Safe deposit boxes for real estate agents: what are the options?

The truth of the matter is that you usually don’t have much of a choice when it comes to which Realtor safe deposit box to use. The local Association of Realtors usually chooses one type of safe deposit box, which essentially has a monopoly over that local area (eg Phoenix, Las Vegas, Detroit, etc.). don’t use a Realtor lockbox at all. While you can lobby the Association to choose a particular type of Realtor safe deposit box when the contract comes up; the ultimate decision would be theirs, not yours. Using any lockbox besides your chosen lockbox system would not make sense because other real estate agents would not carry access keys or cards to access your listing.

There are currently two providers of safe deposit boxes for real estate agents: Supra and Sentrilock. Supra is manufactured by GE Security, Sentrilock is an independent company; however, Sentrilock received venture capital funding from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR feared that without a strong competitor for Supra, Supra could exploit its market position by raising prices, providing inadequate service, etc. When a local Association of Realtors decides on a safe contract, it invites both companies to bid. Companies try to show their prices (for lockbox and user fees), technology (eg access logs, live key updates, real-time information), equipment (eg backlit keyboards) , compatibility with smartphones such as iPhone and Android, and customer support. .

Aside from not using a Realtor safe box at all, the other option is to use a mechanical contractors safe box that you can find at any hardware store. While they don’t have many features you’d find in a Realtor lockbox, they do allow a basic way to grant others access to your property. They’re also cheap: They’re usually around $30, while some Realtor safe deposit boxes are over $100 with lots of extra costs (usage, insurance, training, etc.). Some associations, perhaps produced by their safe deposit box companies, have also taken steps to remove this option. The first rule they can put in is to make sellers can only opt out of using a Realtor lockbox by putting it in writing. The next rule may be to require that anyone using a mechanical box also have a realtor box on the property. The final rule would simply be to ban mechanical safes altogether. Whether it’s terminating the Realtor or delisting from MLS, the rule has real force.