It's that time of year: September was Realtor^® Safety Month, which means that the National Association of Realtors® has recently released its annual Member Safety Report.

This year's report reveals that 5 percent of Realtors report being a victim of a job-related crime, with 3 percent saying they were a victim of a robbery or assault, 1 percent reporting identity theft, and 1 percent preferring not to say.

Those numbers are the same as last year's survey, but the number of agents who say they have been in a situation that made them fear for their personal safety or the safety of their personal information dropped slightly, to 38 percent from 39 percent in 2016.

Here are other changes in the 2017 Member Safety Report compared to last year:

1. Fewer women report feeling threatened this year (44 percent, down from 46 percent last year), but more men report fearing for their safety in 2017 (25 percent vs. 22 percent in 2016).

 
2. Though men are more likely than women to carry lethal weapons like guns (25 percent of men vs. 12 percent of women) or pocket knives (11 percent v. 5 percent), their carrying rates have dropped among both sexes.

3. Smartphone safety apps have increased in popularity: 44 percent of Realtors® report using them this year, up from 42 percent last year.

4. Realtors^® are less likely to know if their brokers have proactive procedures for personal safety in place. Last year, 28 percent said they didn't know about procedures; that number increased to 30 percent. Likewise, more agents this year (25 percent) reported not knowing about brokerage procedures for disposing of client data than last year (23 percent).




Learn More About Staying Safe

While over a quarter of agents report not knowing about their brokerage's personal safety procedures, there's a good chance that there are best practices in place. If you're not sure, just ask!

NAR also offers array of safety resources at www.realtor.org/safety, including tips and articles, safety training videos, courses and presentation materials, and safety-focused webinars.

And, finally, you can learn more about spotting potentially dangerous situations and people from the 12-part series of RETechnology articles below. The content is borrowed from a Realtor® safety course created by safety app Real Safe Agent. Knowledge is the best way to prevent crimes, so be sure to familiarize yourself with these concepts!

1. Crime Prevention for Real Estate Agents: An Introduction
2. Realtor Safety: Understanding Crime and Criminals
3. Realtor Safety: Anatomy of a Crime
4. Realtor Safety: Reducing the Risk of Being Targeted
5. Realtor Safety: Setting Expectations in Your Marketing
6. Realtor Safety: Screening Prospects Before a Showing
7. Realtor Safety: Evaluating a Property and Neighborhood
8. Realtor Safety: Using the Initial Prospect Call to Deter Predators
9. Realtor Safety: How to Have a Safe Showing
10. Realtor Safety: What Is This Feeling?
11. Realtor Safety: Reading the Prospect
12. Realtor Safety: How the Real Estate Community Can Protect Itself