How The Real Estate Industry Reveals Private Information...Leaving YOU Exposed

If you’re a real estate investor, you know the opportunity for wealth it provides, and the Internet is the tool to make this easier. However, you know...but aren’t willing to admit...the risks that can lead to privacy and security breaches, unwanted attention and surveillance.

Why does this matter?

You’ve got nothing to hide...right?

Wrong.

We’ve all got something to hide…

...or better yet…

...something important to protect.

It’s why we have curtains in our bedrooms, locks on our doors and passwords on our accounts.

It’s not your fault there’s so many risks today, people overlook this. We feel we can’t do anything because “that’s the world we live in.”

This is why I’m going to teach you 3 simple things that you can do to protect yourself: control your publicly available information, optimizing your devices, and separating your assets.

Just like people hope to win the lottery, we hope we don’t end up with our accounts hacked, a lawyer suing us, or a tenant showing up at our door.

Asset Separation is a Great Start...But Not Always Private

Many savvy real estate investors know enough to title property in an LLC, or Corporation.

The problem is when you make an LLC, and still use your home address, you’re still giving anyone with a computer, and a grudge, the ability to look you up. So...even though you’re assets are legally “separated” this doesn’t help when someone can still find your home (LLC) address and show up at your door!

Remember, the information you provide in a real estate deal will become public record. Knowing it’s going to get published, you can control it by providing alternative information.

The solution is to use privacy as an additional layer of security. You must provide alternative information, like a business address, NOT the information that will compromise your physical safety, like your home address. Setting up a business address gives you physical separation from your home, and keeps people a safer distance away.

Brandon’s Story

Brandon was a regular working guy, buying real estate for a few years. He started in his 20s, when he was single. The kind of guy who just “gets after it.”

One day, he got a knock on the door from someone he didn’t know. Turns out it was one of his tenants. Brandon owned a few houses close to home and used a property manager because he still worked in his regular job.

Brandon listened to his tenant talk about some property damage that the tenant felt they should not have to pay for.

“Why isn’t my property manager handling this?” Brandon wondered.

He was getting more tense as he listened.

“Hey...I don’t want to sound rude, but how did you get to my house?” Brandon asked.

Brandon went the traditional route with buying houses, so an obscene amount of his information was online. This info was attached to everything, so even though properties were legally separated, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what he owned...and where he lived.

See how an entitled tenant, and their lawyer, can decide if your worth suing?

Even worse, what if the irate tenant had more malicious intent?

Today, Brandon is married with a son. He still thinks back to that tense conversation he had with his tenant, and wonders how it would have went if he hadn’t learned this…like if his son, or wife, answered the door.

Imagine your child, or spouse, having to deal with an irate tenant, at the front door of your home!

Brandon’s properties now have a legal separation from his personal assets. If he, or his family got into a legal situation, they won’t disturb their personal finances. But...more important to him, his home address isn’t discoverable.

Buying property under different names, and having a different business address protects your identity, and safety. If you still want your alternative info taken offline, you can easily remove it.

Think about the amount of money we spend on home owner insurance, in the small chance that our house burns down. The reason people sell insurance is because there’s a lot of money in it...money you’re paying in premiums. But right now, I can guarantee, with near certainty, that if I know your name, I can find where you live.

Where’s the insurance for that?

How much would you pay for the peace of mind that comes with someone NOT being able to look you up on the Internet...and knock on YOUR door?

Turns out, it only costs a few minutes of your time.

Your Devices Can Expose You...NOT Protect You

Have you ever noticed how your apps suggest ads about something you recently spoke about?

What about when that “unsubscribe” button just doesn’t work?

Ever had your accounts broken into?

The problem is our devices have become data collection devices. Not only that, every company we use has become a data collection company.

It’s not your fault...human nature moves towards comfort. Unfortunately, being too comfortable can get us in trouble, or taken advantage of. Our devices make life pretty comfortable: phone, tablets, computers...even our cars and appliances. Bluetooth toaster, anyone?

Because our devices are so connected, it’s especially important to control what they can and cannot do. Yes...it’s possible. The solution is to optimize our devices for privacy and security. If we understand how to protect our private information, and our devices, we won’t worry when we hear about a data breach, and a targeted attack will do minimal to no damage. Jeffrey’s a great example of this.

Jeffrey’s Story

Jeffrey is a “type A” extrovert who loves reading, tech and business, gravitating towards real estate. He also wanted to manage his own property rather than use a company, and manage other people’s property.

He created a website for himself, working on it for about a week before something incredible happened. He was locked out of his website. He tried his email...same result. With growing anxiety, and a suspicion of what happened, he signed into his bank accounts and saw the few attempts...then a freeze.

When I caught up with Jeffrey, I immediately felt for the guy. Knowing he was a “type A”, I wanted to give him a more “extreme” option, or as close as I could get. He didn’t see that his comfort (human nature) can leave him vulnerable...until it did.

One problem was he used the same email for everything. I also asked if he used the same password for everything. He did. And as he was working on his site, it was left exposed to attacks...like a road worker who doesn’t block traffic.

So, we optimized his devices, making it nearly impossible for this to happen again, with an account and password management system. He changed his habits, only using his (customized) phone for necessary communication, leaving his real work to his highly secure desktop, after only adding a few special tools.

When he got locked out of his accounts, Jeffrey had a panic attack. He felt violated and vulnerable. Now, Jeffrey feels like a weight has been lifted. He feels more secure than ever.

“It’s almost like a superpower,” he told me.

With his accounts, there was a method of protecting his passwords Jeffrey simply overlooked: multi-factor authentication. Through this very simple implementation, you can be secure and make your online life much easier. It’s not hardware or software that gets hacked...it’s our human nature.

Privacy and security are two different practices that work together...just as one hand washes the other, both wash the face.

How Your Public Information Can Draw Unwanted Attention...and Turn People Against You

Have you ever searched yourself on “people search” websites? Most people I try this with don’t care because they “have nothing to hide.” People don’t care about privacy until that privacy is violated.

The problem is, people attach their identity to their home, email...and phone. It all goes in the public domain, especially when buying real estate. You may feel you have nothing to hide...until someone can easily find you...and TRACK you.

It’s not your fault your info ends up online, data mining is big business. One of the easiest solutions to protecting your privacy is to remove your info from people search sites. If you take this simple, first step, you are preventing most people from finding your most private information: your home address, your email...and your phone number.

Sophia didn’t realize the importance of protecting this information...which is what lead to months of stalking and harassment from her jealous coworkers...making her quit her job.

Sophia’s Story

Sophia, and her husband Sal, were doing very well investing in real estate. They started out in the city, then moved to the countryside to live a better life. Sophia has a background, in banking, with a degree, pristine references, and a great track record...the poster child of corporate employment.

Sophia and her husband could support themselves with their real estate, but she still wanted a job, in banking, just to “get out of the house.” Within a year, she moved from a teller position to operations director at a management office, creating jealously and suspicion among coworkers and her employer. She was so good at her job, “they” decided to dig further...and suspected her of money laundering!

Because she used her personal cell phone, and gave that number out freely, her employer (the bank) was able to get a “wiretap” on her cell phone! Of course, her cell provider gave up her info, so they could listen to her conversations. They also ran credit reports, and looked at all her, and her family’s, bank accounts.

The basis of the money laundering accusation came from not finding any mortgages on their real estate.

“How can you own real estate without debt?” they suspiciously wondered.

They accused her of using illegal funds to buy real estate. In reality, she used private family loans to fund her purchases.

I explained to Sophia that if she kept her information private and secure, there would be no possibility of phone surveillance. In addition, I showed her how much info I found about her, and her husband, online...for free...for anyone to see. The couple spoke to a lawyer, and didn’t want many more months of stress, just to keep a job where she wasn’t welcome.

Needless to say, there were several teary-eyed moments.

She left that job, but the scars still hurt.

This story reminds us of human nature, and the state of society. Today, someone only needs to suspect you of something, and bad things start to happen. I promise you, Sophia and Sal are people you’d invite into your home. You’d ask them to watch your children. But...it’s just unfortunate when “small town folks” are suspicious of “big city folks.”

Sophia is a good person with “nothing to hide,” but she could not control the thoughts and actions of other people.

Real estate investors NEED privacy and security working together to protect themselves...online and offline!

We saw how investors, without even realizing it, can have their personal, and business information leaked. Sophia learned how significant this can be...through no fault of her own. Jeffrey, our tech savvy extrovert, overlooked a simple security practice, and it cost him getting locked out of his accounts. Brandon was made aware of the importance of not only legally separating your assets, but also not associating your home address with your real name.

Most people don’t value their privacy until that privacy has been violated. It’s human nature.

You’re already doing great things with investing, now I want to help you guard yourself, and what you’ve worked for.

If you’d like some personalized guidance, specifically tailored to your situation, you can schedule a call with me here.

In 3 sessions, we can:

• identify your publicly available information,

• create better habits when using optimized devices,

• and explore ways to disassociate your assets from yourself.

If you want to implement these steps yourself, I can help.