OPEN HOUSE SAFETY
Open Houses are the bread and butter for many real estate agents. They are also the bread and butter for many thieves. It scares me to think of FSBO owners who hold open houses and do not know what they are doing. I give my clients a safety check list for before and after my open houses. Many individuals are now coming to open houses and trying to steal jewelry or small expensive items and even more prevalent is the looting of medicine cabinets. How do we combat this? The first step is to conduct the house tour yourself not let the visitor's just wander on their own. The sign in sheet is very important and you need to read it before the tour begins for two reasons, one being that you n tell by body language if it is false information and you can also check to see if you can actually decipher their handwriting. How many times have you had a prospect who was interested but then you cannot get in touch with them to follow up because you can't read their name or phone number....that is just bad business.
"I was sitting an open house my first year in the business for another agent, when a woman showed up and refused to sign the ledger. She said she was an agent so I asked her for her card she said I do not have any. So I asked her who she worked for, she got agited. She wanted to view the house without any form of ID. I informed her she needed to sign in to view the home she refused and I asked her to leave. I noticed she avoided touching anything I believe to this day that she was looking to steal something."
Some items to tell your clients before and after an open house;
•1. Secure all valuables
•2. Secure all medico
•3. Make home accessible
•4. As part of staging the home for sale a good portion of their small knick-knacks should be removed already but anything of value, real or sentimental needs to be secured
•5. Pack up and hide any "questionable" or personal items in the bedroom
•6. Remove or replace any risqué or romantic pictures
•7. Try to limit pictures of young children
•8. Put containers or boxes for high value items in the attic (everyone seems to have a laptop box or WII box around)
•9. Remove laptops
•10. Have pass codes on all computers
•11. Do not leave any undergarments in view or in laundry room (I had a listing where the owners daughter was living in the home as the only occupant and she had her undergarments in clear tubs in the laundry room)
•12. Do not leave bills, bank statements etc in an open filing bin on a desk or counter, many people have the mail stacked neatly on the counter and it looks fine but it is open for the world to see.
•13. After the open house I check every room and door, closet to make sure everyone has left
•14. Tell your client to double check every door and window to make sure they are locked
•15. Ensure that the heat and/or AC controls have not been changed
•16. Ensure that any other house systems have not been changed, legitimate buyers may check to see if something is working and then forget to put it back the way it was
Here is a PDF from the National Association of Realtors about open house safety.
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