The truth of the matter is that you usually don’t have much of a choice when it comes to which Realtor lockbox to use. The local Association of Realtors usually chooses one type of lockbox, which essentially has a monopoly over that local area (eg Phoenix, Las Vegas, Detroit, etc.). do not use a Realtor lockbox at all. While you can pressure the Association to choose a particular type of Realtor lockbox when the contract comes up; the decision would ultimately be theirs, not yours. Using any lockbox in addition to your chosen lockbox system would be pointless because other real estate agents would not carry access codes or cards to access your listing.
There are currently two providers of real estate agent safes: Supra and Sentrilock. Supra is made by GE Security, Sentrilock is an independent company; however, Sentrilock received venture capital funding from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR feared that without a strong competitor to Supra, Supra could exploit its market position by raising prices, providing inadequate service, etc. When a local Association of Realtors decides on a safe deposit box, they invite both companies to bid. Companies try to display their prices (for lockbox and user fees), technology (eg access logs, live key updates, real-time information), equipment (eg backlit keyboards) , compatibility with smartphones such as iPhone and Android, and customer support. .
Besides not using a Realtor lock box at all, the other option is to use a mechanical contractors lock box that you can find at any hardware store. While they don’t have many features that you would find in a Realtor lockbox, they do allow for a basic way of granting access to your property to others. They are also cheap – usually around $30, while some Realtor safes are over $100 with many additional costs (use, insurance, training, etc.). Some associations, perhaps produced by your safe deposit box companies, have also taken steps to remove this option. The first rule they can put in is to make it so that sellers can only opt out of a Realtor lockbox by putting it in writing. The next rule may be to require that anyone who uses a mechanical box also have a realtor box on the property. The final rule would simply be to ban mechanical safes altogether. Whether it’s terminating Realtor or delisting from MLS, the rule has real force.