Hand over the keys?

googler

This is just too fanciful for me.

What thief, who wants to remain under the radar, and not attract attention to themselves, is going to arrange a viewing of a house with the agent, possibly give the EA some contact details (mobile? landline?), spend half an hour or so in the company of the EA, talk to the EA, and photograph the house so they can come back later and half-inch anything?

That's just leaving too many clues in their wake. Honestly, if you were coming up with a masterplan for a robbery, would this method be your first choice?

Davesnave

googler wrote: »

This is just too fanciful for me.

What thief, who wants to remain under the radar, and not attract attention to themselves, is going to arrange a viewing of a house with the agent, possibly give the EA some contact details (mobile? landline?), spend half an hour or so in the company of the EA, talk to the EA, and photograph the house so they can come back later and half-inch anything?

That's just leaving too many clues in their wake. Honestly, if you were coming up with a masterplan for a robbery, would this method be your first choice?

Depends when 'later' is, how bright / resourceful the criminal is, what the potential target is and so on. You don't think the ones that supply decent leads & get caught are the bright ones, do you?

But yes, most properties are easy enough to target without this level of planning and wouldn't warrant the time/energy expenditure anyway, mine included.

Davesnave

tyllwyd wrote: »

I would be horrified if I thought my EA was allowing people to photograph or video my house without specifically asking my consent first (which I would refuse!)

Again, this depends on the circumstances. If it's a regular three down four up box, then there would be little point, perhaps, but the sort of places I used to look at, up to 150 miles from home, really required photographic records, especially where lazy agents provided no floorplan or map of the grounds.

When one views, there is an element of sensory overload, especially when some agents jabber 19 to the dozen. Maybe your recall is better than mine?

googler

Davesnave wrote: »

You don't think the ones that supply decent leads & get caught are the bright ones, do you?

If any are 'getting caught', that would imply a number of thieves are actually trying to do this - has anyone seen any evidence either of thieves trying to do this, or getting caught?

walletpains

Thanks for the replies.

Maybe I am just being paranoid... but the question was raised after the EA started talking about putting my property on a viewing tour, bringing multiple people at any one time, and not taking liability for any damage or theft... and I'm in a fairly high crime area as it is.

A friend has since told me that this particular EA was useless and only got them one viewing in the space of a year. And a little research last night has shown me that their advertising is less appealing than their competition. So I'm not going to sign up with them now! Back to the drawing board.

evoke

Just do some basic things to ensure security.

1. Lock away all of your personal and valuable stuff if you can.

2. Tell the EA not to let the viewer out of his/her sight during the viewing.

3. Ensure that the EA has registered the viewer and has FULL contact details BEFORE allowing a viewing.

4. Ask the EA to verify photo-ID (like a driving licence) for the viewer.

5. Stipulate whether cupboards can be opened or photos can be taken.

6. Always get the name of the EA who will be doing the viewing and get all the details in writing (email) before the viewing.

7. Ask for feedback a day after the viewing and ensure that the EA who carried out the viewing speaks to you.

8. Do not allow multiple viewings at the same time.

Other than that, you need to sell your property so you need to be somewhat flexible. The alternative is to take a week off work and pack in a dozen or so viewings in that week so you are at the property.

tyllwyd

Davesnave wrote: »

Again, this depends on the circumstances. If it's a regular three down four up box, then there would be little point, perhaps, but the sort of places I used to look at, up to 150 miles from home, really required photographic records, especially where lazy agents provided no floorplan or map of the grounds.

When one views, there is an element of sensory overload, especially when some agents jabber 19 to the dozen. Maybe your recall is better than mine?

OK, maybe you could justify it (I've never bought anything that out of the ordinary). But if the agent was doing a viewing I would still expect them to refuse to allow photography unless I had been asked for and given specific consent.

bitsandpieces

Also think about what you could lose if you miss out on some viewings by applying stricter security conditions. Losing one offer and pushing the price of a place down by even 0.25% would - for lots of places - be a more expensive problem than someone pinching a trinket. If you lock away anything which has monetary/sentimental and is portable (and assuming you don't have brazen enough viewers and a dopey enough EA for someone to half inch the TV :eek:) how much do you stand to lose from nicking compared to from not reaching the best price on the property?

It's an odd feeling to have strangers wondering around your home. Worth considering what you stand to lose and gain by letting the EA have fairly free reign with viewings, though.

walletpains

Tbf, I don't have many trinkets since I've decluttered the place. I could actually picture someone nicking the TV though, because that's exactly the kind of thing that would happen to me

Joking aside though, point taken. It's much easier for me to just bite the bullet and have the EA conduct all the viewings. I need maximum flexibility to go alongside competitive price I'm advertising, otherwise what's the point?

bitsandpieces

walletpains wrote: »

Tbf, I don't have many trinkets since I've decluttered the place. I could actually picture someone nicking the TV though, because that's exactly the kind of thing that would happen to me

If it would worry you, you can buy cables to lock computer equipment to desks. Perhaps you could rig something up with one of those. Although if a viewer is planning to nick a TV maybe they would bring a bolt cutter anyway