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Glad your dog is safe. I had some bad experiences with lock boxes. Had 3 realtors promise that I would be notified before a showing. Didn't happen. My understanding lock boxes are electronic now but when I had them on the homes we sold, it was just a box with a comb. pad with the house key inside. The code was given to the receptionist and when an agent called to show the house, she gave it out. I was supposed to be notified each time. Didnt happen. Sometimes realtors would have another buyer and said, oh I showed this house the other day. Let's drop by real quick.
First house-Came home and my garage door was wide open. We had our snowblower and other stuff in there that could have been stolen. Realtor insisted I must have left it open. Not this OCD chick.
Second house - Came home and the door to our attic was open. A door we rarely ever opened. I didnt even have stuff stored in there. Realtor said our cat must have done it. Really? The door had a heavy latch, it required a good tug. If my cat opened it, then he is on steroids.
Third house - The worst. You would think I had learned my lesson. I was working midnights and stressed about my concerns of someone coming in the house while I was sleeping. i was assured I would be given a call every time the house would be shown. Nope. First time I woke up to people opening my bedroom. They scrambled out before I could see their faces. Left a message for the realtor that I wanted the code of the box so I could take it off the doorknob. She didnt return my call that day. The next morning, I was in the shower and heard people walking around in the house talking. I was done with the lockbox.
The house we have now, the lock box was different. It had a scanner type thing on it. It recorded every time someone opened the box. I thought that was pretty cool.
On side note, my mother is one of those looney lookers. The type that I hate when my house is for sale. One time she told me there was a nice house for sale by her and she wanted to peek in the windows. Its empty she said. I tell her all the time not to do that. So she walks up, peeks in the living room window and comes running back to the car. I asked her what was up. She said a man was sitting on his sofa watching TV. Man, I was pissed!
So glad for those new lockboxes. FYI, at least in some areas the agent has to register something additional with...don't know...Board...anyway has to do something additional so that the entry is recorded. Be sure that is done.
Alternatives...have your own contractor's lockbox where you change the code daily and give it to the receptionist and realtor every morning at....8, whatever.
Have your own lockbox, change combo as you like, tell whoever you like whenever AND tell them you will leave the lockbox out a half hour before the agent is coming....or when the agent calls....or only for this morning (giving several hours) or only this afternoon, etc.
Use the realtor's box with the scanner for who enters....do NOT use one the agents code as they see fit, the code so often being the easy version...your house numbers. BUT have it at your disposal. Not chained, not attached to your doorknob or porch rail. You will set it in a certain spot when notified of a showing that day or morning or that afternoon. Then remember to take it back in when you return after work or wherever you go.
Again. No contractor's lockboxes with your house numbers as the entry code. Too commonly known.
ETex2- my gates WERE locked and secured yesterday morning before work. They are 4-feet high & someone can reach over the gate to unlock. These people saw us when they looked at the home the day before. They saw we had a young child and dog when we were leaving. If you open one's gate to trespass on ny property, at least make sure it's closed. My dog can't push the gate open either. I will NOT take the blame for someone trespassingon my property.
Seems like you need to lock as in not shut but locked so only you can unlock.
And you can find nice words to post on your doors back and front to suit the occasion. Something like only access by licensed Realtors...or agents, if that's what you have. Even a pretty sign on your gate for the occasion of your listing.
Op, and everyone else with a dog: gates should have heavy springs that will close the gate automatically.
All sorts of people leave gates standing open. The meter reader, the neighborhood kids, just about anyone. Making gates self-closing is the way to protect your precious dog from the risks of escape.
Yes, I agree. Buyers were irresponsible jerks, if it was them. But it could have been anybody. Modify that gate so it self closes and in your new house, make all gates self-closing to protect your dog.
It is not dreadful, inappropriate, discourteous or anything like that.
It is called trespassing. It is against the law.
Seek a remedy because this person (if true) probably does this to other people. Who knows what he did under the crawlspace? Did he poke around for dry rot? Pull on wiring to test stays? Move insulation or pex tubing? Did he move coax or antenna cables, telephone wires or look at alarm system wiring?
Find out if he came out and onto your property. If so, demand an accounting of his actions and then that he pay for professional inspection to verify the claim. Make him sign a non-disclosure agreement if he found something he didn't like. Last thing you need is this joke running around talking. If he refuses, report the matter to the local police.
In short, make him go through some misery.
This is no different than anyone else simply walking onto your property and then going under your house. If he opened a crawlspace door, it is unlawful entry.
People do this because no one ever calls them on it. Let it go and they do it to someone else.
My house is on the market and for the very first showing we had, the people closed the master bedroom door. Wouldn't be a big deal, except my cat hides under the bed in there and he was trapped inside the room. Luckily I got home within an hour after they left, but if I had been out of town or gotten home late, poor kitty would've been trapped in there a long time. It was even stated in the showing notes that there is a cat in the house. After that happened my agent had the instructions updated to say all 2nd floor interior doors should stay open.
An acquaintance had a sign on her door to her basement "leave door open". Didn't say it was so that the house cat could access the litter box which was in the basement. So, someone closed the door. The acquaintance was away for a few days.
I'm selling a house in downtown Raleigh and I had buyers leave my back door open. Not unlocked, but WIDE OPEN! And I didn't get home until 10pm that night! It's not like Raleigh is a hotbed for home invasion or anything, but come on people, this is not some suburban cul-de-sac, you can't leave the door open all night! I've had several buyers leave the back door unlocked. Lots of lights left on and stuff, but that doesn't bother me too much. It's easy to leave a light on if you're visiting during the day b/c the house gets so much sunlight you'd never notice. I would at least expect the agent to check that all the doors are closed though, that one really blew my mind.
Same thing happened to me TWICE when selling my last house. Both times, came home from work, saw someone showed the house, found the back door wide open. Both times the showing agents denied up and down it was them or their clients that left the door open even though they were the only showings on that day. Fortunately I lived in the boonies and no one broke in.
ETex2- my gates WERE locked and secured yesterday morning before work. They are 4-feet high & someone can reach over the gate to unlock. These people saw us when they looked at the home the day before. They saw we had a young child and dog when we were leaving. If you open one's gate to trespass on ny property, at least make sure it's closed. My dog can't push the gate open either. I will NOT take the blame for someone trespassingon my property.
Padlock. That requires a key to open. This is for your dog's safety and not only when your home is For Sale.
I had neighbors that lost their dog forever (never found it) due to a gate that a stranger left open. They always closed/latched the gate behind them. They ever found the dog and never found out why the gate was left wide open with no dog to be found.
In a different neighborhood, preteens opened my gate when I wasn't home when the dog was in the yard. A neighbor chased them away and told me about it. It was then that I purchased a padlock for the gate, so the dog wouldn't get lose if/when it happened again.
We had a meter reader leave our gate unlocked and our dog got out.
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