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We are getting ready to put our house on the market. We have packed up most of our valuable possessions and put them into a secure place, but how do you keep the few things you need and not worry about people taking them? Both realtors and prospective buyers will have access when we are not at home.
I am talking about my jewelry I wear to work, and a few extra dollars we like to keep in the house.
I have this concern because the last time we sold a house, I did lose a couple of earrings.
This is been a major concern of mine. Not only for prospective buyers but when our house has been listed (approx. 4 times in past five or six years). Also when other elderly people that I happen to share this residence with, literally let anyone in the home including service-people without checking them out whatsoever.
I have a safe deposit box and cabinets with locking faces. Camera, flash drives, software discs and other valuables get tossed in there in a moment or two. Dvd's however remain exposed and I need another solution for since these are hot items - my collection does have some hard to find titles.
Too, I've been through home showings where multiple people are placed in the household to watch over, letting no single person drift out of eyeshot and I can see why.
I found a flat toolbox that fit under the seat of my car. I filled that up and took it with me, and sometimes stuff stayed in my car for safety, like when I had movers in to help me load.
We removed most of our items of value from the house prior to showings. If I wasn't wearing the jewelry all the time, it went to my parents for safe keeping. We took everyday things such as laptops with us during the day. A bit of a pain, but fortunately we've sold 3 out of 4 homes within 48 hours of listing.
We carried things like laptops, iPads with us while showings were happening. Things like DVDs were packed away. Jewels and money were also taken with us.
Don't leave any prescriptions in the house. Those are highly valuable to people that are just "scoping" your house.
We are listing in about 1.5 weeks and are going through this.
I have quite a few pieces of jewelry. I left one set out that I will wear when we go out. The rest of the items that are worth something, or that I would be upset if they went missing, are put into my travel jewelry case, a couple other pouches, and 2 earring cases. When we have to leave for a showing we will grab all of those and just take them with us. What's left in the jewelry box are items that, if stolen, won't really upset me.
We will also take checkbooks, 2 guns and ammo, laptops, Nintendo DS & games and any prescription meds. We do have a place that locks that may house any items we don't want to carry with us. We were especially warned about the meds by our agent. Also don't forget to take any keyrings with you that might have house keys on them. I actually made a list of items we need to take so that I won't forget any of them. I may even leave most of the stuff in the carry bag so that we can just grab that and add any other necessary items that we use daily. Luckily we don't have any other rare items. All of our collectibles have already been packed.
It is really annoying that homeowners have to go through this because you can't trust people to be honest anymore.
I put the small items in the trunk of my car under the mat by here the spare tire and jack are kept. Then, even if the car is broken into, thieves do not generally look at the spare tire well.
In my lifetime I have been involved with the selling of about 6 homes. Each time, there were multiple showings. Never once did my family remove any valuables, and never was anything missing.
I know someone who had jewelry stolen out of a locked closet when they were selling the house. I'd put it in a safe deposit box or take it to a trusted friend or family member.
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