I was interviewed today by San Mateo Times about the burglary that happened a few months ago in Atherton where a staged home was broken into and things were taken. The burglars took artwork, accessories and remote controls to both garage doors and sprinklers. The reporter asked me if I was surprised, sadly I said no.

This is not the first time I’ve heard about people stole things out of homes. It happens more frequent than we like to believe. It is more common with vacant homes and certainly can happen to occupied homes as well.

Real estate can be a dangerous industry; most people do not realize it. Selling your home is not only an emotional roller coaster, you are also making yourself vulnerable for all to see. There is a reason why I do not use candlesticks in homes, even though they would look darn good and it will make my life easier. I also don’t use flatware. There have been cases in the past where realtors were attacked with these objects while showing homes. Similarly, I also advise homeowners to pack up valuables, collections and personal photos. Nowadays with technology’s advancement and the popularity of virtual tour, people can browse through your home, floor plan and do their “homework” before they show up to rob you. Open house is also another great time for potential thieves to attack. With high foot traffic during open house, people can raid your medicine cabinets without you knowing. I have heard of agents’ purses went missing after open house while they were showing the home to walk-in potential buyers.

In this particular Atherton case, the burglars also took garage openers. The reporter chuckled when he told me but it makes a lot of sense. They took artwork and accessories because they are easy to run with, unlike a couch where you can be seen by the neighbors. They targeted Atherton because of the high end listing prices come with high-end expensive staging furnishings. They took garage openers because they plan to come back and rob the seller again. They took the control to sprinklers also probably because they couldn’t figure out which is which.

Here are a few tips to help you protect yourself while you put your home up for sale:

*Pack up ALL your valuable artwork, collections, bank records, personal records, personal photos especially you have small children, and etc. Move them to a safe area that can be locked.

*Avoid staging with accessories that can be used as weapons such as flatware, candle sticks, etc. It also lowers your liability in case something does happen.

*If you have windows at the front of the house that can easily tell random people on the street that your home is vacant, use curtains to conceal the interior to make yourself a less of a target.

*During open house, greet everyone that comes through and acknowledge him/her. When I was working in the retail field, simply acknowledging customers who walk in deters incidents of thefts. Because they know you saw them, they will be less likely to steal since they know you have/are noticing them. Also, people are more likely to buy when you acknowledge them! So it’s really a win-win situation for ya.

*This one is crucial: lock the doors. It’s shocking how often agents forgot to lock the front or back door while on their way out. When I was working as a realtor, I got a call from the police at 2am because a silly agent (grrr) forgot to lock the front door and the door was blown wide open! Luckily nothing happened, but I was so freaked out the rest of the night!