Protecting Your Property When It’s On The Market.

Over the last several years, there have been an increasing number of vacant properties that are on the market to be sold that have been broken into and vandalized.  As a Realtor, it is a disheartening task to call your client and notify them of this.  As a homeowner it is a devastating call to receive.

In talking with clients, and with police, as well as other Realtors, there are different schools of thought on how to prevent this.  I’ve had clients who say they only want exterior photos of their home online, that way if someone is looking for a home to hit, they won’t be able to easily determine their home is vacant.  This could be true, but in working with buyers, I have found that the vast majority of buyers won’t even add a home to their list of “possible” if there are no interior photos.  Their mindset is that if there are no interior photos it must be horrible, and they are going to bypass it.  So in some cases protecting your property by not allowing photos, will also possibly keep it from getting showings.

The best way, while not full proof, would be to make the home look occupied, at least on line. A seller could hire a stager to furnish the home while it’s on the market.  That way the photos will make it appear occupied, and when it’s being shown or during an open house it will appear occupied.  If a stager isn’t in the budget try an have the photos taken prior to vacating the property.  If that isn’t possible, consider renting furniture for a week, have the photos taken, even have the first open house in that time frame.

Other things that you could do are:

• Have several lamps in your home & have them set on timers for various times of the day/night.
• Have someone make sure there is no mail/newspapers that are piling up that would clue someone in to the fact there is no one there
• Make sure your lawn is mowed routinely, leaves rakes, walks shoveled etc
• Tell neighbors that when they have company, have the company park in your driveway. 
• Have someone that checks your property weekly at the very minimum.

Unfortunately the vandals don’t care about anyone except for themselves.  So the best way to protect your home while it’s on the market, especially if it is vacant, is to treat it as you would if you were going on vacation.  I can’t promise this will prevent the vandals, but it might help.

Dawn Whalen, Realtor, CDPE, GRI

RE/MAX Select

dawnwhalen@remax.net

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