We have a sexual predator on the loose in the East Bay area of California that has been walking into real estate offices and open houses presenting himself as an interested buyer. He was locked up a couple of weeks ago for violating parole by being on the grounds of an elementary school. He, Daniel Duran, is a convicted rapist and has made bail and is on the street again.
Pam Ellis, from Diversified Capital is an accomplished self-defense artist who teaches women how to protect themselves. You can email her to learn about the classes she is offering real estate professionals.
Women · Initiating · Safe · Environments
The Statistics
IN THE U.S. THERE IS A SEXUAL ASSAULT EVERY 3 MINUTES. One out of every 3 women over the age of 18 will be attacked at some time in her life. Incidents of muggings, sexual assaults, and beatings are increasing 4 times faster than the overall crime rate.
Most of us live in an area that we consider to be safe...or we wouldn't be living there. Something we often overlook is that we may have to work in or travel through unsafe locations. Finding ourselves in a dangerous or unfamiliar location, we are suddenly vulnerable. Some common parties who frequently experience this are sales people, college students, commuters, traveling sports teams, and vacationers.
Many women also work outside of the home. There are many times throughout the day where we are vulnerable as a result of working outside the home. Our business attire is more restrictive, our shoes are not meant for running in, we walk to and from our cars in the dark, we follow the same routes and routines (ideal for a perpetrator who is watching for the right opportunity to attack). We are un-armed, unaccompanied, and distracted with all of our daily responsibilities.
Don't become a statistic! Defend your life.
Real Estate Professionals
Whether you work in Real Estate, Lending, Title, Staging, or any affiliated profession in this industry, you work with people you have never met before. As Realtors, you are the most vulnerable; touring unoccupied homes with these virtual strangers, driving with them, meeting at their homes, sitting in an open house alone, and sometimes traveling outside of your familiar and safe area. If you are a lender or escrow officer, many times you are meeting clients in the evenings, in their home or place of business, and spending several hours out of your safety zone.
In all cases, you find yourself in the position of weakness. A perpetrator can be your client, someone who knows your routine, someone who follows you to your appointment and waits for you to finish, someone who scopes out open houses waiting for you to be alone, or another person in the industry who knows the dangers of this field.
Staying Alive
The W.I.S.E program was developed in 1980 to promote women defending themselves in a life-threatening situation. The mind as well as the body must be trained to handle a confrontation. If the mind is not trained to perform under stress and is put in this kind of situation (such as an assault/rape), it may panic.
People perform the way they are trained. If you are not trained well, you will not react well. If you are trained to be submissive, you will be submissive. If you are trained to survive, you will survive.
The Harper-Mees Team - brings a synergy of skills and talents together that adds unique value and reduces hassles for our client. Client-Focused Team Support.
Real Estate Rapprochement Conflict – You Mean I Have to Get Out & Meet People!!!
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I've studied aikido for nearly 8 years now and consider it to be one of the best self defense skills for women (although I am a man) and I'll tell you why. If you are attacked, it is highly unlikely you will be in a position to throw punches or kicks. It is highly likely however that you will be grabbed. Aikido teaches you to defend yoruself "close in" and offers a myriad of choices when you are grabbed by the arms, around the waist, by the shirt or collar, etc. It makes use of complying techniques in which a finger, elbow or wrist joint can be manipulated by a man, woman or child to cause excruciating pain. You can literally drive a 300 pound man to his knees and get him to comply simply by joint manipulation. While it takes years to become highly efficient at, one can learn the basic skills required to cause severe pain in fairly short order. Combined with some other raw self defense techniques like a knee to the groin, palm to the nose, fingers in the eyes and teeth to whatever they will sink into - you can be quite ferocious. When I was in the army I'd get into some pretty intense wrestling matches - it was a fairly common occurence in the barracks. I once had a smaller guy who didn't enjoy being beaten grab my private parts and squeeze like hell. He ended the match right then and there.
I truly believe the best defense however is to avoid the situation all together. Be alert. If someone at your open house seems weird, mention you've got some other other potential buyers on their way with a comment like, "boy, when it rains it pours! I'm having folks through the door every five minutes and am expecting others so please be patient as I may end up giving you a group tour".
Stay safe out there!
This may be the same lunatic that I recently wrote about who pulled this in Morgan Hill. Your comments are so timely and important. We all need to revisit our safety plans for ourselves and for our clients who count on us to do what we can to keep these predators from having access to their homes.
I just did a blog yesterday on Safety for Realtors per a KAAR alert issued. You have great advice for the agents~take precautions, but if the situation arises-FIGHT!
Men need self defense too. There are lots of strange people out there and some come into an open house to see what they can take.
I have taken the RAD Rape Awareness Defense course twice here in Texas. You remind me that it is probably about time to consider a refresher course again.
Thank you for posting this. We can never be too careful. I rarely "go it alone" to showings and such unless I know the person. Otherwise it is Derek - or both of us. I grew up in NYC and never saw violence until I moved to Oregon - where I saw a robbery at gunpoint - from my elementary school bus stop - when I was 11. You can never be too safe. Thanks again.
Great article! It always pays to be aware of your surroundings and people too. It's time for me to take another class! Growing up with brothers helps too!
Hi John,
In Marin County there is a man going to open houses purporting to be an agent and then pilfers the medicine cabinets and has been suspected of stealing other items as well. There is also a mother and daughter team that do something similar. One of them feigns an injury or illness to distract the agent holding the open house while the other one goes through the home and steals valuables.
In Sonoma and Napa Counties a man stalks the property and then at the end of the open house, when he knows the agent is alone, he goes in and beats her nearly to death. There have been sexual assaults as well.
I have my fiance put the signs out and then pick them up at the end so that I am not alone and vulnerable at these times. I also keep a cordless phone with a land line with me at all times in case I need to dial 911. You can't do this with a cell phone, because that will go to the Highway Patrol. For the fastest response, you need a land line.
Thanks for the reminder about how important it is for everyone to be vigilant and to pay attention to our surroundings. Regardless of where you live, this is very helpful information!
John...
I had better not say too much on this topic. Why?
I will 'ROAR' so loud that more than likely I'll blow out one of your ear drums :)
TLW...I'm A Crazy Blonde That Packs A .38 Go Ahead Make My Day. LOL...ROAR!
Thanks for the post. Even though we take many precautions, it's really best to be as prepared as possible and I think that self-defense classes (particularly ones like Christopher mentioned that teach "close" defense methods) and carrying an easily concealed weapon would definitely be the way to go!
It's important to trust your gut. If it doesn't feel right, something is off even if you can't identify what it is at the time. Get on your phone and make a connection if you can't remove yourself right away. Pretending that someone is on the way is a great idea and notifies a potential suspect that someone is expecting you to be there. Be careful and be aware of what is going on. We also had a rape and assault in Denver last year. It is frightening and in our desire to meet the needs of prospective clients, we can sometimes put ourselves at risk. Thanks for the great information.
I appreciate all the comments and contributions. I know Teresa Boardman had a post a while back in which she explained how she uses her cell phone to snap a picture of the prospective client's license plate and immediately emails it to the office if she is meeting someone she does not know.
Concealed Carry seems to work for lady Realtors around here! More Guns, Less Crime. The training for a CCW seems to add an element of "safety" to how a person carries themselves - an awareness that the criminals seem to tune in to very well.
Hi John~ I heard about that guy...my clients in Pleasanton were a bit wigged out. It's a relief he was caught, but its a good reminder to keep safety in mind at all times..
Thanks for the reminder. I like "concealed weapon" with a sticker on my car window.
Some great points. Being aware of your surroundings, always letting someone know where you'll be, keeping doors locked at OPEN HOUSES etc. etc. etc. I like the comment about growing up with brothers - my father taught me very early on to kick a guy in his nuts if I was ever attacked :) That being said, the one point I'd like to make is - don't be FEARFUL - predators can smell fear - maybe bravery, and guts cannot be taught but FEAR is a horrible adversary. The best way to handle fear is head on, or so it is said. In my experience I have found that if I can accept in my mind what can happen as a result of my fear then I have pretty much come to cope with whatever that might be and I can be a lot braver. So for example, and forgive me for my crude example to illustrate this point:
FEAR: Lizards, snakes reptiles in general
ISSUE: showing land in the desert with open toed shoes on
COPING POINTS: 1) There will be no such reptiles in my path 2) a lizard walks over my toe, I feel squirmish, I may scream and look like a wimp in front of my client but my toe will still be intact and I can wash it and learn my lesson and always keep a pair of sneakers in the car for such times or 3) I get bit and I might lose a toe but at least I'll have 9 others
Now granted option 1) is the desired option here, and while 2) is bearable, 3) is certainly not welcomed. Nonetheless coming to grips with the eventualality of it all helps me curtail my fears. I hope you found this helpful.
Cheers,
Uzi Husain
Arizona Realtor, serving Goodyear & The Phoenix metropolitan area
What a great contribution. This is a public service piece and it is done superbly.
Thanks so much for this post,. It's easy to become too comfortable and forget we need to be very aware. You've encloraged me to look into a self defense course.