How to Protect Your Home from Thieves During an Open House

These quick tips will keep your home safe during an open house

Open houses are the best way to get your home in front of buyer’s eyes, but they are also a good opportunity for thieves trying to cash in on your hospitality. In general, the majority of people are there to actually inquire about buying, so your home is normally safe; still, general precautions are advised. After a robbery at in Florida, I gave some tips to a local news station about how to protect your home from thieves during an open house, and I’d like to share them with you.

Keep anything with personal information on you

This has to be the first thing that you do. In a recent robbery in Florida, the thieves took credit cards and used them at a few local stores. Everything from your driver’s license to your credit cards needs to be safely tucked away on your person. Documents, personal mail, and anything with sensitive information should be hidden or removed.

I advise you to depersonalize the home. Don’t put pictures of your family up. Don’t leave information about vacations on calendars(you’d be surprised who will come back while you’re gone!). Since these are the first things that criminals will look for, keeping them out of sight will keep your home safe during an open house.

Lock up your valuables

Thieves are looking for quick fix items that will net them a few dollars on the open market. They want something they can grab, sell, and not be traced back to. This means things like

• Jewelry
• Laptop computers
• ipads
• China
• Phones

And any other items that can be quickly picked up, taken out, and traded for cash. If it could fit easily into a purse or bag, lock it up!

Put prescription drugs away

One of the biggest draws for thieves at open houses are prescription drugs. These could make a lot of money out on the open market or even help feed their own addictive habits. They can simply take them from you and begin using them right away. That’s the allure. Don’t fall victim to this. Lock them away in a cabinet, put them in your purse, or just take them out of the house altogether.

As a realtor, I do my best to keep an eye on everyone in the home, but when there are 30 or 40 people at an open house in Bradenton, it can be hard to keep track of everyone. Thieves are a rare but real issue in the housing world, so you need to know how to keep your home safe during an open house.

I don’t want to discourage you, though. We have very rarely ever had an issue. If you are looking to sell your home, an open house is still the best way to do it.