{"id":1821,"date":"2019-05-09T10:22:11","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T10:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyprofessional.co.za\/agent-robbed-at-gun-point-by-home-buyers\/"},"modified":"2023-05-19T14:00:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T14:00:45","slug":"agent-robbed-at-gun-point-by-home-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyprofessional.co.za\/2019\/05\/09\/agent-robbed-at-gun-point-by-home-buyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Agent robbed at gun point by \u2018home buyers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

MAIN IMAGE: The police and emergency services arrive in the street in Rustenburg where the robbery took place. Source: Supplied<\/strong><\/p>\n

After being robbed at gun point while showing a house to \u2018prospective buyers\u2019, a top agent in Rustenburg in the North West is seriously reconsidering whether she ever wants to sell houses again.<\/p>\n

The safety of estate agents when meeting clients to show them properties or while doing a showhouse is a growing concern in the local estate agency industry. The latest incident involving an experienced estate agent, her elderly mother and her younger colleague being held up at gun point, bound and gagged by a group of well-dressed \u2018home buyers\u2019 brought the issue to the fore again.<\/p>\n

Maria Englezakis has been in real estate for 24 years, the last 12 years with ERA Rustenburg where she won numerous awards as one of their best agents. Becoming a victim of crime while showing a client a house or during an open house was something she never thought would happen to her until Thursday 2 May.<\/p>\n

She had just shown her brother\u2019s house, that is in the market for R2.4m, to a man who had called her about buying the property when two women stopped and asked to see the house. Englezakis says she then made an appointment with them for 12:30 noon. They arrived on time in a brand-new orange Ford Ranger with EC-number plates but with them were two men and another woman who were introduced as the husband of the woman interested in the property and also her brother with his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were dressed to the \u2018T\u2019 and their English was impeccable, so we went in and I closed the gate,\u201d says Englezakis who had a younger female colleague with her. In the garden was also her elderly mother (84) who lives in the house.<\/p>\n

She remembers the woman as being very knowledgeable about property however while they were discussing an offer on the property one man pulled out a gun and put it to her chest. Englezakis and her colleague were taken to one room where they were bound and gagged after being questioned about the location of the safe. Englezakis mother was called in from the garden and then bound and gagged in another room. When Maria heard her mom screaming followed by silence, she thought they had killed her.<\/p>\n

The group ransacked the house and pulled the safe from the wall before leaving. Maria\u2019s colleague managed to get to the kitchen, find a knife and cut them loose. Her mother they found with her hand bleeding, arms and legs bruised and she was gagged so tightly that her mouth bled. She had to be hospitalised in the intensive care unit. The North West police is investigating the robbery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really unexpected. I am totally gutted. I can\u2019t sleep. I don\u2019t even want to sell houses anymore,\u201d says Maria who is receiving counselling.<\/p>\n

According to Renee Breytenbach, franchise owner of ERA Rustenburg, this could be the second time that members from this particular group targeted a house for sale in the area. She had heard of another incident involving three women also in a car of the same description where items from the house were missing after they were shown the property. She is very concerned about the situation and says they will be very sad if Englezakis decides to leave as she is one of their best agents.<\/p>\n

Up to now crime hasn\u2019t been a problem when going about their daily business of selling houses, but following this incident more stringent safety measures are being brought in. Breytenbach says she has instructed their agents to ask clients to come to the office and not to meet them at listed properties anymore. \u201cEven if it costs us a transaction \u2013 the life of our estate agent is worth more,\u201d she adds. She says she also has concerns about security at show days and she instructed her agents to remove \u2018for sale\u2019 signs with their contact details on it, going forward they will rely on other marketing tactics such as online marketing.<\/p>\n

Safety precautions when viewing a property or doing a show house<\/h4>\n

Jean Botha, COO of Just Property Head Office, says safety is a very real concern for their agents and the clients they represent as both people and properties are vulnerable in the viewing process.<\/p>\n

There are a number of non-intrusive precautions that their agents are encouraged to take:<\/p>\n