PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Following the loss of life Friday of a realtor in what police describe as a murder-suicide, actual property brokers are providing condolences whereas elevating consciousness about their very own security.
Police say Albert Baglione, 84, instructed them “I shot my realtor” at a house on Bolling Highway. Once they arrived, they heard a gunshot and located each Baglione and realtor Soren Arn-Oelschlegel lifeless.
Sources inform 10 On Your Facet Baglione had already signed a contract to buy the house sight-unseen and was sad with it. It might have been the one face-to-face assembly between the 2 males, a closing walk-through previous to when Baglione would have taken possession of the property.
Wendy Carbaugh is a realtor with 17 years of expertise in Hampton Roads and mentioned the neighborhood is in mourning.
“We really feel unhappy for [Arn-Oelschlegel] and his whole household for what occurred. All the pieces comes with danger,” she mentioned in a Monday afternoon interview. “You might be working with individuals you don’t know. You don’t know their households and their backgrounds.”
Like so many in that enterprise, she’s now mourning the loss of life of a colleague and anxious for her personal security. Each time she’s alone with a shopper, she takes precautions.
She leaves the important thing within the entrance door and lets the shopper enter the house first.
“As a result of they will shut the door, and in the event you’re strolling in entrance of them they will shut the door and lock it behind you, and then you definately’re trapped,” she defined.
Carbaugh retains the entrance door keys within the door, and her automobile keys shut at hand to set off her automobile alarm if wanted. She’ll inform individuals in her workplace the place she’s going. When she goes upstairs whereas displaying a house, she stays out of the bedrooms and lets the shopper discover.
“I’ll allow them to wander in every room and I’ll stand within the hallway,” she mentioned, including she gained’t let herself get in a room with an unfamiliar shopper.
Carbaugh has a hid carry allow. She hasn’t carried on the job — but — however Arn-Oelschlegel’s loss of life might very effectively change that.
“I haven’t felt that want but,” she mentioned.
Nonetheless, she says she’s near altering her thoughts and is aware of of different realtors who carry weapons for cover.
The Nationwide Affiliation of Realtors has advice for its members to remain safe when coping with purchasers.
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