes, yes. It's, it's not something you want to tell them, hey, look, because then things escalate from there. You want to sneak it by them.

Cathy Hickman00:25:57

Right? Exactly, exactly. So it's, it's those three folds that you're going to find.And also it's, you know, it's already in the devices we carry all the time. So you're just paying a subscription basis.There's no extras, there's no add ons, there's, there's nothing else extra that you have to add to it to make it work, which is nice too.

Mike Mills00:26:15

You're not worried about adding hardware and it breaking and having to order another one and then getting those pieces and having to make your pendant look like it's something that isn't a panic device, you know, from, what was it, the, the old life alerts, you know, falling on the ground.So if you can steer clear of that, ideally because you're trying to be discreet about it, you know, that's the idea obviously that that's a better thing and, and having it integrated with, you know, that I, it's funny because that applies across all spectrums as far as like making things easy. You know, it's, it's as simple as, you know, simple stuff.Like we, I talk a lot about CRMs, you know, people using their databases and reaching out to clients and you know, how to automate those things.And a lot of times, you know, either agents don't have CRMs at all or they don't use the ones that they do have simply because the amount of steps that it takes for them to set things up, they don't want to mess with and, or maybe they do, but they never make time to do it. You know, they never spend the time going through it and trying to figure it out.And so, you know, having it to where it syncs with your calendar and it's. Your AI is looking for those keywords.So it reminds you when you do that, you know, it's like having your little personal safety person on your shoulder going, hey, don't forget to, you know, it's like all the time. Because we need that. Because you don't think about it. Your mind's in 100 different places and you're, you're considering, you know, a million.What am I going to say? This buyer, seller, how am I going to approach this? Where's this house? You're thinking about all this other stuff.You're not thinking about your safety until that moment happens. And then having somebody just, you know, in your ear occasionally or on your phone, you know, reminding you, hey, this is important.You're like, okay, yeah, I'll take care of that. That's huge. Because we just, as human beings, we're creatures of habit. And if we're not in the habit of doing that or creating that, then we don't.

Cathy Hickman00:27:59

Right, right. And, you know, just kind of going back to that ease of use.Like once you go onto the website and you sign up for it, it's literally like a four step process. It's nothing. And then after you do that, it'll tell you to download the, the companion app on your, your smart, your smart phone.And then after that you log in, you're ready to go. That's what's so great is once you've downloaded it onto the phone, it automatically just starts working right away.So if you, you know, got it today and you've got like showings tonight and you've got it downloaded on your phone, it's instantly going to be ready to go. So that's what's also nice too. There's no thought process behind it.It's all, it's doing all that thinking, like you said with the AI, the thinking for you. So it's one less thing I gotta, you know, worry about than when you're pulling up.All right, is this supra or is this the code which, which I gotta do to get into the house today?

Mike Mills00:28:44

Yes.I'm curious, so when you guys are presenting this to brokers and stuff too, are you, you know, with your husband's background in the law enforcement side of things, are y' all also doing anything along the lines of, you know, helping them identify certain protocols when it comes to, you know, safety? Ways to, you know, vet clients ahead of time, ways to, you know, protect yourself before you're going?Do y' all have y' all designed or built anything that kind of helps agents and brokers kind of put together? It's not really an action plan necessarily, but maybe best practices or something along.

Cathy Hickman00:29:17

Those lines we always talk about. This is not just the, you know, it's kind of everything together. You know, you can't just have one thing and it works, works perfectly.You got to have all the pieces. And so, you know, we always talk about, you know, yes, once you get your client. I mean, we've got, you know, like forewarns, a perfect thing.You can go ahead and look up information on somebody. If you don't know this person yet, go ahead and pull information that way.You know, we always encourage them, you know, prior to showing a property, if you don't know this person, meet them either at your office or at, you know, a central location that's publicly. There's a public location like Starbucks or something like that. You know, get to know the person and you know, and it's.As a real estate agent actually is even better. You're just building more of that camaraderie with the client.So then they, you know, they know you and they trust you and then obviously they're going to want to use you moving forward.We also share that when you do show up to the property, you know, you know, once you, you know, check in, you still want to get out and you still want to kind of just look around the property, see if anything's off. Because if it is off or you think it's off, don't even bother showing it.You know, it's better to walk away than to try to figure out like, what's going on.But then, you know, once you've done kind of all of those initial, you know, kind of prerequisites, I guess, before you show a property, then, then when you're there now you've got your safe agent that is there.If, you know, if something does arise while you're there, whether with a client or it could be a vacant house or even while you're, you know, you could be sitting waiting for your client to get there and something, you know, could be suspicious and, you know, off putting. And so you have that action item on your safe. My Safe Agent app to help you.

Mike Mills00:30:55

Okay, so you'll have those. You have kind of like a checklist when you're rolling up to tell you the things to. To, to. To make sure that you check before you go in.So it's a little bit. It gives you some stuff to handle while you're there.

Cathy Hickman00:31:06

Yes. Yeah, yeah, just that kind of.That whole, like the whole, I guess what he always says, like looking at your surroundings and, you know, paying attention to what's going on.

Mike Mills00:31:14

Yeah, I think I heard. I don't remember. I'm trying to Remember if this was a good or a bad thing, but someone had talked about. Because I've.I've seen, you know, a couple things on this before about, like, when you go into a property, you know, obviously know your exits, essentially, you know, like, where you can get out from, and then, you know, make sure those are unlocked. So, but then it's also. It was kind of like the. It was a balance of do I want to unlock all the doors so I can get out quickly or do.But then that also allows someone else, if they're working in tandem, to get in. So it's like, which. Which one's the better sit. You know, to be able to escape if you need to, or to not let anybody access.There's no other entry points that you're not conscious of. You know, I don't. I don't know. Have y'. All. Have y' all discussed anything like that?

Cathy Hickman00:32:01

The main one has always been.And my husband's always, like, stressed that when you are going to go show a property, he's like, you always unlock the door and then you always let the client in before you. So you walk in behind the client, and number one, you know, it's more respectful anyways. But also, you know, you're not, you know, you're.You're also kind of walking in behind them to help at any type of situation. And then he'll have me, you know, if the lights aren't on, I'll switch on the light, but I will. I'll actually.Will kind of walk my way through to where I know where the back door is while I'm turning on the lights. That's kind of my first beeline. Make sure that's unlocked as well, and then kind of. And go from there. So it's. It.He's always said it's just better to go ahead and have them both unlocked and making sure, you know, where. Like you said, where everything is at. And you can do that. That really quickly as you're walking in the property with. With the clients.

Mike Mills00:32:50

Yeah, well, you know, it's. It's tough because it's. It's not something that you want to. It's not something that you want to consider all the time. Right. Like, it's.It's not a fun thing to think about, but it is necessary. And, you know, like you said, having. Having that app there to remind you to check in, to remind you to, you know, giving.Giving you a checklist of protocols to follow before you go in there, that always at least keeps it top of mind. And, and the, the constant reminder is going to, of a focus of what you're doing.And even, you know, I would say, you know, and I'd say this, but, you know, you hear a lot of times about folks that run into, you know, whether it be kidnappings or whatever, you know, they say it's always somebody that you know more often than it's somebody that you don't, you know, and so people think, oh, well, I'm going to go meet this person. I know who they are. I'm not saying that they're dangerous.I'm just saying that it doesn't, that's not necessarily a situation where it doesn't need to be a priority. Especially when you look at the statistics of, of when people go missing, you know, and they find out what happened.That's typically where it comes from.

Cathy Hickman00:33:53

Right. No, that's, that is a perfect statement because it's very true. And, and I think that's, you know, what.Unfortunately, a lot of us as agents, we're like, well, I've known this person forever, or it's a close family friend of a friend or, you know, something to where you feel a lot more comfortable than maybe a stranger. But you're absolutely right.When you look at the stats, those are the people that they're going to commit a crime against you or is someone who actually does know you. And so that's. Even when I'm stressing, you know, with my save agent, that's why, you know, it's still a fantastic product.Whether this is, you know, someone you've known for years, you never know if, you know, hate to say it, they just have a bad day or just something's off. I mean, you just, you're not in somebody's head, and so you don't know what's really going on back behind there.And so you know that that's one thing criminals will do. They'll try to get to know you really well and, and earn your trust.And then, you know, you could be putting yourself in, in a situation that obviously you don't want to be put into.

Mike Mills00:34:48

Yeah. Because you let your guard down and, you know, you're not expecting anything and.But again, you don't have to because it's going to remind you when you roll in there, even if it's.But the point being is just, you know, even if you know them, go ahead and still keep it on because you just, you can never, you can never be too safe. You know, to some extent, I think you can always, always Cover yourself. Myself, I do think it's great.You talked to me earlier, before we got on the show, about how much peace of mind this has given your son, especially because, you know, he's protective or whatever. But, you know, talk a little bit about, you know, not just the agents aspect of it, but also the.The people closest to them that can have a little bit of peace of mind with this as well.

Cathy Hickman00:35:25

Oh, yeah. You know what. What I'm finding is, is that what. It's funny, but, you know, a lot of the. The. The.The people that are close to the agents that are using it and they get those little text messages, what they absolutely love is they actually do like to know where you're at. And so, you know, I can sit there all day and try to share my calendar or, you know, hey, I've got all these showings today.But they really don't understand maybe where you're going or headed. And as, you know, as an agent, I can be like, oh, I'm gonna go show house. A. You drive up and your client's like, no, okay.Well, then he's like, but I like that one right down the street. Can we make an appointment? So then you've got to quickly cancel that one. Make another one. Well, if you shared your calendar with your.Your, you know, your family members, they don't know that you just changed locations because that's just a new one that just popped up.

Mike Mills00:36:12

Right.

Cathy Hickman00:36:12

Well, with Safe Agent, it actually picks it up. So once I cancel and I reschedule it, then Safe Agent will actually pick up that new one right away.And then once you go and you check in there, then they've got another update of, you know, know you're at a different location. So what we're finding is, you know, a lot of those emergency contacts, they just love it because they.They're able to, you know, just make sure that, you know, they know where you're at.But my husband also says, you know, it's just nice to know you actually arrived safely just driving to the location, because, you know, there's a lot of agents. They'll drive all over, and it may be really far from they live and from where they live. And so it's nice that. Okay, yes, they did arrive at that.That, you know, that house that's 40 minutes from where we live right now.

Mike Mills00:36:53

Yeah. Or even bad weather, traffic, car accidents, you know, whatever.If you're expected to arrive at a certain time and you haven't, then someone's paying attention at that point because they're like, hey, wait a minute, she was supposed to be there 30 minutes ago. Why is she not there? You know, and, and start asking those questions. So, I mean, it's all around. It's just, it's just good to have the awareness.Is that good to have the awareness for you? It's good to have the awareness for your friends and family. It's just, just bringing it again. Like I said, top of mind. So it's always there for you.So it's something that you pay attention to and it's just goes by the wayside because it happens so infrequently. But, you know, I, I think enough.There's, you know, just in the stat that I read in the very beginning, there's, there's been enough people that it's happened to that, you know, it should be something that's more focused on and discussed and paid attention to. But it's the other, you know, 75% of the people that it never happens to, they're just like, I'll be fine. I'm not worried about it.Like, you know, I feel good. So no big deal. But you know, it, it happens and it happens more frequently than you think.And you know, it shouldn't, it shouldn't just go by the wayside because it's a pain in the butt to, to carry a pendant around or whatever the case may be. Right.

Cathy Hickman00:37:56

I know it. I know.

Mike Mills00:37:58

I'm curious. So you mentioned, just on the safety realm. You missed, you mentioned jiu jitsu. Are you doing, do you do jiu jitsu?

Cathy Hickman00:38:07

I don't anymore. I did it for a while.

Mike Mills00:38:09

Okay.

Cathy Hickman00:38:11

Idea. I was going to compete in a tournament.

Mike Mills00:38:13

Oh, I love it. I love it. So, so tell me, what was your experience like with that?I mean, I know obviously you're not doing it now, but, but did you feel like there was, there were some key things that you learned that you could still take advantage of and do you feel like it is something that, you know as. And again, this kind of stuff has always looked at like meathead dudes like me that get into it.Women are like, I'm not, you know, that's all sweaty and wrestling and I don't want my ears, you know, whatever.But do you think that that is a, is a fruitful effort for someone that is looking to, or, or is there another type of, of, you know, physical self defense that you think would be more beneficial?

Cathy Hickman00:38:51

I, I, I actually, I loved it partly. It was actually probably the hardest. If you're looking for a really hard Cardio workout. That, that's a killer.

Mike Mills00:39:00

Yeah.

Cathy Hickman00:39:01

So on that aspect of it, it was fun because it's something completely different than what you normally would do. But I did, what I also did love is I love it did teach you like techniques and holds and things like that. So what.Which was nice because if you think about it, if you were going to get jumped, it actually teaches you ways to get out of it and not to actually make it worse and get in, you know, you can actually make it worse and get it tighter or whatever the case may be on you. So for me, I felt like it was very beneficial. Just teach me some of these techniques, you know, of how to actually get out of something.If, if I were to get jumped or you know, someone comes up behind me, you know, what can I actually do? So I thought it was great.But I do get it though because it's, you know, you are rolling around and on the, in the, in the ground and stuff like that.But I, I encourage anyone, you know, male or female, you know, any type of classes you can take for self defense, I always think is, it's fantastic because you know, just having that in the back of your mind of, you know, if something were to happen, you know, what can I do, you know, to get out of this and to get away from it type of thing, it's always good to have just that additional information on you, you.

Mike Mills00:40:06

Yeah, well, and it's a, from what I understand, I, I've never practiced it myself. I, I, I watch a lot of it.But you know, it is, it's very much a, a leverage, you know, activity defense, whatever you want to call it, where your size doesn't always necessarily matter and being able to escape or being able to, you know, get somebody in a position where you can least get away from them to some extent.So you know, when you take out the, and it is something unfortunately, but this is the case with any type of physical self defense is if you don't practice it, if you don't do it on a regular basis, it's not, it doesn't become, you know, that muscle memory thing where your body reacts in the situation.And so it's like you go to one, one self defense class, you might learn some techniques, but when the situation actually presents itself, is your brain that's in panic flight or flight mode gonna remember, you know, what that thing was because you haven't ever done it before. And so there is a certain level of importance where you know, just to have, and I would say, you know, for, for anybody, Anyone.When you're in situations where you're maybe not the biggest or the strongest or the, you know, like, I, I, I have a benefit, which I'm sure your husband does. Well, like, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty tall guy. I'm pretty big.So I don't have too many people that are going to necessarily even try to do anything because it's just like not, not take my route on that one. But, so I, I've never been, or I haven't been confronted with those situations very often.But, but when you're in a, maybe a more vulnerable position, when you're smaller, you're a female or whatever, then you know, people think there's opportunity there.And so just, just having a skill that, you know, like you said, it gives you good cardio workout, you know, you got, yeah, good, good go there, there.It's not great getting sweaty and rolling around with people, but I'm sure you can find a lot of times other women in the class that are participating as well.Yeah, but doing it on a regular basis is helpful because then in those situations, if that were to occur, your body goes into a, oh, I know how to do this. I remember this without you having to think about it.And that's where the benefit of having those extra reps, for lack of a better word, is beneficial.

Cathy Hickman00:42:20

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.Because if you, like you said, you learn it the one time, and if you don't ever practice or do anything with it, it just, it does, it doesn't stick like it, like you want it to. And then the more, the more you, you practice it and go over and over it, then it does become that, that muscle memory type of thing.And so it makes it, if the situation were to arise, you, you, you wouldn't go into panic mode and be like, oh, what do I do? You, you would instantly kind of know what, what you need to do next to get out.

Mike Mills00:42:43

Yeah. Because you've done it a hundred times. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's a good point.I mean, the, the, the folks that do carry stuff around, whether it be, I mean, whether it be guns or knives or pepper spray.Although there was a friend of mine who was a military vet and he, because there's certain levels of pepper spray that you buy that are, you know, not allowed because of their, their potency or whatever, but apparently bear spray is okay. And, and bear spray is, is pretty intense, but because it's called bear spray, you can, you can carry it and it's, it's just as bad as.As some of the other stuff. Stuff. But again. And he's like, he's got his. He's got two daughters and his wife and like, they carry switchblades. I mean, it's. It's a whole thing.But which I, to me, I'm like, okay, tell me more about this. I got. I got a daughter of mine. But. But to your point, though, the issue with some of those things is, you know, going back to the practicing.Other stuff is that if you don't regularly, if you a. Don't know how to use it because you never have. Because, yeah, you may get the spray in the, in the mail and it shows up.Up, but if you don't use it or have used it before and know how to pull the tab off and do whatever, then you don't know if you can. In that moment, you might end up spraying yourself. And then.Same thing with the knife, you know, I mean, like you said, sometimes that could cause more harm than good because if. If they don't have a weapon and now you have a weapon and they can get that weapon from you, now they can use that against you. So it's.It's not always, you know, not always in the best interest.And then we all know the issues with guns, especially if you don't practice using it on a regular basis and have a good knowledge of how to handle the weapon, then it's not usually a good idea to be carrying it around because of a whole host of problems. So, you know, I, I can completely understand, you know, how we may think that. Well, if I just. In my. If I carry something, I feel a little bit safer.And it's like, well, if you know how to use it, maybe, but if you don't, then it could probably cause more harm than good.And then again, bringing it back to what you guys are doing, just having one extra layer of protection just to let other people know that you could be impossible danger, you know, can mitigate all those issues by themselves.

Cathy Hickman00:45:02

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Mike Mills00:45:04

So it's. It's a. It. Like I said, it's. It's something that I think, you know, it needs to be more on the forefront.I'm glad we have, you know, the, the month of September, I suppose, to, you know, make it at least some. Some level of awareness. But. But curious. How long have you guys. How long have y' all had this up and going?

Cathy Hickman00:45:21

So we've had the app up and going for a little over a month and a half.

Mike Mills00:45:25

Okay.

Cathy Hickman00:45:25

But we had Been working on it for, well, I mean, well over a year. Like the research. Yeah, but we've been up for about a month and a half.

Mike Mills00:45:33

Yeah.

Cathy Hickman00:45:33

So.

Mike Mills00:45:34

And they go directly to your site to download the app instead of going through, like, the itunes store or, you know, whatever. If you're using an Android, you're. Because you're from another planet, then, you know, whatever the store is that they have.

Cathy Hickman00:45:45

Right.

Mike Mills00:45:45

Yeah, but. But that's where they get it from. They don't download it from the itunes. And again, they get all the information and keep it there.And you prefer to go that route with it as well, right?

Cathy Hickman00:45:54

Yes. Yeah. You'll just go to My Safe Agent AI and then you'll, you know, sign up from there.And we actually have three different plans, depending on kind of what your needs are or what you would prefer. And then you pick the plan that you want, and then you, um, sign the waiver and then you, um, put your credit.You know, your credit card information and then that's it. It. And then you're. You've signed up and then it'll tell you to download it onto the. Onto your. On your phone.And then you just download it and use that same login and password. And I mean, you're. You're ready to go.

Mike Mills00:46:25

That's awesome.Do y' all have any features that you're, you know, developing or working on that you want to add to it later that you haven't quite gotten there yet just because you just got it off the ground?

Cathy Hickman00:46:36

We actually actually on the app right now, we actually have a couple features on there I don't think people are very familiar with. But the first one is actually there's a crime data app that's put out from the FBI.So if you are going to show a property, whatever area that is, you actually can tell you to give you the crime data on it, which is fantastic. I actually show it a lot to my clients because you do get that question, like, how safe is the area?Well, you can actually show them the stats from the FBI and give them that information, and they can decide on their own, you know, if this is an area that they would. Would, you know, prefer to possibly live in or not live in or invest in type things. So you've got that information as well. And then we also have.It's kind of. It's called a prep detail. And so once you. Once the appointment's made and synced into the.My Safe Agent, you actually can push that button and it actually gives you all of this Background information on the actual property you're showing. It actually can show you, like, what are some of the comparables in the area.Again, it'll pull in that crime data and things like that, that, that, you know, as an agent prepping to.Before you go to the showing, you can actually use that to kind of give you a quick, you know, reference just to, you know, refresh your memory before you actually walk into that home.

Mike Mills00:47:45

Wow. Well, that's awesome. Well, Kathy, I can't thank you enough for chatting with me about this. I. I really do.You know, I think people should definitely check it out. If you don't have anything, then you need to get something.You know, you don't want to walk in naked as it would, as it would be, but you definitely need to have something so you can keep yourself protected because, you know, these days, I mean, look, we're all, with all the recent events, we're all swimming in chaos. Man. This, this place is, you know, it's nuts.I'm sure, I'm sure everybody that's lived at a certain time in their life has felt like things are going crazy all the time, but it just seems like we're on, we're. We're a little extra right now with, with all the things happening in the world.So, you know, keeping yourself safe and, and, you know, for yourself and for your loved ones, making sure that they know what you're up to and where you're at, that, you know, to make sure that these things don't happen, I think is paramount.And especially an industry like real estate where you're, you know, often meeting people that you've never met before and going into strange situations and places that you're not familiar. You know, all of that plays a huge role in giving people opportunity to do nefarious things and, and, you know, as, as.As much as you can protect yourself against that, you know, I think it's great. So before we roll out one more time, just go ahead and let everybody know the website.Let them know where they can find you if they have any questions. We'll obvious your information in the show notes. So if anybody wants to reach out, go through the site, they can absolutely do that also.

Cathy Hickman00:49:09

Fantastic. Yeah, you can sign up at my safe Agent AI and then my name is Kathy Hickman.You can find me on, on all the socials, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram and LinkedIn. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out any of those socials. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.That you have and you know, anything you guys need, just let me know.

Mike Mills00:49:28

There you go. 999. 999amonth. Month at the most. I think that's, that's more than cheap enough to at least have a little bit of a safety net there.So, you know, don't, don't skimp on your safety. Right.

Cathy Hickman00:49:41

That's right.

Mike Mills00:49:42

That's right. All right. Well, I hope everybody has a great weekend. You know, thank you for tuning in today. And we'll be back with a market update this week.Talk about how somehow the Fed cut rates but rates, mortgage rates went up, what that's doing to affordability and housing and how how gold is going bananas and why. So tune in for that. We'll chat about that a little bit. Otherwise, everybody have a great weekend.Thanks for tuning in and of course, thank you, Kathy, for joining me today. I appreciate it.

Cathy Hickman00:50:09

Thank you. I appreciate it. Appreciate it a lot.