Realtor class in defensive driving

Why is a real estate broker offering defensive driving classes?

Because agents drive a lot, speed and crash, said Joe Moshe, broker owner of Charles Rutenberg Realty in Plainview. Also, he said, it's part of the firm's philosophy to nurture employees as individuals.

Real estate agents were No. 4 on the latest list of top 10 crashers by profession, according to insure.com, a market for policies, and Quality Planning Corp., a firm that validates policyholder information for car insurance providers.

Which profession was No. 1? Apparently, they have bad handwriting and bad driving - doctors, the study said.

There's no question that agents drive a lot, perhaps more than doctors, and often with clients as passengers.

For every 1,000 real estate brokers, there's an average of 102 accidents and 39 speeding tickets each year, said the study, released November 2009.

"When a Real Estate Agent is on the road to meet with a client, they worry about whether they will make their appointment on time, and, unfortunately, that is when crashes or infractions occur," said Moshe, who touts a clear driving record for at least the past 10 years.

He's hosting a two-day course on Oct. 6 and 7 at his Plainview headquarters and will subsidize agents' cost, with each agent chipping in $30 and his firm plunking down $10 to $15 on top of that.

Moshe promises no Charles Rutenberg Realty PR speech to a captive audience. He's been trying to expand the brokerage with new offices on Long Island.

"Part of it is just to let people know that Charles Rutenberg cares about them," he said. "It's another form of advertising. I could spend my money doing these things or put an ad in the paper. I want to create an image of what our company does."

Moshe said he wants to help agents grow as individuals: "I'm constantly talking to them about the philosophy of living, whether it be every time you walk through the streets, to smile at somebody and say 'hello' and see the responses you get back and how you feel about that. The philosophy of life is every day is a good day. The only thing that makes it a bad day is how we approach it."

For Moshe's agents, that means yoga, meditation and other life training later on, if they want them. That's especially important these days in the real estate crisis, as agents return to offices with "long faces" and mortgage woes of their own, the broker said.

"For us, getting them to appreciate what they have in their lives and learning to deal with problems in life . . . is every important to us," Moshe said.
 
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