Where to keep valuables safe during an open house viewing

[Movinandgroovin]

We've had our house on the market for a fortnight and finally have some viewings on Saturday under the guise of an open house type event.

I have a couple of louis vuitton bags, and big orange louis boxes, some gucci, some cash and some sentimental but sort of valuable jewellery that my mum left me when she died.

My question is what am I supposed to do with it? On Saturday during the open home situation I imagine there will be unsupervised wanderings around.

Should i shove my valuable bits in the loft? Obviously cash and jewellery can be taken in the handbag I am using but what should I do with the rest of it - shove it in the car boot?! Sorry haven't had the designer bags for long and am not used to having valuable things!

Just would like some ideas from others who have had this third world problem! Thanks in advance x

Me neither!

Putting valuables in suitcases is a good idea. If you have a loft, put them up there and do not permit viewers to view the loft during the open house. You could leave instructions that the loft would be available for second/individual viewings.

Last year a poster had an expensive candle stolen during a viewing so don't overlook other valuables when you're putting things away.

Take down any photos of yourselves/ your children. Replace bare spots on walls with cheap prints.

I imagine your good bags and luggage would fit into the car boot with the car parked so that the boot is jammed up against a wall and not accessible.

Many years ago when I was renting I had this worry. I told the agent to give me a letter with a promise to indenify me for any damage or theft of my possessions. They refused therefore there were no viewings.

I spoke to the estate agent and there are now structured appointments and no unsupervised wanderings about! Will still put the valuable stuff in my car boot thanks guys xx

We were very concerned about security during viewings and our agent assured us tjst there would be two members of staff present for all viewings and that no-one would be allowed in any room on their own. Thst didnt happen and in the end only one viewing took place with two agents present. I packed a couple of boxes of some of the most easily pocketable items from my bedroom and took them out with us in the car. Some of the ground floor is covered by CCTV cameras and I installed a couple of extra little cameras upstairs because it just wasn’t practical to remove all small collectible things each time we had viewings. Despite everything we had said, I was really irritated that people still wandered into my bedroom unsupervised, as well as other rooms, whilst one of a couple was talking to the agent. We had been very clear with the agents that we wanted people to remove their shoes when they were walking around the house, which we have done for every house we’ve viewed, but out of eight viewings there wasn’t a single occasion when the agents told people to remove their shoes, and we had people tramping round our garden in December and then walking round the house again afterwards. There were also several times when the agents were late for appointments so we were still there when the viewers arrived. I found it very stressful and if our sale falls through, there’s no way Im going out and leaving my house in the hands of the agents again.

good luck with your viewings and I hope youve got better agents than us!

That is really disappointing. Sorry to hear thatx