buying a home from a distance

Tips For Protecting Your Home During An Open House

11 October 2017

Jeffery Wright

Has your realtor suggested that you have an open house to help get interest in your home? If so, you may have hesitations about letting strangers in your home without you being there to monitor them.  Here are some ways that you can make your home more secure during an open house.

Remove Your Valuables

Chances are that you have several valuable items out in the open in your home every single day. This may be jewelry on your dresser, expensive electronics, or even extra cash sitting out. You'll want to take time to collect these things and put them away in a safe place.

Hiding the items so they are no longer out in the open should be good enough. However, you may want to invest in a safe to put things in during your open house.  It will give you the peace of mind that those items will not be stolen during an open house.  In addition, having a safe for valuable items is just a good idea in general.

Track Your Guests

You will want to make sure that your realtor keeps a log of everyone that comes and visits your home.  The log can be as simple as having your realtor write down the person's name, address, and phone number so that they know who is viewing the home.  You can even have your realtor check their ID if they are worried, and if they refuse, don't let them view the home.  While some guest like privacy when walking through an open house, you can request that your realtor roams the home or walks with guests.  If the potential buyer is uncomfortable walking around your home with your realtor, chances are they are not serious about the home in the first place.

Use Security Cameras

You can always place security cameras in your house for when you have an open house. They are relatively cheap these days, and even record the stream to the cloud so that you can watch it remotely.  You may even learn a thing or two about what potential buyers are looking for in a home.  You can focus on placing cameras in secluded rooms that have valuables, like your bedroom or your basement, and just let your realtor roam around the first floor of your home during the showering.

Speak with your realtor for more ideas on how to keep your home secure during an open house.

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