In a perfect world, people will come look at your home and you would never have to worry about them touching your personal belongings, breaking anything or worse yet, stealing something as they walk out the door.
But in today’s world, that’s sadly not the case. There are plenty of people who would think nothing of grabbing a loose piece of jewelry or a collectable coin that might be in front of them as they pursue your home at an open house, which is why you must take necessary steps to keep your valuables safe.
Your REALTORⓇ will keep an eye on people, of course, but if larger families come and people start looking at different rooms, there’s only so much they can do. Plus, at open houses—especially successful ones—there could be strangers walking in and out of your rooms all day.
The simplest way to protect your stuff from someone with “sticky hands” is to take it out of the home completely. Either take it with you in the trunk of your car or leave it in a box with a trusted friend or relative.
For those rare and one-of-a-kind treasures, consider getting a safety deposit box at your local bank for a few months so you don’t need to worry while your home is on the market.
Some people choose to hide the items in the home, which could work, but you’re still taking a risk. If you have an experienced thief coming to the home for the sole purpose of walking away with something, they will probably have some thoughts on where you might hide things. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
And it’s not just the obvious items that should be considered valuable. Some people may be looking for information, so if you have papers with account numbers or personal information on them, lock them away in a file cabinet. Never leave items like this out on a desk or table, where someone could quickly snap a photo of the numbers and you’d never be the wiser.
Also, if your child has a favorite toy or blanket they can’t live without, safeguard these as well. A young child who is part of a house visit may start playing with a toy while the adults are talking and innocently walk away with it. That could hurt even more than someone stealing money.
Just be smart about it all and you should be fine. It’s not like everyone is out there trying to steal from you, but you don’t want to give anyone reason to consider it or make it easy for someone who is unscrupulous.
