Showing your house - risks
I am thinking about whether or not I should have open houses to show my place, which I will put on the market for sale. I fear people may steal or break things. How high do you think the risks are? Do you have any stories to share? What’s the worst you’ve seen happening? Thanks,…
I am thinking about whether or not I should have open houses to show my place, which I will put on the market for sale. I fear people may steal or break things. How high do you think the risks are? Do you have any stories to share? What’s the worst you’ve seen happening? Thanks,
Ray
We sold our apartment at an open house and had no problems. We got lots of offers that the broker was able to weed through and had an accepted offer quickly. I would suggest a thorough de-cluttering, which really helps make your place look bigger and cleaner. It also makes all those small, easily portable items no longer accessable. We actually removed furniture, too. Anything you can get rid of and store elsewhere limits chance of accidental damage or theft and really helps show the house.
We also bought our house after seeing it at an open house only listed in the Times for one weekend. We hadn’t planned to stop since we were aggressively hunting and it didn’t seem by the ad to be the best prospect. But it was on the way and it turned out to be the best house!
thank you all!
I think the exposure advantages of open houses far outweigh the risks of minor theft.
For a house for sale, often the broker’s office will send two agents. If they station themselves in different areas of the house (one on garden or parlor level, one upstairs), they’ll lessen the risk of having people unsupervised in remote areas of the house. Ask if your broker can do this.
For all our open houses, we put everything away. Don’t just put things in drawers, because unscrupulous people will open drawers. Pack away jewelry, cameras, checkbooks, watches, iPods, cellphones and other small valuables in boxes and put them in inaccessible places (i.e. you’d need a ladder to get there). You can also prepare a tote bag to take with you, to stash your valuables.
As far as I can tell, we made it through multiple open houses un-robbed. Friends in Brooklyn Heights did lose some random things, the most valuable of which was a phone charger.
I just held my own open house. I had no problems and as of yet have not noticed anything missing. I removed my valuables and decluttered. I had a friend help so there was always someone in the apt if one of use showed the storage in the basement. Definatly do an open house, you would be stupid not too. You’ll get tire kickers, but you’ll get serious buyers who want to see a couple of places in one day rather than take up time scheduling appts. And have your broker take decent photos.
Definitely have open houses. It’s strange that you would risk not selling your place as quickly just b/c you are hesitant to run the (very small) risk of someone stealing something in an open house. Just lock up your valuables.
What neighborhood is your house in? Unless its in a seriously transitioning neighborhood, I really doubt that Open Housers would take anything. In NY, open houses are so discreetly signed, that most people who have shown up are people who have seen the listing online or through their broker, etc. So most are at least casually interested in seeing your real estate. In other words, you’re not drawing in riff raff off the street who might be tempted to take something b/c they just spotted the sign while driving by and see an opportunity.
First of all, there is a strong marketing benefit inherent to the Open House. People look in the paper or online to see what the new open houses are every weekend, and those are their priority properties to see. They put the appointment properties lower on their list. Also many times people initially want to take a look without having to phone the broker and make it all official. An open house allows people to take a casual look first. Which doesn’t mean they won’t make a serious offer. We ourselves made an offer on our place after casually strolling in on an open house day. Ultimately, if not having an open house means getting one less offer, or getting no offers for several weeks, it can mean having to discount the price. The purpose of an open house is to offers to come in at the SAME TIME. A trickle of calls for appointments does not create competiting bids.
Remove all valuables. Box them up and put them in storage. You’re going to move anyway so just box up everything that’s breakable or takeable.
OP here. Thanks for the comments. I am going to use a broker, but I was trying to decide if I should show my place by appointment only or with open houses. The latter allows more viewings for less work, but also far less control on who comes and who does what. It’s also clear that lots of people that show up at open houses are not potential buyers, just go for fun… and obviously, I worry about what they could do.
What’s the worse you think could happen or have seen?
Thanks
set up a video camera, and then put an Ipod (or an Iphone) in full view. have fun with it.