Personal thoughts from within the Luxury Real Estate network
By Robert Lockard
Open houses are excellent opportunities to bring potential buyers into a home and let them gain insights that are difficult to convey through written descriptions or even virtual tours. However, there is a potential risk for luxury real estate agents and others to be aware of, according to a recent article in The Chronicle Herald – stealing. Apparently, two women managed to steal $73,000 worth of jewelry and other valuables during several open houses in New York and New Jersey. Thankfully, they were caught and hopefully the belongings were returned to their rightful owners.
I think that most people are honest and kind, so I am sorry to report that we must be less than trusting in some situations. Several brokers give advice in the article to safeguard valuables, such as locking up jewelry, hiding prescriptions, and putting other important items in hard-to-reach or unusual areas of the house. Marking certain rooms as off-limits can be a good idea, as well. It’s good to be careful, even if you really want to make a sale. Carol Burnett, the vice president of Alain Pinel Realtors advised an agent showing a house to bring an assistant if it is simply too difficult to keep track of everybody at an open house.
This is a rather simplistic idea, and I apologize if it’s a little too simple for your taste. I just think this is an important topic to address, even if we all know the phrase, "It’s better to be safe than sorry."
Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more.
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