Thefts at Open Houses Return to Real Estate Market

November 6th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under • by admin

An old scam is making its rounds again in the world of real-estate.

During an open house, criminals may work in tandem with one of the criminals distracting the realtor while the other rifles around the house looking for jewelry and other valuable items. Often, the criminals may arrive separately within minutes of one another and sometimes they may come pretending to be a couple.

The Washington Post recently reported on an instance where over $43,000 in jewelry was stolen during five open houses in Fairfax County, VA. A group of two men from Maryland traveled down to Virginia and worked in tandem pretending to be a father and son duo looking to buy a home. Police think that the two criminals involved had stolen from more than 20 different open houses.

When selling your home, the best bet is to avoid the possibility of theft in the first place. When selling your home, rent a safety deposit box off the home where you can stash away jewelry and other important valuables. Any important financial papers should also be locked up to prevent identity theft.

Most people that come to an open house at your home will be honest, hard-working potential buyers, but you do have to protect yourself from the few and far between criminals who aren’t. Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid this scam by securing easy-to-steal valuables, such as jewelry, cash, financial documents, small electronics and family heirlooms.