It Doesn't Matter
You may be a Realtor showing homes or a person selling their home privately. Statistics show that selling Real Estate is one of the most dangerous jobs in North America. The key word here is "selling" Real Estate. It doesn't matter if you're a professional Realtor or a homeowner. The problem starts when there is a desire and need for someone to interact with complete strangers in a confined and private setting combined with the need for someone to commit a crime.
Realty Safety & Security
It's not difficult to become a target.
Deciding to sell a home privately with the assistance of a Virtual Real Estate office or Realtor, simply charging a fee to list the property on the MLS system produces an online marketing campaign that could attract more into your life than a Buyer. There are no statistics on the subject, but crimes against property owners selling their own homes is just as rampant as crimes against the Realtors who sell them.
Did you know
As soon as a Private For Sale gets listed on the local MLS system , the owner has authorized the "legal" distribution of their name and phone number, complete with numerous pictures of the inside of their home to the entire world. Words that are targeted at Buyers are also prime for crime and are indexed as soon as your listing goes "live". "Luxury, vacant, must sell, open to offers" A Realtor representing your property doesn't disclose your information. They disclose their own.
Security Tips for Selling Your Home
Why Realtors are targeted
They're targeted because they're visible and are very easy to contact. They also portray an element of success which makes them prime candidates for robbery. They are use to dealing with strangers and make themselves available at all hours of the day to show properties. They can't let paranoia about the dangers that haunt the business hurt the chance of making their next sale and the strangers that a Realtor deals with everyday, are the same strangers a person selling their home privately, greets at their front door with open arms.
AgBeat "2011 Realtor Safety Report" Examining a year of attacks on Realtors
Crimes against Realtors
They're senseless, they're heinous and they're unpredictable. According to AbBeat's "2011 Realtor Safety Report; Examining a Year of Attacks on Realtors", there is very little rhyme or reason behind these attacks and murders.
· November 2011: Respected,friendly and,successful Toronto Realtor murdered in upscale Caledon subdivision. The victim knows one of the murderers.
· January 2011: Prominant Toronto Realtor dies from heart attack after being kidnapped
· 48 year old Realtor found dead in his home. Murder suspects met victim on Craigslist and killed him during a botched robbery attempt.
· 27 year old BC Realtor found dead in vacant home; was last seen leaving to show property to a couple, after receiving a showing request from a female. (still unsolved)
· 51 year old Realtor found shot to death in vacant home.
· 57 year old Realtor found stabbed to death by potential buyer, after she questions his ability to buy house.
· Two real-estate agents were killed in vacant homes for sale and another was robbed, all within a week, prompting frightened agents in northeastern Ohio to cancel open houses and avoid meeting prospective buyers alone.
· 71-year-old was robbed, strangled and beaten with a fireplace poker in 2008 while showing a home to a man she believed was a prospective home buyer.
· 40 year old Sara Walker was hosting an open house at a model home in McKinney, Texas, when she was stabbed 27 times by a felon out on parole. Her alleged killer was later arrested
Realtor robbed: Realtor attacked: It doesn't always end in murder
· Toronto police are looking for two suspects after a Century 21 real estate agent was robbed in a house he was showing.
· February 2011: Iowa-- An Ottumwa realtor got the scare of her life Friday when police said she was brutally beaten, tied up and robbed while showing a home.
· Police said 53-year-old Kathy Sorak was lured to 1120 North Court Street by two men who pretended to be interested in buying the home.
· Mid-South Realtor Attacked While Showing HouseJACKSON, TN--Jackson investigators are searching for a man they say attacked a local realtor while she was showing a house Wednesday afternoon.
· San Antonio - A real estate agent says she owes her life to five students who helped her escape a client who brutally attacked her.
· Janice Tisdale says she had just finished showing the man the upscale northwest side home and was reaching for the front door's lock when he struck her head with a pole from inside the house.
.· An Orange County real estate agent was raped and bludgeoned by a man masquerading as a prospective home buyer. The man raped the agent after finding her photo online. The agent was able to survive the brutal attack by alleged assailant after pretending to be dead.
The internet has made Real Estate marketing vibrant and fast, but it has also made things easy for a segment of the population that are looking to seek revenge, rob, rape, murder or fulfill some sick psychological disorder. Be alert, use your intuition and stay safe when you're selling Real Estate, Realtor and Private Seller alike.
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