Moving home is an exciting yet incredibly stressful time. With everything you have to worry about, it’s easy to forget about keeping your current home secure when it’s up for sale.
With a ‘For Sale’ sign outside on the street or front lawn, impulsive burglars might suspect you aren’t home and take the opportunity to try to gain access.
Generally, you should follow similar principles to regular life or when you head off on holiday. Sticking to the ideas listed below will significantly reduce the risk when your house is on the market.
Let’s get into it.
Install or maintain security measures
Remember, the house is yours until you officially give away the keys. As an asset, it must be protected from criminals, as always. There are a few tried and tested methods, such as those we’ve listed here.
Unfortunately, there are always ways into a property. If a burglar can’t snap a lock, a window can be smashed, or a door can be crowbarred open. Extra security measures mean the risk is too high for most would-be thieves to take. They’re too likely to be identified or caught. The more you can do to put them off, the better.
Make your house look occupied
Whether you’re still living in your house or not, ensure it looks busy and occupied. Almost all criminals will quickly avoid any currently-lived-in properties. Nearly all are looking for empty homes while people are away at work or on holiday.
There are many things you could do to make your home look occupied. If you’re still living there, ensure a fair amount of lights are always on, especially in the dark winter months. Always leave a car on the drive and maintain the gardens (if applicable).
If you’ve already moved into another home, you should still:
- Set the inside and outside lights to activate with timers and sensors
- If possible, keep a car on the drive, or ask a friendly neighbour to park there
- Consider paying a gardener (or neighbour) to mow the lawns and sweep up the leaves
- Collect the post regularly
- Open and close the curtains whenever you can (don’t leave them drawn through the day)
As well as putting off thieves and burglars, these measures help deter squatters if your property is empty when up for sale.
Ensure your estate agent verifies the financial status of viewers
Although it might seem rude to some extent, most estate agents will check how a person intends to finance their potential future purchase before showing them around a property. Why? Because, from their point of view, it isn’t worth spending an hour or two guiding people around if they’ll never afford it anyway.
The same process can be helpful (to a limited degree) in putting off criminals who could use the estate agent’s viewing as a time to survey your property. They could check the access points, locks, and what’s inside worth stealing. Of course, you and your agent can’t ask to see everyone’s finances at such an early stage, and the vast majority of viewings will be legitimate. Still, it’s a handy extra layer of caution.
Remove all your valuables
Everyone knows it’s best to leave some of your furniture in a home when you put it up for sale. It helps interested parties visualise what they might be able to do with the space and increases the property’s appeal. However, there’s no need to leave your expensive jewellery, computers or keys around.
Bring most of this stuff with you if you’ve already moved into another property. If you haven’t found anywhere else just yet, or the solicitors are still doing their thing, consider using a trusted friend or relative’s home to house your goods.
If burglars can’t see anything worth taking inside your house, they’re less likely to attempt a break-in. Even if they do gain access, there won’t be anything worth stealing.
How can Grays Locksmiths Nottingham help?
Grays Locksmiths is an MLA member based in Nottingham. We’re a trusted and experienced team of locksmiths working in the city and surrounding areas to help residents with their home and commercial security.
Get in touch with us for tailored advice for your home if it’s up for sale. We’ll recommend what products are helpful and suggest the best strategy for keeping it secure.
We can’t wait to hear from you on 0115 942 2315 or at hello@grayslocksmiths.org.