And there is reason #1 why I won't do open houses! And let's not forget it's probably also a good reason for sellers not to FSBO!

      The danger of holding open houses alone.  

     If she had been carrying concealed, she probably couldn't draw on 3 people.  But she could have shot the back windshield out of their car as they drove away.  That would make it easier for the cops to locate it.

Thank goodness there was going to be an open house after her showing or that door bell may not have rung during her showing, Jeff.

Just WOW! I don't know if a gun would have helped at that point - nor a second host but, thankfully the door bell scared them off.

Guns rarely help anything. It's good to have someone with you during Open Houses... or not do them at all.

Don't host open houses.

Nothing other than not have an open house. Another person being there would not have helped either.

A guard with a gun at the exterior front door? That's an idea.

Personal safety should be a high priority for every agent.

tammy always has someone with her at an open house.... the men do them alone.... none of them carry cash beyond $20.... credit cards...atm cards... 

I don't do open houses often and if I do I have someone else with me.  In my previous brokerage there was a discussion that an agent did an open house and got a lot of traffic.  At the end of the day he found that many of the seller's belongings were missing including a laptop.

Agent was just doing her job, that's a shame that she had to encounter people with bad intentions. What kind of criminals drive a BMW anyway?

I actually caught & got my wallet back from someone who pickpocketed me in NYC. If they had a gun I wouldn't have chased them down & got it back, so I don't think there's much she could've done here except be grateful it wasn't more than money lost.

I do all our Open Houses.

Not hold open houses. 

Too much flash does attract folks who want to take away your fancy trinkets and many agents tend to walk around with plenty of things to steal on their person and in their pockets.

That article doesn't make it sound like it was an open house. It makes it sound like it was a scheduled showing. -K

In college, I worked for an armored car company on the weekends.  We were trained that if we were ever held up coming out of a business with money and the person demanded the money, we were to throw the bag as far as we could away from us and the robber(s).  The robbers attention will clearly be on the money, because that is what they want.  Those couple seconds of distraction would allow you to either take cover behind the armored truck (because we always parked by the front doors), or draw your weapon and fire.

Never hand a robber a purse or wallet.  Throw it at them and make sure it goes over their head or way off to their side.  As soon as you release it, turn tail and run.  If your on the open street, zig zag while you run away.  No matter what the movies show, it's really, really hard to hit a moving target at a distance, (even at 10 to 20 yards) with a handgun.  Most street criminals are not proficient at aiming and firing a weapon anyways.  Wanna better your chances of getting hit, run away in a straight line.

Well, five things come to mind immediately Jeff Pearl.  One, is to have left my purse in the trunk of my car when I first walked in with my folder and/or briefcase.  Two, is to back out of the house the way I came in, knowing that 'hearing voices' was 'not in my head' - because I knew I had not let these folks in.  Three, I would have my fingers on 911, and letting them know I'm in a suspicious and scary situation.  Four, I would look at the vehicles either in front of the house, in the driveway, or across the street and start writing down license plates.  Five, I would hide behind dense landscaping or another house, if that was possible, just to see who exited the house.  In a Perfect World, the squad cars would be driving up momentarily.

For starters, not do open houses in questionable neighborhoods. And two, what we talked about here in AZ, is to install a discreet camera at the open house. And three, a one button push on your smartphone that sends an alarm to 911.

The gun thing is a very different thing. In a purse, makes no sense. That's the first thing they'll take. It has to be 'on you'. And the biggest caveat of them all - you have to be able to shoot first and be trained to do just that, it's likely very too late 'after' you are shot yourself. And that my friends brings a whole new reality to your life and livelihood if this ever happens.

Jeff,

Wow,  I am speechless.  I have no idea what she could have done except for what Fred Griffin suggested.  A

Sounds like the three men were inside the house before she arrived, or broke in other than front door. 

#1 have a buddy - most lenders will co-sit an open house if you let them co-share the leads

#2 camera with a sign on the door that video recording is in progress. A realtor can buy a portable camera for $200 today 

#3 gun in her purse would have been stolen by the 3 perpetrators, if concealed maybe Fred Griffin  's idea to shoot out back window of their  BMW yes 3 crooks in a beemer would work, IF and only if she practiced shooting and has a calm head not to shoot someone in this crowded townhouse area. 

#4 don't go deep or up into the house without a second easy exit. She was waiting in the kitchen and heard people in the other rooms? Open front door early, wait for backup to turn on lights, wait on the stoop for the "clients" if you don't know the clients don't go without a bodyguard. Article doesn't say how the appointment was set up- or if her real appointment showed up

#5 run when you smell smoke, dial 911 when ducking. when she heard noise was time to run. Instinct works if you are paying attention. don't carry a bunch of stuff, leave the designer purse at home, carry cell in pocket left, keys in a pocket right, gun on ankle, mace in hand that appears like a lipstick and have practiced with the mace... most of all be ready to run.

I'm not sure what she could have done differently short of having a security guard.

Wow so sad......I do not believe another gun would help.....

If I am showing a home I always lock the front door behind me.  

I am not a fan of open homes, so my response to what to do differently is don't do them. 

Proper protocol is never do an Open House alone.

The the assistant and agent should not be in the same room.

When i do an open house Sasquatch is either out front or in the outside living area...always in line of sight. A purposed open house will have additional staff to capitalize the exit.

Criminals are increasingly brazen. There are NO Guarantees.

These crimes are opportunistic, reduce the appearance of opportunity. 'Smile, you are being recorded for training and quality control purposes may be beneficial in short staffing situations.

Never do an open house alone.

Most certainly open houses can and should be part of an agents lead generations strategy.

The best thing for us to do, if we need to have open houses, is to have company. I need to take my own advice.

And the question says "even if she had a gun in her person". My two cents -- putting a gun in a purse is never a good idea. The purse could get stolen (much more likely than getting held up at an open house). Also, she'd have to carry it everywhere, which most pocket-book carrying women do not do. If she had a gun, it should have been on her body somewhere in an easily accessible holster of some kind.

Outings should be group events especially for women....

If you are going to do an open house, don't do it alone. Next, don't do them!

Fred Griffin nailed this one!

Not been there alone is first on my list. Second it should be on you, not in your purse. That includes being trained how to use it, self defense and most importance avoidance of these situations. 

Another good reason why I don't do open houses.... and if the Seller does request it I always have someone else with me... 

I rarely have cash on me 

I don't do open houses alone, always an associate with me. And I'm not a gun toting kind of gal. I can scream and have, and can run pretty fast. Never carry cash, maybe $20 or so. Luckily, no one has ever personally confronted me to rob me, so I don't know how I would react.

I am glad that she was not harmed.

That's why I prefer to do open houses in gated communities. 

Jeff Pearl - open houses are not safe in few areas. I am not sure what I'd do when this happens.

Kept the gun ON her!

I always have an extra person when I do an open house, but I try my very best NOT to host them.  I allow other agents to host for me if they wish on vacant homes. 

We have not held an open house in years. Safety for my agents and myself is too important. Won't need a gun. 

One of the reasons I do not care to hold Opens. As a former bank employee, she did everything right, the way it should be done. She is alive and that is the important part.

Not do open houses.

They are robbing many of you of your time unless you are capturing some mad #'s of leads and converting them; this agent just got robbed twice.

Wow, I t does sound like it was a showing, no cash at open houses so sad!

Being a REALTOR sure makes us a sitting duck for these crazy people.

I just don't put myself in that position.  I don't do open houses and I don't meet buyers at homes.

Jeff Pearl A good reason for not doing open houses.

I agree it is a a good idea to neverhost pens houses alone

Thre are safety practices that can be put in place. Doing open houses with another agent or a lender and making sure that the neighbors have an eye out are just a couple.

All cash transaction, 100% EMD?

My brother in law's family was tricked in paying with gold bars(popular) and after closing the seller was really a property manager-realtor in HK. Well, that was 1950.

I get sick of hearing of this,  people should have 2 people at open houses I think.

Additional people? could help maybe, professional criminals generally look for EASY.

Arm everyone everywhere? There are too many untrained or poorly trained people with guns already.

Option might include only allowing PRE -registered people to come to the semi Open House ;-)