Realtors are often the target of a variety of criminals because they are often viewed as vulnerable prey, or because they offer potential for a sizable financial score.

As a result, it is not uncommon to read news of another attack on a realtor.  Here is one of the more recent situations I’ve read… Open House Attack.

This is one reason why I actually specialize in training realtors.  Since they are a vulnerable group, it is critical that they develop self protection skills from awareness to combative skills.

I also have an understanding of how they conduct their business, since I’ve worked in the real estate industry for thirty years.  It is the nature of the business that provides criminals with a bit more opportunity compared to other business professionals.

In the case of this recent attack, the victim was armed.  However, she left herself vulnerable to the potential assault by not being alert enough to the potential.

In this case, the realtor was setting up for an open house, when the assailant arrived early.  He then asked her to show him the upstairs of the house, and she obliged.  That was a critical error.

She was lucky, because she was armed and was able to retrieve her weapon, even though she was temporarily blinded by the assailant’s use of bear spray.

If she had not been armed, she would’ve likely ended up as a statistic.

I will stress that being armed is not the end all be all to self defense.  If you don’t practice regularly and go through scenario training, you have no idea how you will react under stress.

This particular criminal was clearly not very bright.  Showing up early to an open house means someone else could’ve caught him in the act or leaving the scene.

Also, he displayed his weapons without getting close enough to pull of the assault.  This gave his victim the opportunity to access her weapon.

The bottom line is this incident could’ve ended up much worse.  There have been plenty of examples where the assailant was successful.

Therefore, if you happen to be a realtor, and you’ve never considered self protection training, what are you waiting for?