Driving around the Trivalley, you will notice a lot of open house signs during the weekends. Open houses have been a staple of real estate marketing for a long time. In more recent years, as the technology of virtual tours and videos have progressed, the effectiveness of open houses could be questioned. Nonetheless, many real estate agents still hold open houses and many home sellers today request them from their agent.
What home sellers sometimes fail to consider, are the dangers behind holding open houses. As most everyone knows, open houses are open to the public. Guests of open houses do not need to be accompanied by their real estate agents, as they would be when they make appointments to come see your home at a specific time and place. As a result, you are exposing your home to complete strangers. While some of these strangers will be legitimate buyers in the market, others will be neighbors just curious to see the inside of your home, individuals killing the afternoon and looking for decorating ideas, a potential buyer or seller wanting to meet a real estate agent–or worse of all–a possible thief looking for your valuables.
With so many unknown variables, here are some must take steps a homeowner should take prior to opening up the doors for an open house:
Ensure that your real estate agent meets and greets everyone at the front door to serve as the first line of defense against suspicious individuals.
Put away all of your medication drugs and empty the medicine cabinet. It has been known for individuals to go through bathroom medicine cabinets looking for pain killers and the like.
Any item of monetary or sentimental value should be boxed and put away. Small valuable items such as jewelry, cash and watches that typically sit on top of a dresser or on the bathroom counter are too tempting to just leave out.
Family photos should also be put away to protect the privacy of your family members. Not only will this depersonalize your home and help the potential buyers feel more ‘at home’, it will make sure that the wrong stranger does not have specific information about your family.
Put away all mail and bills. Identity theft is a major problem in our country, and by leaving your personal account numbers in view, will open yourself up to this issue.
So while there are some advantages of getting exposure to the market with open houses, there are also some dangers which all home buyers should be aware of to avoid any misfortunes.
Chris Kamali is a TriValley Real Estate Agent, helping clients buy and sell homes in Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon and Livermore.
