If you own property in your own name and somebody sues you, they can go after any assets that are in you own name. That means they can take everything you own, you house, your car, even you future earnings. An excellent way to protect yourself is by putting the real estate that you own into an entity such as an LLC. That way if somebody sues, they can only go after the assets of the LLC and they cannot go after your personal assets.
Whoever is suing can only go after the assets of the company. Make sure you all of your paperwork properly so you don't "pierce the corporate veil". This means that you comingle your personal and corporate business, so that if somebody sues they can go after you personal assets as well.
The details about which entity to form and how to do paperwork is beyond the scope of this article, but there are plenty of resources on the web. A lawyer that you trust can be a great help here.