New Lethbridge website aims to make real estate safer: ‘It needs to be addressed’

Over the last few months, two reports of alleged sexual assaults on agents showing homes to prospective buyers have rocked the real estate industry.

But one Lethbridge company is hoping to tackle that issue head on with the launch of a new website.

“It’s not always easy to talk about, but it does need to addressed,” said Chris Jochem, a sales consultant with Galko Homes.

“And the whole point of JRTB is that we’re addressing the problem at the source.”

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Just Ring the Bell (JRTB) is a new website that realtors, home builders and buyers can sign up for. It’s free for consumers and allows them the opportunity to view homes without agents present.

The JRTB website has been under development for quite some time, and local realtor and founder of Just Ring the Bell, David Agema, said its original purpose was not one of safety.

However, in light of recent alleged assaults, Agema added the website remedies many safety concerns for all involved in the home buying and selling process.

“We realized after we saw this happen in Lethbridge and then Calgary it’s a logical approach to especially some realtors that are concerned,” Agema said.

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WATCH: Growing calls for industry changes after Calgary realtor reports being sexually assaulted

1:40 Growing calls for industry changes after Calgary realtor reports being sexually assaulted

The website also features an added safety measure that requires all those looking to book a viewing online to first have their identity verified.

Prospective buyers are then given a temporary lock code which allows them access to the house for the hour of their allotted viewing slot. After one hour the code expires and cannot be used again.

“It’s a safety tool that people that maybe feel uncomfortable with people going into a home with them maybe at night, you could just set them up on the system,” said Kirby Maronda, sales manager with Galko Homes. “They can go into the home and you have all of their information.”

Local realtors and companies such as Galko Homes have already signed up with the website, which Jochem believes to be an effective way of keeping realtors safe moving forward.

“Lately we’ve heard a lot of comments about how you can use security cameras, or personal alert devices, and those are great, but the issue is what the responses to the incident is after it has already happened,” Jochem continued.

“With JRTB, we’re trying to eliminate the need for people to even put themselves in that position at all and hopefully with that system in place, we’re eliminating the problem before it becomes an incident.”

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Currently the company is only active in Lethbridge but with safety for sellers and convenience for buyers at the forefront, Agema hopes this is an initiative that will soon be utilized province-wide and beyond.