This short version is anybody
can.
As a For Sale By Owner, you have
less flexibility to narrow the search down to just Realtors accessing your
home. It is very common for people
driving by to stop and knock on your door, interested in your house. It can happen during your morning shower,
meal times or even right before bed. You
do have a few options to keep this from happening:
- Don’t
answer your door.
- Put
a requirement that all buyers must be accompanied by agents to view the home.
- Let
anybody in at any time.
Except for the last option, you
are going to be limiting your exposure.
Because there is no 1 good location to find legitimate homes for sale by
owners, buyers have limited access to this information. Agents are sending them listings that are
found in our MLS. Some buyers will
either drive a neighborhood they are interested in and come across your home or
they may be searching the internet on their own and come across it that
way. Your home will still not be seen on
the over 50 different websites it would be if you were listed with me.
So….be very cautious about who
you let in. Here are some of the worse
case words of warning and some safety practices.
- Never
leave out any valuables, guns, money or prescriptions that someone might see in
an initial pass through and want to come back and take at a later time.
- Make
sure your doors and windows are locked at all times. After a showing, double check your windows
because it has been known that people will unlock a window to be able to enter
at a later time.
- It
is always a great idea to be able to catch people on video as they enter your
home just so you can have a face recognition in the future if it should ever be
needed.
- Before
you let them in your home, feel free to ask to see their driver’s license. If you can snap a quick picture of it with
their car in the background, that would be a very good deterrent for the bad
guys. If they have nothing to hide then
they shouldn’t have a problem with this step.
- Never,
never, never, never let someone in your home if you are there alone. Always have someone there with you as a
precaution.
It absolutely sucks that we have
to talk about these negative aspects of what may happen inside our own homes. But it is a reality. I would rather arm you with some basic things
to think about than to see you on the 10 o’clock news.
Happy showings!