Reasons To List With A Professional Real Estate Agent (This is the 9th in a series of 10 real life situations)
What Can Happen When Selling My Home
When your home is for sale people will want to see it. They will walk through every room and will open cabinets, closets, doors and windows. Potential buyers want to see how their items will fit in your home.
At the listing appointment, Tucker Benner Realty agents will point out items you will want to secure. We will talk to about putting away obvious items like prescription medications or weapons, of course.
What about other things someone may steal that do not readily come to mind?
Valuables such as jewelry, rare or collector books, heirloom pieces should also be removed and secured. And then consider common everyday items such as an extra set of car keys hanging on a hook.
Someone may accompany a real estate agent to see your home. That person may take a set of car keys left hanging on the key board in the kitchen, for example.
That person could return in the middle of the night. They may simply unlock both car doors in the driveway (you may use the garage to store excess furnishings in anticipation of move) and drive the cars away.
This happened. The vehicles were found stripped a couple days later. A few weeks after that the police caught one of the car thieves. The thief turned out to be a kid (under 18) that had been given both sets of keys by another person. The car keys weren’t immediately missed as they were spares.
Items to Stash
We will point out items like the extra car keys, laptops, video game systems/game libraries, even simple mail items like bank statements. You will want to consider securing some non-prescription drugs, jewelry, and even valuable perfumes.
Items easily picked up by potential buyers may include cell phones, tablets, and other small electronics. Decorative pieces, including photographs, nick-nacks, and silverware may be targets for thieves. Even designer handbags would be relatively easy for someone to take. Why leave them out to tempt someone?
How is this possible with a buyer’s agent accompanying the potential thieves? Thieves may pose as a nice young couple who profess to be interested in purchasing your home. One may distract the buyer’s agent while the other is rifling through your belongings. Professional real estate agents are constantly aware.
Safety Items
Think also about trip hazards, such as slippery throw rugs or stairs that aren’t well-lit. Winter snow and ice on walkways and stairs is a real safety concern in Michigan. If you haven’t moved out of your home yet and have cutlery in the kitchen, put it away where small children can’t reach it.
To help protect your identify from theft, an important safety tip to follow when selling a home is to put away personal bills, calendars, invitations, and other mail pieces. There is often important personal information on these items and if this information ends up in the wrong persons hands, it can easily lead to identity theft. You will not want a potential buyer to have access to your mail, etc.
In addition to identity theft, there is also a risk that account numbers are present on things that are received in the mail. You will want to put away anything that could lead to identity theft or could give someone information as to your whereabouts, such as a calendar or invitations.
All it takes is a thief to pick up one of your credit card bills and they will have your account numbers. Don’t take a chance on this happening.
Password Protect Your Computer
Criminals get more elusive all the time in the ways they come up with to rip people off. You will want to password protect your computer. For a criminal, it would be very easy to spend a few minutes and get into areas of your computer where important account numbers could be found. While this may seem a bit extreme, it is always better to be safe than sorry!
Your Safety
Your safety is our top of mind when we are selling your home. As your listing agents, we will point out the above to you before your home is activated on the market for sale. And remember, no one is allowed to come to your home without us knowing about it and without your consent.
Our safety protocol for your belongings also includes a secure electronic lockbox when possible. With the electronic lockbox, we will know who opens the box, what time they arrive and what time they leave.
We will point out steps you can take following a showing such as ensuring all windows and doors are locked when you return home.
When we are showing a home we are sure that we are the last person out of the house and double check that all windows and doors are locked. We hope other real estate agents do the same.
Final Thoughts
Tucker Benner Realty agents do not overlook safety when selling a home. All home owners should be well aware of the above safety tips when selling a home. Following these home selling safety tips make a big difference.
Marilyn Tucker
