They Know You're Gone: How Burglars Research Your Home Before Making a Move

You’ve earned those trips—the winter in Florida, the cruise you’ve been putting off, the drive across the country to visit grandchildren. The whole point of retirement is finally having time to go.

What most of us don’t think about while packing is who might be paying attention while we’re away. Modern burglary operations don’t work the way they do in movies. They rarely need to stake out your street for days—they do their research online, before they ever approach your neighborhood.

And the information they need is often sitting in plain sight.

What a burglar can learn before heading your way

Law enforcement has documented burglary crews using real estate platforms to look up potential targets. Investigators in California found apps like Zillow and Redfin on the phones of arrested suspects—used to research property values, past sale prices, and interior photos from old listings showing room layouts, windows, and entry points.

Public property records add another layer. Your name, purchase history, and mailing address are frequently available to anyone willing to look. Data brokers like people-search sites can then connect that address to phone numbers, relatives’ names, and previous homes.

And then there’s social media. A beach photo posted three states from home confirms to anyone watching that your house is sitting empty. The FBI has warned that organized theft groups track the public schedules and online activity of their targets and advise against announcing trips on social media—advice that applies well beyond the wealthy or well-known.

What surprises most people is that they may not be the one sharing the information. A spouse might tag an airport. An adult child could post grandchildren in front of your house with a caption mentioning you’re visiting for the week. A neighbor might comment that you’re away on your annual trip. By the time any of those posts go live, someone researching your property may have a clearer picture of when you’ll return than you’d imagine.

Where this information comes from

Every piece of this puzzle—your address, your family connections, your home’s estimated value—is assembled from sources that are entirely legal. Data brokers collect and sell personal profiles built from public records, social media activity, marketing data, and more. They don’t need your permission. Anyone willing to pay can buy a profile on you, often for as little as a dollar.

What makes this especially relevant for retirees is that retirement brings more travel. More travel means more opportunities for vacation posts, more time away from home, and more chances for that information to build into something useful to the wrong person.

The good news? You can start reducing what’s out there right now.

Reducing your exposure

Doing it yourself

You can request removal from data broker sites directly—it’s free and it’s your right. The challenge is volume: there are hundreds of these companies, each with its own process and waiting period, and many quietly relist your information weeks later. For most people, keeping up with it indefinitely isn’t realistic.

Letting Incogni handle it

That’s why we recommend Incogni. You fill out one short form, one time. Incogni then contacts data brokers on your behalf, monitors for when your information reappears, and submits repeat removal requests automatically. The protection runs continuously as long as you’re a member.

It won’t erase government property records or old real estate listing photos—those require separate steps. What it will do is steadily shrink the personal data available for purchase about you, making it harder to connect your name, your address, and your travel habits into a usable profile.

For anyone who has spent a lifetime building the home they live in, that ongoing protection is worth a great deal.

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Protect your information. Protect your home.

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