In our ongoing quest to generate awareness and provide education 
around the topic of Real Estate Safety for Safety Month, we have spoken to thousands of agents over the last few years to gain an insight into when and where safety issues occur. We have heard many stories from agents across the nation, ranging from scary near-misses to the most tragic events.
Over the last year, attacks on REALTORS® have increased, and in our conversations with REALTORS®, the common belief exists that attacks happen almost exclusively to women, and typically at night. Furthermore, many of our conversations began to shed light on how widespread the problem has become.
In order to understand the problem further, and to help provide more information to the community, we partnered with Andrew Wooten from SAFE and AgentGenius to investigate the issue more deeply in their published report: 2011 REALTOR Safety Report. The results surprised us and contradicted what we all believed to be certainties about REALTOR® safety.
The Reality behind Attacks on REALTORS®
The sad reality about REALTOR® safety is that the number and severity of attacks has risen in 2011. In fact, according to Andrew Wooten:
“The past 12 months have been the most violent I have seen in
twenty-six years working in the real estate industry.
We’ve seen an increase in attacks, murders and suicides.”
This is a sad reality indeed, and in general the resarch showed that there were far fewer commonalities between these attacks than what we believed, and what the general population believes. Time of day, location and gender were not what we expected. In fact, the only commonalities in attacks are the following:
- The majority of the attacks on Realtors in 2011 occurred in the afternoons on Thursday or Friday
- Nearly 30% of attack victims are men
- Most attacks did not occur inside major metro areas
- Guns are used roughly 50% of the time in attacks
- Robbery was the intention going into the attack but frequently resulted in murder
Why REALTORS®? What can I do?
Of course by this point, you are probably asking - Why are REALTORS® being attacked? Well, to many the answer is simply that people think REALTORS® are wealthy. To others it has to do with the state of the economy and a chance to rob an otherwise empty property during an open house. But the factors also relate to the nature of the job as REALTORS® work alone much of the time.
So what's the answer? Well, education and preparation are key, as is keeping in touch with family members and colleagues when working alone. Trust your instincts and stay in touch, and remember, no sale is worth your life.
You can read the entire report here: 2011 REALTOR Safety Report
We have also put together a Safety Toolkit that you can download via the form below, and be sure to fill out our Safety Quiz on the download page!
Do you have any thoughts or comments on the report? Please leave a comment below - we would like to hear your thoughts!
Take care and be safe!
The Moby Team
Moby's Real Estate toolkit:
In support of REALTOR® Safety Month we have compiled an all-in-one safety resource kit you can directly download by filling in your information in the form below. The real estate safety toolkit includes all the resources you will need to create a safety presentation at your office, or if you are simply curious about real estate safety.
If you are involved in a Real Estate Association, or help to manage an office, we can help! Just contact us now, and we will get right back to you!
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