Recently the local news reported that Realtors in the East Bay had had their real estate lockboxes broken into.  The Realtors they'd interviewed were warning their clients out of concern for their client's protection and safety.  The 800 lb. gorrilla in the real estate industry is slowly coming into focus as the public begins to realize the potential dangers that can occur when listing their homes online.
     Approximately 75% of people who begin their search for properties begin their search online. The most popular of these site at this time is Realtor.com.  What percentage of these people are actually professional criminals?
     Are professional criminals using the Multiple Listing Service to their advantage? The realtor's Multiple Listing Service is  an excellent schematic for robbing houses. All the interior photo shots you could want plus a virtual tour to tell you everything you could want to know about a property.
      So what are Realtors doing to advise their clients to protect themselves, and their properties?  Most real estate companies now use a document to advise people to remove any valuables from their home including drugs.   Is anyone asking why do these real estate companies have you sign off in this regard? Because things happen, and more often then the real estate industry would have you believe. 
     Even Realtors are taking steps to protect themselves at Open Houses, or when they go to meet someone at a property.  For obvious reasons, it would not make sense to explain what these precautions are. 
     For self serving reasons many real estate online services do not want these concerns to rise to the surface which could threaten their very existence.  Yet as the economy continues to suffer, criminal activity seems to be on the rise.  And, what is the National Association of Realtors, the California Association of Realtors, and locally the Marin Association of Realtors doing to help protect the consumer?  
    These associations seem to be at the beck and call of all these large corporate real estate sites that have been exploiting the databases off of Realtor's backs the last 3 to 4 years.   Realtors have been led to believe that the greatest exposure you can create for your client is a good thing. List your home on the local MLS and allow the listing to filter out into every kind of imaginable web site.  And now, the 800 lb. gorrilla enters the room.
    When you go to list your property with a real estate professional ask them what they'll do to market your property.  Ask your professional what are the advantages and disadvantages to listing your property on the internet.  Many will not even know why you've asked this question.  Ask if Zillow's zestimages are always accurate.  Can a disgruntle person post negative comments about your property on Trulia?  How many referal companies that sell leads back to realtors will have your information. Will your real estate  professional put a lock box on your property instead of showing your home themselves whenever a realtor or a realtor with a client wants to see your home.  That's the old business model.  Good for the client, a lot of work for the realtor. Or, just list your property on the MLS and internet, and then what?
     Should real estate professionals fully disclose to their clients the myriad of ways someone with criminal intent can use the various real estate sites on the internet to their advantage, and threaten the well being and safety of their clients? What do you think?