Real estate professionals who successfully grow from solo agents into team leaders quickly discover an operational challenge they didn’t anticipate: password and credential management becomes a critical business issue faster than expected. The moment you bring on your first assistant who needs CRM access, or a junior agent who needs MLS credentials, informal password management stops working.
We spoke with Chris Skipworth, CEO of Passpack, a zero-knowledge password management platform, about why this transition catches so many real estate professionals off guard, and what teams need to know as they scale.
The Transition Point That Most Agents Miss
“The moment you find yourself texting a password to someone or writing it on a sticky note, you’ve outgrown personal password management,” Skipworth explains. The challenge isn’t just about convenience; it’s about liability. Real estate professionals handle client financial information, property access codes, and sensitive transaction data across multiple team members.
The warning signs appear quickly. Team members ask “What’s the password for X?” multiple times a week, indicating no centralized system exists. Someone leaves the team, and the broker realizes they have no clear picture of what systems that person could still access: social media accounts, email marketing platforms, or client databases.
The problem compounds when firms use shared spreadsheets to store passwords. Even password-protected spreadsheets create audit trail nightmares; there’s no way to track who accessed what credentials and when.
Managing a Mixed Workforce
Real estate’s reliance on diverse employment arrangements creates unique security challenges. A single brokerage might have full-time agents, 1099 contractors, virtual assistants, staging consultants, photographers, and marketing freelancers; all needing different levels of access to various systems.
“The key is role-based access control,” Skipworth says. “Your photographer needs your property listing platform, but not client financial data. Your virtual assistant might need email credentials but not your MLS login.”
Proper password management allows firms to create teams with specific permissions. A “Transaction Team” gets DocuSign and escrow platforms. Marketing gets social media and email tools, but nothing transaction-related. Time-limited access becomes crucial, too. Contractors hired for three-month projects should have access that automatically expires.
The Mistake That Undermines Everything
The most common failure, according to Skipworth, is treating password management as an IT problem rather than a business solution. “Teams think, ‘We’ll deal with this when we have time,’ but by the time something goes wrong, a data breach, a departed employee who still has access, the damage is done.”
Another trap: assuming that because real estate is a relationship business, security can remain informal. “Security isn’t about trust; it’s about creating systems that protect everyone. Your most trustworthy agent can still have their laptop stolen or fall victim to phishing.”
Implementation without enforcement proves equally problematic. Firms adopt password managers but then allow team members to continue emailing passwords because it’s “faster.” The system becomes worthless if it’s not used consistently.
Speed Versus Security Is a False Choice
Real estate professionals legitimately worry about security protocols slowing them down. You’re showing a property in 20 minutes and need the lockbox code. You’re at a closing and need immediate wire transfer portal access.
“Good password management actually increases speed; it doesn’t slow you down,” Skipworth counters. When credentials are centralized and organized, team members find what they need in seconds rather than searching email threads or trying to remember password variations.
Modern password managers offer mobile apps for field access, autofill features for faster logins, and automatic strong password generation. “If your team is properly trained and systems are set up correctly, security becomes invisible; it just works,” he explains.
His practical recommendation: organize credentials by use case rather than platform. Create a folder for “Property Showings” containing everything agents need in the field: lockbox codes, access systems, and showing platforms. Create another for “Closings” with transaction-related credentials. “People can find what they need based on what they’re doing, not based on remembering which platform they need.”
Building Security Into Growth
For growing real estate professionals, Skipworth’s advice is straightforward: treat credential management as core infrastructure, not an afterthought. The systems you implement when you hire your second team member will either scale smoothly or create compounding problems as you reach five, ten, or twenty team members.
The firms that handle security well don’t do so because they have bigger budgets or dedicated IT staff. They succeeded because they recognized early that password management is a business problem with business consequences, and they built systems to match.
Chris Skipworth is CEO of Passpack, a zero-knowledge password management platform designed for small to medium-sized businesses, serving professional services firms including real estate brokerages, marketing agencies, and financial services companies.
Disclosure: Individuals or companies mentioned may have a commercial relationship with KeyCrew.
