The Safest House on the Block- Part 5: Your Home Online

Home Security/Home Safety Plan
Written by Larry Betz

How to Remove Your House Photos From Zillow, Blur Your Home on Maps, and Opt Out of Data Brokers

By Larry Betz | Prepared Not Paranoid https://www.preparednotparanoid.com/


If your home has been listed for sale in the last ten years, there's a good chance photos of every room are still online. Your kitchen, your bedrooms, your back door, and sometimes your floor plan. Anyone can look. Learning how to remove your house photos from Zillow and the other big sites takes an afternoon, and it closes a door that's been open since the day your home was listed. Let's not make it too easy for the bad guys.

Why Your Home's Photos Matter

In Part 2, we talked about the Watcher: someone casing a home from the street. Today, a lot of that casing can happen from a couch. Real estate listings can show your square footage, number of bedrooms, doors and windows, entry points, and sometimes a full floor plan. Put that together with Google Street View and satellite images, and someone can learn your home's layout and see your fences, gates, and cameras without ever setting foot on your street.

Here's what a stranger can learn.

You can't erase all of it. Property tax records, for example, are usually public and can be picked up and republished by other sites. But you can remove a lot, blur more, and make your home a lot less useful to someone doing homework on it.

Before You Begin

  • Have proof that you own the home ready, like a utility bill or a property tax statement. Many sites ask for it.

  • Set up a separate email address just for these requests. Some people-search sites sell the emails people use to opt out.

  • Write down what you did and when (Grid 3 below helps). You'll want to check again later.

  • Expect to repeat it. Sites can re-post old photos after a sale, a refinance, or an update.

Step 1: Remove or Edit Your Home on Real Estate Sites

Here's where to start.

These menus change from time to time, so if the wording on the site doesn't match, look for the owner or "claim this home" option.

Zillow

  1. Search for your address and open your home's page.

  2. Click More, then Claim this home.

  3. Sign in or create an account, and verify that you own the home by phone or email.

  4. From the owner dashboard, open Edit facts.

  5. Remove photos, and change or remove details like bedroom count, upgrades, and amenities. Zillow won't delete the home itself, but you can remove the photos and details.

  6. If your home wrongly shows as "for sale" or "sold," contact Zillow support with your address and the problem. Be ready to show proof that you own it.

Homes.com

  1. Search for your address and look for Report Problem with Listing. It may not show up.

  2. If it doesn't, email support@homes.com with your full name, your address, why you're asking, and proof that you own the home (a utility bill or tax statement).

  3. Ask them to unpublish or remove the listing.

Realtor.com

  1. Find your home's listing.

  2. Click Report Issue.

  3. Choose Incorrect home facts or Home not for sale.

  4. You may need to create an account and verify that you own the home.

Step 2: Opt Out of Data Broker Sites

Data brokers, also called people-search sites, collect property records and personal information and sell it. They can show your address, your name, your relatives, and your phone number to anyone who searches.

Common sites to opt out of: Spokeo, Whitepages, NeighborWho, BeenVerified, and PeopleFinders. For each one:

  1. Find the site's opt-out page. (Search the site's name plus "opt out.")

  2. Search for your name or address.

  3. Submit a removal request.

  4. Confirm it through the email they send you.

  5. Repeat for every site, and check back in a few months. Some listings come back.

Use this to keep track.

Want it all on paper? The free Take Your Home Off the Map checklist walks you through every step in this post, with a full data broker opt-out tracker and a once-a-year recheck. DM the word MAP on Instagram or Facebook and I’ll send it to you. [Get it here: LINK]

If you live in California: the state now has a free tool called DROP (Delete Request and Opt-out Platform) at privacy.ca.gov/drop. One request goes to every data broker registered in California, and brokers started processing those requests in August 2026. If you live somewhere else, check whether your state has a privacy law that lets you make deletion requests to data brokers.

Step 3: Blur Your Home on Google Street View

  1. Open Google Maps and enter your address.

  2. Switch to Street View so you're looking at the front of your house.

  3. Click the three-dot menu and choose Report a problem.

  4. Move the red box so it covers your house.

  5. Under what you'd like blurred, choose My home.

  6. Briefly explain your privacy or security concern, add your email, and submit.

Think about it first: once Google blurs your home, you may not be able to undo it. For most families, that's the point. Just know it before you click.

Step 4: Apple Maps, Bing, and Other Map Services

Apple Maps (Look Around)

  1. Find your home in Apple Maps and check whether it shows up in Look Around (tap the binoculars).

  2. There isn't a blur button in the app. Instead, email MapsImageCollection@apple.com with your address and a request to blur your home. A screenshot of the image helps.

Bing Maps (StreetSide)

  1. Go to Bing Maps, open the map style menu, and choose StreetSide.

  2. Click a blue line near your home to open the street-level image.

  3. Click Report a privacy concern with this image.

  4. Add your email, click the part of the image showing your home, and choose House.

  5. Submit.

Step 5: Reduce What's in County Records

Some public records can't be removed. But you can limit what's easy to find:

  • Ask your county whether you can use a PO Box or another mailing address on property records.

  • In rare cases, some counties will seal or redact owner information for safety reasons, like stalking or domestic violence. Ask your county recorder or assessor what the rules are.

  • For a future purchase, some families buy through an LLC or a trust to keep their name off the public record. Talk to an attorney first, and check your state and county for the exact rules.

Watch your title, too. Scammers have used public records to try to sell vacant land and empty homes they don't own. Many counties offer free property fraud alerts that email you if a document is recorded in your name. Ask your county recorder's office if yours does. Paid monitoring services like HomeTitleLock watch your property records too, but they monitor, they don't remove anything. You can also set a free Google Alert for your address.

Final Thoughts

Protecting your home isn't a one-time fix. It's an ongoing process. Put a reminder on your calendar to search your address once a year, the same way you test your smoke alarms.

Get the free Take Your Home Off the Map checklist and do it all in one afternoon: the real estate sites, the map apps, county records, a data broker tracker, and a yearly reminder. DM the word MAP on Instagram or Facebook. [Get it here: LINK]

What to Say: When Someone Asks About Your House

Sometimes the information gathering happens in person, not online. A "buyer" who wants a tour, a "neighbor" asking about your alarm, or a contractor asking more than the job needs.

  • Safe and non-engaging: "We're not selling, thanks."

  • Setting boundaries: "I don't talk about our security with people I don't know."

  • If they persist: "I'm going to end this conversation now." Then walk away, or close the door.

And keep it off social media too. Don't post photos that show your house number, your floor plan, your new safe, or your new TV box at the curb.

SCAN Your Home's Online Footprint

  • S - See your environment. Search your own address on Zillow, Google Maps, and a people-search site. See what a stranger sees.

  • C - Create space. Put distance between your family and the public record: remove, blur, and opt out.

  • A - Act deliberately. Work through Steps 1 to 5 one afternoon, and write down what you did.

  • N - Never doubt your gut feelings. If a photo of your home online makes you uneasy, take it down.

The Prepared Protector is someone who's decided that loving someone means being ready for them, not just hoping things go fine. Sometimes that means spending an afternoon making sure strangers can't see your kids' bedrooms.

Ask Yourself

  • Have I ever searched my own address to see what's online?

  • Are the listing photos from when we bought our home still up?

  • Is my home blurred on Google, Apple, and Bing?

  • Would I know if someone recorded a fake deed on my property?

Remember

A lot of casing happens online now. Remove your listing photos, blur your home on map apps, opt out of data brokers, and check again once a year. Every photo you take down is one less piece of homework someone can do on your family.

This post covers your home online. The Safest House on the Block covers the rest: how criminals pick a home, what they say at your door, and how to harden every layer of your property. Next, Part 6: The Outer Ring, lighting, landscaping, and fences.

Get Started Today

Pair your online cleanup with the free Home Security Audit. Once you've seen your home the way a stranger sees it online, the audit walks you through what they'd see in person: landscaping, fences, lighting, cameras, doors, locks, windows, and the garage. DM the word AUDIT on Instagram or Facebook and I'll send it to you. [Get it here: LINK]

Go Deeper

The Safest House on the Block. This post covers your home online. The book covers your whole home: how criminals choose a target, every common ruse at the door, CPTED and landscaping, fences, doors and locks, windows, the garage, cameras, Wi-Fi, alarm systems, and a complete family security plan with a SWOT analysis for your own home. [Get it here: https://www.preparednotparanoid.com/shop/p/safest-house-on-the-block]

Tools I recommend: The home security gear I recommend is in my Safest House on the Block Amazon store. https://link.amazon/B0dSfoUkh

Related reading:

References

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not legal advice or a substitute for a professional security assessment. Website steps change over time, and property record and privacy laws vary, so check your state and county for the exact rules. Talk to an attorney before using an LLC or trust to hold your home. Affiliate disclosure: I've linked to products from my Amazon store that I personally recommend. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work.

If someone is stalking or threatening you, call 911 in an emergency, and ask your local police and county about protections for your address.

Awareness gives you time. Time gives you options.

The Prepared Protector is someone who's decided that loving someone means being ready for them, not just hoping things go fine.

Prepared Not Paranoid. Protecting the Most Vulnerable Among Us.

Larry Betz https://www.sedonastrengthandmobility.com
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The Safest House on the Block- Part 4: Home Invasion Tactics C: Setups and Ambushes
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The Safest House on the Block, Part 6: The Outer Ring