Los Angeles real estate lockboxes

May 26, 2011, 5:50 am

There are several types of lockboxes used in Southern California real estate. In the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valley neighborhoods, an electronic lockbox is customarily used. In order to access the key safe, I enter my personal pin number into the key pad and point and click. The listing agent is then emailed that Phyllis Harb showed the property (and the date/time of my showing).

Sometimes our key pads act up, and every now and again an agent will forget to take the keypad out of their charger and bring it to their showing. And surprisingly there are some real estate agents who won’t pay the annual fee to rent the key pad.

When I list a home which is vacant, I also place a combination (combo) lockbox. The combo lockbox provides less security as there is no record of who has accessed it. Prior to giving out the combo, I note the Realtor’s name and telephone number. I have yet to have a problem with the combo lockbox on vacant listings.

Property Management