What to do if your agent disappears and you have a blue keybox

The other day, I received this call from a homeowner.  He was polite to me, but you could tell he was a little upset.  He listed his home with a Broker to sell.  As is normal and highly recommended, the owner allowed the broker to put one of those magical blue keyboxes on the house.  Well, weeks went by and they hadn’t heard from the agent.  They left messages, then one day, the phone was disconnected.  They recently learned from a mortgage broker that their agent quit the business and moved up North.  Well, Mr. Seller has a blue keybox on his home and not sure how to get it off.

He called me because I’m a technical agent and since this is a technical devise, surely I have some method of removing another agents keybox.  Well, that’s not how it works, only the agent that “owns” the box can remove it.  But understanding this gentlemen’s pain, I told him I would make some calls and get back to him by the end of the day.

Off to call my local Supra office, those that are responsible for the complex and large system that manages the keyboxes and all the agent keys.  After talking to the branch manager I learned that they will make every effort to locate the listing agent and their broker to have them remove the keybox.  They are able to see who owns the keybox based on the serial number from the side of the keybox.  If they are not able to locate the agent or the broker after reasonable attempts, then they will transfer the keybox to another agent so they can remove it for the homeowner.

So, now armed with new information on the system, I call back Mr. Seller and tell him about how he can handle the situation.  He was most grateful and apologized that he and his wife decided not to sell their home right now.  I told him that I understand and that if there was anything else that I could do to help, to just let me know.

Sometimes, just solving minor issues and those solutions that take just a couple of minutes to solve make the biggest impressions, and you learn something new while doing it.

Please excuse me while I duck into a phonebooth and change out of my super-hero suit.

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2. What makes a remarkable Agent?
3. Can I save money by working with the Agent listed on the property?
4. More Bad Agent Habits
5. How do you find an Agent?