They do it on the front door of vacant houses or business places–but not always. Obviously it serves no security purpose. The only reason I can think of is that it signals to authorities that no one should be on the premises, but then I often see clearly vacant premises without padlocks on the doorknob. Anybody know about this?
I believe the padlock is actually a little lock box. The lock box contains the keys to the vacant building, and is accessible by the real estate or other agents who will need to access the building to show it or work inside.
I don’t know if this is the situation you’re talking about, but for properties that are for sale, the padlock is actually a little case that holds the keys to the property. That way, with a real estate agency with multiple agents, they just have a key to the case, and keys to the property stay in the case on the knob. Then there aren’t many copies of the property keys running around, but each agent has a key to the case.
They’re not padlocks. They’re usually key holders for real estate agents. If someone is interested in looking at the property, the buyer’s broker will call the listing broker for the combination to the key holder.
I’ve never seen this.
You’re not talking about a lockbox, are you?
On preview, everyone else seems to think so too
I admit they might look like large padlocks, but I think you are referring to lockboxes used by real estate and rental agents, as others have said. Using a master key, a master code or electronic keys, we can open the box and get a key to the property door.
The electronic versions are quite neat. My key stores the date, time and property data every time I use it, then uploads that data to a central web site later. The showing info (when I came by, who I am, etc.) is then emailed to the listing agent and made into periodic reports.
The only problem is the rechargeable battery in the key only lasts a week before going dead. No, that’s not a bug, it’s designed as an incentive to plug it in (USB), upload the data, and get recharged.
I’d like to give you a link to the company that makes our system (RISCO), but their site seems down right now.
Here’s a link to the RISCO site that works. Note the lockbox and the key shown on the home page.
Maybe they are lock boxes to hold keys.
Lock Box.
Strategery.
Or, lockboxes to hold 1920s style… oh nevermind…
You can even program some cell phones to work as an electric key to open them for access to the keys.
One real estate agent we dealt with while searching for a house for my parents had a system sort of like that. Before we left her office, she’d pick a list of properties to see and send their codes to her PDA. When we got there, she’d use the PDA to unlock the lock box and get the key.
What’s with the word “little.” Our lockboxes are made of metal with a 3 inch shackle and a 6 inch by 3 inch body. If you used one in a fight, it would probably be classified as a deadly weapon.
ETA: BTW, there’s also a “shackle code” that is put in to make the shackle pop open when putting the box on and off.
Thanks all, that explains it.
I don’t see the advantage over the separate electronic key we use (RISCO) other than one less gadget to carry. I can open any box in the area without previous preparation.
Heavy mothers, too, probaby due to the beefy anti-destruct armor and the beefy battery, since you wouldn’t want to have to visit the property frequently to replace or recharge batteries.
This is all true. Just wanted to add that some empty businesses could put actual padlocks temporarily abandoned buildings because they’re not sure who might still have a set of the door keys. Ex-employees wouldn’t have a key to the new padlock.
That would not apply to houses.