We do put away all valuables. And now in light of all the identity theft, even things like credit card statements etc should be in a locked filing cabinet. We've never had an open house on any of the homes we've sold in the past so an agent didn't have to keep his/her eyes on many people at the same time, still I wouldn't leave any valuable item in plain sight of strangers entering my home for a showing. It's only prudent to protect your valuables.

We've always boxed up valuables and put them in the attic or basement. Although I do remember the time when my then teenage son was helping me and clearly labeled the box "mom's jewelry box". Nothing like letting prospective crooks know which boxes contain valuables.

Prescription drugs should be put away too. I had some disappear during an open house.

You betcha! You never know when someone is looking at a house if they are really looking to buy or looking to see what is inside.....either way the wrong information said to the wrong person and you could end up with a bulargized home.
I don't beileve in tempting fate. It's much better to error on the side of caution.
I also think if you leave your valuables out there's a good chance that any lookers will be more incline to remember your valuables than they are the house. There's enough competion out there for selling a house without an owner creating more inside the home.I want my lookers to remember the house as being one they loved, not for the beautiful 100 yr. old crystal sitting on the sidebard.

This fear (well, along with the long PITA list of selling a home) is why we will only sell an empty home.

If you do a search, there are some very good tips regarding this topic - from packing a suitcase with your prescription drugs and jewelry and grabbing it when you leave the house so it can be shown, to packing and storing the items you can live without while your house is for sale.

cordovamom -- O! I love that! Did he use neon marker and a big arrow, too?

Our movers -- well, one of the packers -- stole some pills out of my medicine cabinet. I only noticed when I saw the medicine cabinet closed tight. I never closed it because it had childproof locks. Clever fellow didn't take them all, but I could see some were missing. I'd forgotten I had them; left over from post-op.

I learned my lessons on this topic the hard way. The "helper" of our roofer stole some of my jewelry. Our roofer was a friend & I never gave it a thought that he might be hiring day labor. Anyway, the kid got away with an aquamarine/diamond pendant that my DH had made for me as just one of those for no reason other than "I love you" gifts. It was priceless to me. Just as bad, or maybe even worse, he took a stainless steel bracelet my father had handmade for me when I was just 3 years old, a 4-leaf clover necklace my sister gave me when I was 9 years old on the day she left home for college & I was crying because I didn't want her to go. She gave me the necklace and told me, "Here, you keep my special necklace for me. That way you know I'll be back because I won't leave my necklace!" Makes me cry still to think it's gone! He stole a sterling/tourquoise/bear claw cuff bracelet c. 1920 that had been a gift from my step-mother who lived on the reservation as a child when her Dad was sheriff.

Yeah, put your valuables away!

/t

We didn't lock up anything in both houses we recently sold. Didn't even think to do that. Guess we are too trusting.

terrig wrote: "We didn't lock up anything in both houses we recently sold. Didn't even think to do that. Guess we are too trusting."

I can understand that.

We went to look at a house that was owned by an elderly couple. They lived in a rural area and were downsizing. They also seemed very trusting.

The agent let us walk around without her.

I noticed a large (open) jewelry box on the dresser in the bedroom.

I told the seller's agent about it before we left. I hope she told the sellers.

We didn't when we moved last fall but will if we move again. Maybe not all the cd's and things like that, but the jewelry, financial info, meds, and whatever else I wouldn't want stuffed into someone else's pocket.

Another thing I did think about last fall was - we have several large paintings, some rather valuable. One in particular is about 6' x 6' and so hung low on the lviing room wall. Oil painting, so not covered with glass. I did worry about someone accidentally poking something through the canvas, or a kid drawing on it, or something, but we didn't want to take it down as it was a focal point of the room and looked so good where it was.

Fortunately nothing happened to anything, and nothing got stolen, either, at least nothing that I've missed.

Heck yeah. I would say "do I look stupid" but I wouldn't want terrig to think I was calling her stupid! I don't trust people as far as I can throw them. Everything of value (well, except for CDs, I'm not sweating those - nothing is either popular or rare) has been packed up and stashed away. I bought lockboxes even before we initially listed. If anyone is going to be in my house for any reason when I'm not there I lock up/hide "attractive" stuff. Heck, I even hide special things I don't want anyone to eat should they go poking around in the pantry! ;-)

I would also encourage people to not store their valuables is their car either...get a security box at the bank or take them to a close friend's place!!

During our last move, I had a small lockbox with all my good jewelry, family heirloom jewelry, bonds for kids, SS cards, checkbooks, important financial papers, prescription meds, birth and marriage certificates, etc. I always took that lockbox out of my house for showings, open houses, etc.

Long story short, our new home closing was delayed a day, and we had to leave a fully packed car out in front of the house overnight. Though the box was buried in stuff, someone broke into the car and stole it and my radio. Left everything else...gee, thanks. I kick myself all the time for not taking out that box that one night.

So the very first hour in my new house, I had to call the cops to report it, and start the long arduous task of making sure my families identity didn't get stolen. Not to mention being incredibly upset over all sentimental things lost (grandmother's engagement ring, baby bracelets, 21st birthday ring). :-( I can't begin to count how many hours I spent on the phone cancelling a zillion accounts, opening new ones, replacing SS cards. UGH!!

Absolutely don't trust anyone, anywhere! There are a lot of decent people in the world, but there are a lot who take advantage of trusting people.

Whenever our agent notifies us about a showing, all our small valuables - iPods, my jewelry, cameras, DH's cufflinks, checkbooks - are hidden away or carried out of the house in a tote bag. I stash away bills and financial papers when there's an open house and there will be too many lookers for our agent to know where everyone is at any one moment. Thus far we've been fortunate. Friends whose place is on the market have lost a Zagat's restaurant guide, cell phone charger, pages from a desk calendar, and an old grotty pair of bedroom slippers (!!!) at appointments.

"Heck yeah. I would say "do I look stupid" but I wouldn't want terrig to think I was calling her stupid!"

Maybe we were stupid or maybe we just didn't have anything of great value to lock up. We never have checkbooks or cash or pills or important papers just sitting out. We didn't so much as trust the lookers to not take anything as much as we trusted our realtors not to let people take things. Both houses we sold this year were small, so I think it would have been impossible for someone to steal a large item, such as a TV, but I suppose they could have slipped my costume jewelry into their pocket or purse.

One very important valuable is your identity. This means important documents and also bank statements, credit card statements, etc need to be hidden so someone cannot get your SSN, birthdate, acct numbers etc.

Someone might even drain your retirement account if they get enough important info if they are real crooked and daring.

teelag wrote: "our new home closing was delayed a day, and we had to leave a fully packed car out in front of the house overnight. Though the box was buried in stuff, someone broke into the car and stole it and my radio."

I'm sorry for your loss.

Same thing happened to my brother. He and his wife bought a house in a "nicer neighborhood". They spent the day moving heavy items and decided to wait until morning to finish unpacking their vehicle.

During the night, someone broke into the truck, stole their wedding album, wallet (in the glovebox) and other irreplaceable items.

Thieves probably target houses for sale and watch to see when the new owners are moving in.

I agree with you dreamgarden. A thief will target any opportunity, and neighbors might not notice since the house is changing hands.

Our neighborhood is a "nice" suburb too, but I really learned my lesson. The cops actually said that they have a lot of car crime in nicer areas because people leave stuff out (purse, wallet, cell phones) and think "it won't happen to them". He said you should even lock your car in your closed garage, because they have had cars stolen that way.

Who would steal someone's wedding album...that is just cruel!

The most amazing thing I saw when house hunting with my agent in PA was a very large pile of cash left on a dresser! I thought this must be some sort of Candid Camera "set up". I avoided entering the bedroom.

Today I passed an empty truck parked at Walmart (PA) with all the windows down and a brand new global positioning receiver within 10 inches of the drivers window!

I don't have too many valuables but left the jewerly, one or two pieces pretty nice where they were in a bathroom drawer. Tucked emergency cash into some towels.
Mostly I just made sure that my two guns went to a neighbors since I don't have a gun safe.

Check out this article...makes one wonder what else this guy may have appropriated for his own...in terms of sellers cash, jewlery, etc....

This guy still shows up as having a valid NJ HI license, BTW....

Here is a link that might be useful: Ex-Home Inspector Charged With Theft

May I come here to cry? We've been burgled! I didn't sleep all night and am so sad and mad. This is what happened:

Friday morning I reached for a clean bra and found...nothing. Gosh! I thought I must be behind on the wash, so I ran a load.

Friday evening as I was putting my clean undies away I noticed that I did indeed have one more clean bra, but it had shifted to the back of the drawer...where I kept my jewelry box. My jewelry was GONE! I called to my DH, who realized his watch was no longer on the top of his dresser.

We are guessing the burglar came in while we were both out between noon and two p.m. Thursday. Our Westie was home, but we weren't here to hear him bark! (I know he must have done so.) We thought all doors were locked, but evidently one was not as there was no sign of a break-in.

The police came, took a report, dusted for prints. Today I checked our safe deposit box at the bank to confirm what had NOT gone missing and we visited the police station to give our prints for comparison. I gave them the appraisals for what's missing. I have no hope we will ever see these things again. I imagine they are enroute to South America or Russia or somewhere by now.

Today I called State Farm to file a claim on the ONE item that was insured and they are sending me a check for the full covered amount. I'll never be able to replace this custom dolphin motif necklace -- nor the diamond earrings I'd had made from my mom's diamonds, nor the little goldfish on a neck chain that my DH gave me for Valentine's Day when we were newlyweds -- that has been our grandson's favorite to touch since he was a baby. (I wore it almost every day, but not THAT day.)

Virtually everything that was taken was special to me; little was "just stuff". I'm so sad. Even if it would pay to file under our homeowners policy, money could never replace what we lost.

THE LESSON:

Don't get yourself into this sad situation! Lock your doors and close your windows EVERY TIME you go out. Put all your valuables in a safe deposit box while your house is on the market! And...don't keep ANY jewelry in the place a burglar looks first: the bedroom. (I don't know where IS a good place. Do you?)

ChiSue- I'm really sorry that this happened to you!
Take care,
GardenSpice

(((chisue)))

A few years ago several things went missing from the house. The credit card and the cash I didn't care about, but I was upset that my wedding set went missing (I had been wearing an anniversary ring).

We invested in a little safe. I won't tell you where it is, but it's not obvious (although I'm sure a pro could find it). Sure, it's a bit of a pain to go into it so often (why can't I ever wear the same jewelry two days in a row?), but the peace of mind is worth it.

Again, someone who knew what they were doing might be able to overcome the safe, but it should slow down a more casual thief.

Oh no, ChiSue! *console* I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

Thank you all. I'm feeling a little less "violated" now. This was a real blow. We've been married almost 43 years and have never been hit before. I hope State Farm will take that into consideration when they think about our rates!

Actually we did have one incident three years after we wed. We were planning a trip to Montreal to the World's Fair. A couple weeks before we were to leave I was washing our Westie (first of four) in the laundry tub at our apartment. When I was done I wrapped him up in a towel and brought him back to be dried off. That's when I realized my combination engagement/wedding ring was gone!

We tore back to the laundry room. There was NO catch on the waste line -- went right into the sewer. Time to call State Farm.

The claims adjuster came, informed me that they wouldn't pay much since "diamonds depreciate". (Huh?) After we got past that and they said what they would pay we went downtown to choose a replacement diamond. We found a lovely stone, much larger and better than the original, since now we were at a wholesaler instead of C.D. Peacock jewelers.

That evening when we returned to our apartment our Westie was sitting in the kitchen, proud to show us the wad of hair he'd coughed up, which was wrapped around MY RING! (Bless you, Charlie!)

State Farm was pretty surprised when we cancelled the claim. I've never wanted to replace that little ring; wear it proudly every day. At least THAT was not "home alone" to go missing!

Thanks again,
Sue

So sorry chisue!