Be On The Lookout AT Your Next Open House.

WOW! Its always so scary.  The nerve of some people.

that is sad. Perhaps setting up arrangement to meet owner before you leave may be the best plus an alarm system.  I wonder if security companies can set up temporary alarm systerms

Hi Sharon~  I tell all of my listing clients to remove all valuables from their home while it is on the market.  It would be too tempting for a thief to lift something during a viewing.  It is impossible for a agent to watch and monitor every single move anyone makes!  Open houses are even more risky.

We do our best to monitor people at open houses, but it's usually impossible when one person is monopolizing our time while another goes off on their own.  That should be the first red flag.

Vickie, I also tell my sellers to either remove or hide well all prescription medicines and valuables when they list their home.  For myself, I take my purse into the house but I lock up my wallet in my car.  Of course, I always have my car keys and cell phone on my person, just in case I have to make a quick getaway. 

The public can be very scary.  It is a recipe for danger to not have a plan to protect yourself and your seller at open houses!!!  Good Post

Sharon,

Good reminder.  Cash, jewelry, prescription drugs and anything else of value, lock it up.

When I had my home listed last year, I had an iPod stolen out of a filing cabinet.  But with no actual proof, I was out of luck.  After that I removed everything of value - jewelry, silver and so on and kept it at my parents house.  I also bought a locking file cabinet for items I still needed to use.  Little investments like that gave me piece of mind when my home was being shown.  It's definitely something that I'll be mentioning to future sellers.

Thanks for the reminder! It is so sad that this happens. 

I have seen some other posts about robbery during open houses.. '

Definitely something that needs to be thought about.