Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
A growing number of real estate professionals are reporting being attacked whilst out on the job, and according to new statistics, these attacks are becoming more and more violent in nature.
Real estate professionals are under attack! © Iryna Dobrovyns'ka - Fotolia.com
What’s more, a growing number of these assaults are becoming deadly, reports Inman News. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a significant increase in the number of fatal injuries suffered by real estate professionals out on the job was recorded in 2010, reaching the highest level since 2003.
Altogether, the real estate industry saw sixty three fatalities in the workplace during 2010, an increase of 19% compared to the previous year. The total number of workplace fatalities for 2010 included 23 homicides, 14 deaths resulting from falls, nine from road traffic accidents and a further eight deaths occurring from exposure to harmful or noxious environments or substances.
The number of deaths in 2010 is the highest figure since 2003, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics first started recording this data. As defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the real estate industry includes real estate agents, brokers, landlords, property managers and appraisers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, landlords are the most likely to suffer physical violence. 12 of the 23 homicide victims recorded in 2010 were landlords, say Inman News.
While fatal assaults are still thankfully quite rare, the number of nonfatal assaults is quite significant. 2010 saw 940 violent attacks against real estate professionals, rising from 620 in 2009, and just 170 the year before that.
Analyzing the findings, Inman News found that fatalities in the workplace among real estate professionals reached their lowest level at the height of the housing boom, in 2005, when just 39 deaths were recorded. Since then, the number of violent assaults on real estate professionals has steadily risen, mirroring the decline of the housing industry – a sign of frustration perhaps?
Wisconsin has conceal carry now. Maybe that should be a consideration.
Women Realtors have it the worst. If they put their picture online and look decent they have every Tom, Dick and Harry harassing them. Then you have the crazy ones that actually rape and attack them.
Also keep in mind if a client gets hurt or killed in a listing of yours that you open to show, you could be liable - hope you're carrying plenty of insurance.
Yeah, I suppose clients dying is almost as big a concern as agents dying themselves!