Staying safe while selling your home
September is REALTOR Safety Month which seems like a good time to chat about keeping you and your home safe when selling your home.
While your home is on the market you are allowing complete strangers to enter your home when you are not there - which is really quite crazy if you think about it! So it is important to talk about your, others and property safety with your real estate agent in advance.
Most everyone who will walk through your home are there to see your home with the option to purchase. Unfortunately, as with anywhere there are occasional problems that means you want to take a few extra precautions.
Personal Safety
While your home is on the market, keep all exterior doors locked whether you are home or not. Make sure you understand how real estate agents with their clients will be accessing your home and whether showings are accompanied by your listing agent or not.
Let’s talk about Safety!
Your home, your stuff, you and of others.
If someone knocks unexpectedly, do not open the door or let them into your home under any circumstances! Ask them to contact your agent - point to the yard sign. If they are persistent, please call 911! No showing or home sale is worth risking your safety. If someone says they have a showing and you do not believe this is the case, do not grant them access to your home. Contact your agent to clarify.
Depending on your relationship with your neighbors, you may want to let your neighbors know that your home will be on the market and who to contact if they see anything unexpected. Some Real Estate Professionals will try to meet your neighbors and let them know who to contact if they see anything suspicious.
Think "Stranger Danger!" during this time.
Personal Property
Most prospective buyers are only there to view your home, however you should remove any small items of value that could tempt someone. You want to remove the following from your home for all Open Houses, showings or inspections:
All prescription medications including pet medications.
Small electronics including mobile phones, tablets, gaming devices, laptops, fancy earbuds.
Jewelry that is valuable or meaningful to you.
Guns, ammunition, or weapons including display antiques - if you can remove a gun safe prior to listing your home, even better.
Items of high collectible value or recognizable original artwork.
Secure/remove any cash or checkbooks. You should also put any bank statements, bills or financial documents under lock and key or at least away from easy access. Now might be a good time to shred or dispose of old documents.
Today's Home Security Devices
Tell your Real Estate Professional know if there are any Video or Audio Recording or Security Devices located inside or outside your home. It is illegal in Massachusetts to secretly record a conversation. If you have these recording devices in use, it needs to be disclosed to all prospective buyers and their agents or those devices need to be completely turned off (unplugged is even better). These recording devices include today's relatively inexpensive WiFi home security devices such as the Ring Doorbell, Google Nest Home, Blink cameras, SimpliSafe, Amazon Alexa, and any nanny or web cams.
Protecting your and other’s health
Discuss your real estate professional’s plan for marketing your property during the pandemic. Please let your agent know if you or anyone who lives in the home is in a high risk category, has been exposed to COVID-19 or is feeling ill at any time. Showings or access can be paused at any time - it is more important for everyone to stay safe!
Questions to ask your agent:
What are you doing to encourage virtual showings or provide potential buyers with additional information to help them decide whether or not to view the property?
How are you tracking access to the property?
Are you going to hold Open Houses while the home is being marketed?
How many people will be allowed in the property at a time? How are you limiting access?
Are masks, gloves and/or shoe coverings required? Will you provide masks or gloves/hand sanitizer to anyone who needs them?
Are buyers or agents required to complete a health affidavit before entering the home?
What should I do before/after showings to keep myself and others as safe as possible?
Feel free to reach out with any questions about how to best market your home!
