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THEFT of STAGED HOMES

Two model homes burglarized! You can imagine some of the panic that my client had when my client called and said that the two models had been broken into and massive amounts of products were taken. Well we have done hundreds of homes and it was the first time for our company experienced theft other than few items here and there but this one was a large theft.

The thieves had come shopping at an open house unlocked the garage doors so that they could be manually opened. They made their shopping selections -determined what they wanted and came back later. They pulled the truck into the garage and then filled their truck with all the furniture, art and accessories from both models to furnish one home including appliances.

I was out of town working on a project and got the call from the developer and to be honest I wasn't too concerned because my contract requires that they carry insurance and are responsible for the products so I knew that I would be paid for the missing items. That is when she told me that they had assumed that the insurance on the homes would cover the products and that the policy did not cover any of the items stolen. NOT GOOD NEWS!

That is when it got difficult. the homes had been staged for about 6 months and were part of an ongoing project with about 15 homes being built. They decided to remove the inventory because of the rural location so when I got back into town and gave her the invoice of the items with a replacement value they looked in shock and really didn't want to pay half the amount listed even though I had priced everything very reasonable and fair knowing that they would have to pay themselves and hoping that I could keep the relationship in tact.

Well I got my money for the products but it took 3 months, a broken relationship with the builder and a lesson learned by all involved.

Have a contract that covers loss of your products (Had It!)
Advise client of value of products so insurance can be purchased (Did it!)
Take pictures of products for inventory purposes (Did it!)
Have client show proof of insurance (DID NOT CHECK!)
Advise client to assure all doors and windows are locked after showings- especially garage doors(Didn't know garage doors could be disabled)

Just thought you would like to know...

Posted by Karel Rogers on 02/05/2008 09:23 AM

Comments (13)

real estate staging, home staging

13 Comments on THEFT of STAGED HOMES

FEB

2008

I'm very sorry to hear about this happening to you. A similar situation happened to me over the summer. Fortunately I still have a good relationship with the agent - the builder on the other hand.... well, that's over.

Your advice is definately sound!

Karel,

Hard lesson learned.....it takes all kinds. Sorry for your lost relationship, you have to take a stand for you and the business in order to establish yourself.

Now you can be a crusader for all stagers....so that this dosen't happen to them, or at least show them how to protect themselves.

What an awful experience! I guess my staging agreement will undergo yet another change.

I hate hearing this kind of story. Especially, when you thought you'd done it correctly and covered your assets!

I am so sorry that you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing it with us, we can all learn from each others experiences - good and bad.

Thanks for sharing that with us. It is hard enough for the new construction homes to be vandalized and have the appliances taken, but to have a staged home with the furnishings taken must be devistating. I had one house vandelized 2 in a 2 month period. Others in the area also were and the vandals were caught, but we still had a mess to take care of.

Thanks for the share,

Glad we have a great insurance plan too.

sorry to hear about this, hope this is a one time event.

Regards

I am so sorry this happened to you! Our Myrtle Beach division had this happen recently and they are STILL trying to work it out. Thank you for the tips to make sure we are covering ourselves.

Karel: This breaks my heart- glad to know you had all your bases covered.

Thanks for sharing your unfortunate event so that we can protect our inventories. Sorry you had to experience this.

Kathy

Karel, one of my first stagings was burglarized days after I finished. Fortunately all they took were the appliances. Does your business insurance not cover your inventory? Mine does. However, I do lay the responsibility for the inventory at the feet of the client. But as you found out, that doesn't always work. Sorry for your loss, and the loss of your business relationship. But its another one of those lessons learned, eh?

As I understand it, unless the clients were to take out a special policy to cover your property ( don't even know what that would be called ) it will not be covered by their insurance. It would cover their property. Check with your agents to make sure what your policy covers and get a hefty damage loss deposit . We insure our own inventory.

This is a lesson learned. Unfortunately we can't stop the robberies, but can insure ourselves.

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