Some realty professionals speak out of both sides of their mouths, according to new research. A recent study found that some agents, teams and brokers profess to being highly knowledgeable about their local markets, but cast a far wider net when marketing themselves.

“The headline for the survey could very well read, ‘Agents, teams and brokers say one thing, do another,’” says the WAV Group, a consulting firm, in a release. WAV Group conducted the study for zavvie, a Colorado-based technology firm.

In that zavvie sells an online marketing platform that allows agents to dominate their local areas, the study’s results could be considered self-serving. But Kevin Hawkins, president of WAV’s communications affiliate, says the data was not manipulated in any way by, or for, zavvie.

“They sponsored the survey and paid for it, but they did not have anything to do with” the results, he says.

Besides, Hawkins adds, numerous companies offer hyperlocal marketing programs, not just zavvie. The survey serves them all, not just WAV’s client.

As Hawkins sees it, the hyperlocal movement has taken over a number of businesses already -- the farm-to-table crusade in the restaurant field, for example -- and many consumers are enthusiastic about the trend. Yet real estate is lagging.

“Real estate has always been about ‘local, local, local,’ but agents tend to cast a wider net,” Hawkins says. “You can’t be an ‘expert’ that far and wide. The ideal market in the real estate world is about 3,000 houses. That’s what’s needed to create a sustainable, ongoing business.”

In what is said to be the first-ever survey of its kind, researchers found that a nearly unanimous 95 percent of agents, teams, broker-owners and realty executives say local market knowledge is either “very important” or “extremely important” to their clients. But the poll found a “great disconnect” between that sentiment and what realty pros are actually practicing in their marketing activities.

Says zavvie CEO and co-founder Lane Hornung: “The survey clearly shows their marketing efforts are not consistent with hyperlocal being an actual priority.”

When asked how many respondents actually specialize in neighborhoods, just 12 percent -- about 1 in 8 -- raised their hands.

Hornung suggested that agents and teams who want to go local should focus their marketing activities specifically on a neighborhood or group of neighborhoods, which the zavvie exec defined as about 10,000 people -- or roughly, as Hawkins mentioned, 3,000 houses.

“In fact, the study found that most real estate professionals are doing the exact opposite,” says Hornung. “They are casting the largest net, trying to draw their marketing circle as broad as possible.”

The survey was returned by some 425 respondents, including 350 practicing professionals. Agents accounted for more than half the responses, while broker-owners and company executives made up about a third.

More than 3 in 5 agents and teams reported specializing in a large regional or metro area, a finding that Stefan Peterson, zavvie’s COO and other co-founder, called an “oxymoron.”

“You can’t specialize in a city or a town. It’s just too big of an area geographically (for one person) to be a ‘go-to expert’ that knows every single home in that size of a market,” he said. “Yet that’s what folks are claiming.”

More evidence of this behavioral disconnect between what agents say and what they actually do: Few agents and teams reported using marketing tools that let them share their local expertise -- tools such as a blog (7 percent used one), a neighborhood website (15 percent) or Nextdoor, a private social network serving local communities (15 percent).

“All of these are core tools of a typical hyperlocal agent’s marketing system,” said Peterson.

At the same time, 38 percent said they were “extremely knowledgeable” and 42 percent more were “very knowledgeable” about local goings-on and changes that impact the real estate market.

Peterson says that this finding begs the question: “If all of these agents, teams and brokerages have all this local knowledge, how is anyone going to know it if they are not sharing it?”

According to the FBI, the number of burglaries committed in the first half of 2017 decreased by 6.1 percent from the same period of 2016 -- and by 10.6 percent in metropolitan areas specifically.

But despite the decline, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that 3.3 million Americans were victims of household robberies in 2016, the last year for which stats are available. That works out to 24.7 thefts per 1,000 households.

Much has been written about how to protect yourself and your home against break-ins. Whatever precautions you take, if you happen to be victimized, what you do after the fact is just as important -- especially for your mental well-being.

Surprisingly, only half of burglary victims notify police that they’ve been robbed. But you should.

You need to call the cops right away, if only because the perpetrator might still be on the premises: BJS reports that 7 percent of all home burglaries involve violence against household members. So consider calling the authorities from your car.

The police should give you a case number, which you’ll need for your next phone call: to file a claim with your insurance company. A police report and investigation will help bolster your insurance claim, so let the police do their jobs. Don’t touch anything, but do take pictures of the damage and places from which things were stolen, to document the losses.

Next, the experts say, vacate the place until it is no longer a crime scene. Check yourself into a hotel and try to chill. Of course, relaxing is easier said than done. If you have trouble calming yourself down, try talking with friends, family members or a clergy member. Don’t be afraid to lean on others for emotional support and comfort.

If your anxiety persists, consider seeing a professional therapist who can help you move along with your life. Maybe you can find a group of other robbery victims who meet with a social worker to talk through their anxieties and fears.

Once everything settles down, return home and immediately change every lock in the house: windows, doors, even the locks on your garage doors. It might be a good idea to have a different lockset and key for each door, but ask your locksmith or a hardware store specialist for advice.

Now, it’s time to consider how to better protect your home, valuables and family from another theft. Once a burglar has successfully broken into a home, they sometimes return for another shot.

The National Crime Prevention Council has an entire suite of hints to help you review your home security and identify any shortcomings: Visit ncpc.org/resources/home-neighborhood-safety. Also, check the websites of the numerous outfits that peddle alarm systems and other security measures. For example, ADT has a five-step home-security guide, while SimpliSafe recommends always setting your alarm system, even when you’re home.

You will probably find that a whole-house security system with cameras and motion-activated flashing lights is an expensive deterrent. But the cost may well be worth it for your peace of mind. And, of course, by installing such a system, you should be able to wrangle a big discount on your homeowner’s insurance -- maybe even 20 percent or so.

Finally, let’s all be a little more vigilant: Keep your doors and windows locked at all times, don’t allow package delivery services to leave stuff at your front door, and don’t allow mail and newspapers to pile up if you are away -- even just for a day or two.

Keep your curtains and garage doors closed so thieves can’t check out your goodies in advance of their next strike. Keep watches, keys, jewelry and cash out of sight, and store them in hard-to-find places -- ideally a safe. If you don’t have one, consider buying one. A safe can protect expensive items like jewelry and guns from theft, while also keeping important paperwork out of a criminal’s hands.

Also, to minimize the chances of your vehicle being used for a quick getaway, find another place for your car keys. Don’t keep them near an exterior doorway.

By the way, even if it was your neighbor’s house that was hit, you should consider the steps outlined here. Otherwise, you could be next.

It often takes 10 weeks for wannabe homebuyers to find the right house -- sometimes much longer, if they’re in a part of the country with low inventory.

According to the National Association of Realtors’ latest Profile of Buyers and Sellers, that’s a little shorter than the 12 weeks it typically took five years ago. Still, buyers said that finding the right house was the “most difficult step” in the buying process.

Indeed, in the new home market, half the would-be buyers have been actively searching for at least three months, the National Association of Home Builders reports. And the vast majority of them say they are going to continue house-hunting until they find what has so far been elusive. Only 16 percent said they were ready to give up the chase.

The NAHB survey doesn’t say how many houses or communities these house-hunters have visited so far. But in the resale sector, NAR says people tend to look at 10 houses before pulling the trigger.

There are outliers, though, according to a recent post on the ActiveRain real estate site. Some buyers want to view that many houses -- in a single day!

Sybil Campbell of Long and Foster Real Estate in Williamsburg, Virginia, recently took a call from another agent wanting to set up an appointment for her young clients, who were in town to look at houses before moving to the area. The agent told her they were planning to see four houses on one day and 18 more the next day.

Campbell’s policy is to show no more than eight houses in one day. “I have found that most buyers start to forget specific details about the houses after they have seen six or seven,” she posted.

Most other agents who responded to the post agreed, and several echoed Campbell’s sentiment that viewing too many houses in a single day doesn’t do anyone any good.

William Feela of Whispering Pines Realty in North Branch, Minnesota, said he has shown out-of-town buyers up to a dozen in a day, but finds that “few buyers can process more than four.”

Abby Stiller with Premier Realty Homes in Cape Coral, Florida, said her top number was 10, but that she’s only shown that many a few times. “It is not recommended,” she said. “It will be hard to remember all the houses, and it will be difficult to make a decision.”

Added Erika Rae Albert of eXp Realty in Austin, Texas: “Anything more than six, and they all start to blend together.”

Of course, there are exceptions. For Georgie Hunter of Hawaii Life Real Estate on Maui, the exceptions are condominium apartments. If there are many units for sale in a single building or complex, she wrote, “it can be easy to knock out three or four at once and then move on to the next place.” In such cases, she said, it’s more about location and amenities than the individual units, which all tend to be very similar.

No matter how many homes you see in a single day -- whether it’s five or 18 -- it’s a good idea to have a game plan, advises Kelly Dixon of RE/MAX in Clearwater, Florida. She said she allows her buyers, many of whom are from out of town and have to pack a lot into a short time frame, to determine how many houses they think they can see.

But Dixon has a game plan, too: As they tour, she asks them to compare House 1 to House 2, then House 2 to House 3, and so on -- just like at the eye doctor’s office. She also plans a midday break for lunch to regroup and refocus.

Margaret Mitchell of Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty in York, Maine, also sees a lot of out-of-towners. She copped to showing 12 houses in a single day “when necessary,” but not without a game plan of her own: “I keep a verbal running tally with buyers of what is on their short list and what is off their list as we go.”

Mitchell also discusses the homes on the master list before agreeing to a marathon day of showings. “My expectation is that they will pick one,” she said. To facilitate that, she takes the clients back for second showings at those homes that make the short list.

Jeff Dowler of Solutions Real Estate in Carlsbad, California, recommends taking photos and notes as you move through multiple showings.

Tim Maitski of the Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage, who has shown as many as 22 houses in a single day, says it doesn’t take long for prospects to eliminate a house -- “usually in the first minute.” He said that once buyers have a couple top contenders in mind, “the rest is easy. ... Every home after that, just ask yourself if this one beats out either of the top two.”