Selling your home can be a trying time for any family or individual. Don’t make it worse by leaving yourself open to burglary, vandalism or identity theft. Make use of my Safety Tips for home sellers to protect you, your family and your property.

Safety Tips For Home Sellers

1. Lock it down. While you are de-cluttering your home for sale, store away and lock up any valuables. This includes any paperwork with personal information. An identity can be worth much more than a few jewels. Choose an area to keep valuables and keep it locked. If a buyer is serious, they will make a special request for access.

2. Hire a Realtor. A Realtor not only helps market your home, but acts as an intermediary between other agents and buyers. They schedule home showings for anyone interested in the home. Always require an appointment. Don’t allow walk-ins or surprise showings. If someone comes to your door wanting to see your home, refer them to your Realtor to make an appointment. Let your Realtor vet possible home buyers.

3. Skip the open house. Open houses only work in some areas, and Sanpete isn’t normally one of them. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 3.7 million burglaries a year happen to homeowners. An open house can give any shady characters a chance to scout out the contents of your home.

Related: Do Open Houses in Sanpete County Sell Homes?

4. Plan how you deal with home showings. After a showing, make sure you inspect the home right away. Look for unlocked windows or doors while re-examining areas where valuables are stored. It should also go without saying that children should not be left home alone during a home showing. If a showing time is inconvenient, reschedule.

5. Make your house look lively and lived in. This advice is especially important for anyone selling an unoccupied home:

• Use light timers, and activate them at all hours of the day and night. 65% of home burglaries happen between the hours of 6am and 6pm.¹
• Keep the security system armed.
• Double check all windows and lightly used entrances. A hot night can cause half the windows in a home to be unlocked and open in the morning.
• Park vehicles in the main driveway, and move them occasionally.
• Confide in a neighbor or your Realtor to monitor the home and pick up any newspapers, packages or flyers.

The whole process of selling a home can cause any family stress, but hopefully these safety tips for home sellers will help. Don’t let any burglar or other shady individual take advantage of your stress. Take time to plan and stick to your plan. No home sale is worth the injury or loss of a loved one.

Do you have any suggestions for how sellers can protect themselves while selling their homes? Share them in the comments.

Sources:
http://simplisafe.com/blog/break-in-times

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