We’ve had to find new ways to do many things this year – including washing our hands almost incessantly, wearing a mask, and if you have ventured out to patronize a local restaurant when outdoor dining has been allowed, you’ve most likely been eating in a repurposed parking place under an EasyUp in a folding chair.
You may want to consider some new ways to keep your things safe and secure if you are selling your house. Here are few tips for prepping the house for showings, in addition to all the coronavirus protection measures.
Make sure your home office and home classrooms are impervious to unwanted intrusion.
Certainly don’t leave the list of passwords on your desk, pinned to a bulletin board, written on a whiteboard, on a sticky note on your computer screen, or in your pencil drawer. When it is possible and practical, pack up your laptops and take them with you when you go sit in your car while buyers are in your house. If you have a traditional “tower” computer, shut it down completely before the buyers arrive. In addition, put away your phones, tablets and chargers and any other small electronics, if you are not taking them with you.
Stash away your prescription medicine.
Regardless of the dosage, purpose or number of pills in the bottle, either take your meds with you or lock them up somewhere safe while buyers are in your house. These items are so small, they are easy to quickly pop into a pocket or purse. Put them away in advance of a showing so they are impossible to find for anyone other than the person for whom they were prescribed.
Without question, put all jewelry in a safe place that is inaccessible and undetectable.
This may be a great time to invest in an actual, physical safe that can be both locked and secured. Depending on the size, many such safes can be secured to a wall, preventing them from being scooped up for breaking into at another time. You might also consider storing your meds in the safe!
If you keep firearms in your home and don’t already have a gun safe, now’s the time to bite the bullet.
You must secure your guns and ammo, especially when inviting strangers into your home. Just like loose change, there’s currently a shortage of ammunition, making it a likely target for theft. Make it impossible for anyone to access your guns and ammo. And if you keep a loaded weapon in your home for your personal protection, you must rethink this when buyers are visiting. If your gun safe is large enough, you may also be able to secure all of the other valuable items there as well.
We’ve all witnessed creative solutions to these unusual circumstances, do not underestimate the measures desperate people will use to survive, potentially at your expense.
Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an agent with Realty One Group West. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com.
Source: Orange County Register
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