Hey {{first_name}},

Every morning before the sun's fully up, I'm out running Lake County roads — and lately I've been noticing how much of daily life happens in plain view of the street. Garages open. Packages on porches. Kids' bikes in the driveway. It's the ordinary texture of a neighborhood.

Turns out, Google's been capturing that same view for years — and it's sitting online for anyone to zoom into. This week: what's visible about your house right now, what buyers and sellers are quietly researching about each other, and some real numbers on cybercrime in real estate worth fifteen minutes of your attention.

Quick take:

Search your own address on Google Maps, drop into Street View, and you'll likely find a close-up photo of your house — front door, windows, layout and all. It's been there since Street View launched, quietly updating every couple of years.

For most of us, that's harmless. But security experts have started pointing out the flip side: that same image gives anyone — not just neighbors, but burglars, stalkers, or scammers — a free preview of your home's layout, entry points, and even routines, without ever setting foot on your street.

Here's the part that doesn't get talked about much: if you're selling, buyers aren't just touring your house on a Saturday. They're googling it days or weeks before they ever call an agent. Street View, satellite images, old listing photos, Zillow's price history — they're building a picture of your home before you've met them. Doesn't matter if it's a colonial in Mundelein or a lakefront place in Lake Forest — everyone's doing this homework now.

And it runs both directions. If you're the buyer, sellers and agents are very often doing the same to you — checking your name, your social media, sometimes even your address, especially once an offer's on the table. Going in aware beats finding out the hard way that your Street View photo, your Facebook, or your old listing history said more than you meant it to.

This only works on a laptop or desktop — not the phone app — so save it for when you're at a computer.

One catch worth knowing before you click submit: this is permanent. Once Google blurs it, there's no way to undo it later — say, when you go to sell and want buyers to see curb appeal from a search. It can also draw more curiosity than it deflects, and can confuse deliveries or emergency response, since drivers and first responders often rely on a visual match. And it doesn't undo other exposure — Zillow, old listings, and social media are still out there.

Home privacy is one thing. The bigger, costlier issue in real estate right now is cybercrime around the transaction itself. A few numbers worth knowing, whether you're buying, selling, or just watching the market:

AI is now a named driver of real estate fraud. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center attributes $275 million lost to AI-enabled real estate fraud last year, with scams including fake investments and rental fraud becoming more scalable and convincing due to AI-generated phishing and deepfake technology — a sharp increase over the two years prior.

Seller impersonation is rising, and suspicious closing messages are common. More than one in five consumers report receiving suspicious communications during closing, and 57% of title and escrow companies say they encounter suspicious activity regularly.

Nearly half of mortgage transactions are now flagged for fraud risk. Nearly 44% of mortgage transactions in the first quarter of 2026 were flagged for significant wire and title fraud risks, based on a monitored portfolio worth more than $106.7 billion.

Even QR codes aren't immune. Fraudsters have started manipulating or replacing legitimate QR codes used in title and real estate marketing to redirect people to fake payment portals — worth a second look before you scan anything tied to money.

Locally, the Lake County Clerk's Office offers a free tool worth signing up for either way: PropertyCheck™. It alerts you by email or text any time a document — like a deed — gets recorded against your name or property. It won't stop a scam on its own, but it means you'll know fast if something's been filed that shouldn't be.

If you're days from closing and get an email with "updated" wiring instructions — even one that looks perfect — stop and call your title company directly using a number you already have, not one from the email. Wire transfers are fast and unforgiving, and title insurance typically doesn't cover fraud losses.

Sources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, CertifID 2026 State of Wire Fraud Report, FundingShield Q1 2026 report.

Here's the thing about everything above: none of it is a reason to be scared of buying or selling a house. It's a reason to not do it alone.

A random email with "updated" wiring instructions is convincing precisely because it's designed to arrive at the one moment you're moving fast and trusting the process — right before closing, when everyone's tired and the finish line is close. That's exactly the moment where having a real person you already know, on a phone number you already have, matters more than any spam filter. I'm not the only line of defense in a transaction — but I'm one you can actually call, and I work with a title company, lender, and attorney network I trust precisely because we've caught this stuff before it became a headline.

If you're getting ready to sell, timing matters on the Google Maps piece too — blur it too early and it can work against you if buyers are scanning the area before reaching out. And whether you're buying or selling, this is exactly the kind of thing I walk clients through as we get closer to closing — not to scare you, just so nothing catches you off guard.

Thank you for being here — I don't take it lightly that you let this newsletter into your inbox every week. If this issue was helpful, pass it along to someone who might be thinking about making a move. The forward button is one of the kindest things you can do for someone who doesn't know where to start.

And if you're not already following along on Instagram, come find me — I share market updates, local content, and the occasional thing that didn't make it into the newsletter. @michaelsteber_realtor

Until next week…