Realtor safety Archives - Demetree School of Real Estate

Florida’s Open Carry Law and How It Affects Realtors

For years, Florida did not allow the open carrying of weapons in public. Now it is legal. Do you have to allow people with a visible weapon into your open house? What about a private showing? Yesterday, Sheriff John Mina spoke to several members of Orlando Realtors about the new open carry law in Florida, and how it affects our business.

Here are some highlights…

He reiterated that a private businesses can make choices about their private property. As has always been the case, a private business can say, “No weapons on our property.” He used Walt Disney World as an example. Disney World does not allow guests to bring weapons on their property.

He said as a real estate agent, if you are showing a house, for that moment, the home you are showing is your place of business. It is fair to tell the prospective buyer that they cannot bring a firearm into the house. He said it doesn’t even have to be equal. If the agent wants to carry a firearm, but tell the customer they cannot, this is legal.

What Sheriff Mina didn’t discuss because it’s not related to his job is who makes the decision about this: is it the seller’s decision or the agent’s decision? If the seller doesn’t care about it, is it OK for the agent to say “No firearms at the open house.”? Or vice versa, is it OK for the seller to dictate the terms even if the agent is uncomfortable with it?

It would happen just like any other term of the listing. It is not unusual for the seller to say that they want all buyers to be pre-approved, or they want everyone to take their shoes off when they come to the house, or some other condition they set for seeing the property. The agent would be bound to honor those conditions. If the agent does not like the terms, they are the wrong agent for this client.

Let’s say you have an agent who is adamantly against firearms and does not want someone to bring weapons to the property, but the seller is very comfortable around firearms. If the agent makes an arbitrary rule that we are not going to allow someone into the open house who has a firearm on their hip, they are limiting the prospective buyer pool. The seller has the right to limit the buyer pool, but the agent does not have a right to limit the pool for them.

Many agents don’t care about this one way or the other. They are happy to have people with weapons on the property. They are equally happy to not have them. However, if you are an agent that cares deeply about this, and do not want to be in an open house with someone who has a machete on their belt, this is something that needs to be discussed when you are signing the listing agreement.

Please note that Karen Climer has no affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. Her father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. It has since been involved in several mergers and acquisitions and is owned by a large investment company. Karen owns Demetree School of Real Estate in Orlando, Florida.

By Karen Climer|2025-10-14T12:40:07-04:00October 14th, 2025|

Real Estate Is a Risky Business. But Sometimes The Danger Is Not What You Think.

Real estate can be a dangerous job. Your job involves meeting strangers in empty houses by yourself. There are dozens of examples of an agent meeting someone to show them a house, or having a customer come into an open house, or some other regular activity for an agent and it ends up very badly.

I had a personal safety issue that was a little different than the ones we typically hear about.

I went to a broker breakfast at my local Realtor association. The speaker was a real estate investor. We talked before and after his presentation and wanted to explore some partnership opportunities. I met with him and his business partner at my school. We came up with several ideas where we could both make money. I was very excited about it. We scheduled a second meeting where we would finalize our ideas a little more and talk about money. I was very excited about this joint venture.

Fast forward a few weeks to the night before our second meeting, I ran this guy’s phone number through Forewarn. Forewarn is an app, where you can type in someone’s phone number, and it will tell you their name, address, criminal history, vehicle history, alias, etc. All things that are useful to know before you do business with a stranger. Florida Realtors provides this app free of charge to all of their members.

The search turned up that this guy was convicted of organized fraud and grand theft related to the mortgage industry. It wasn’t even that long ago – just two years ago! I was surprised because this guy spoke at Orlando Realtors so I assume they had vetted him somewhat. I was so stunned that I wanted to doublecheck it. I didn’t want this to be accurate. I went directly to the Miami-Dade Clerk of Court to see. Unfortunately, it was accurate. I was able to see his mug shot on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement site, so I knew it was the right person.

I contacted him and told him that I was no longer interested in meeting. Unfortunately, our business venture died before it even got off the ground. But it could have been so much worse. I could have lost a lot of money, or gotten involved in a situation that ruined my reputation.

I’m so glad I looked him up in Forewarn. It’s so easy to skip that step. You think, “He seems like a nice guy. I’m sure he’s honest.” I ran the Forewarn search on a whim. From now on, I will be intentional about it.

By Karen Climer|2025-01-14T09:16:45-05:00January 14th, 2025|