I’ll even tell you where to put ’em.

Ron Rothenberg

4 Buyers Real Estate

 

Open Houses, how I hate them, for so many reasons.

 

Rona has detailed so many reasons why Open Houses donโ€™t benefit sellers. I think theyโ€™re the worst possible way for a buyer to look at house. Theyโ€™re geared towards creating anxiety and helping buyers make bad decisions quickly.

 

When I’m at an Open House with my clients, I also feel a bit inhibited about evaluating the house while others are listening. I always prefer private appointments, but sadly there are selling brokers now who only give us a chance to see the house for a few hours, on weekends. Mr. and Mrs. Seller, please make sure your broker makes the house available for all qualified buyers to see, not just those who are free at a certain two hours on weekends.

 

That said, if you are selling a house, your broker will likely convince you to have an Open House anyway, and you probably will give your permission. Invite in all the neighbors, and invite the petty thieves, too, while youโ€™re at it.

 

Wait, you did invite in the thieves! And you advertised that time and location in the newspaper and on the Internet. How easy and convenient to be a thief these days!

 

The two most common targets of Open House thieves are small electronics and prescription drugs. Ok, hide the small electronics and the drugs. And maybe get rid of some of those antique prescription bottles in your kitchen or bathroom. Iโ€™ve seen some really beautiful displays of historical prescription bottles, but they’re just asking for theft and abuse, if not by thieves, by family members and friends who may come in at other times.

 

According to the DEA “The theft and diversion of prescription drugs they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse, and abuse. Almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And more Americans died in 2010 from overdoses of prescription medications (22,134, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers) than from motor vehicle accidents, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveys of users have found that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

 

All good reasons to know that this Saturday April 26, 2014 is the DEAโ€™s RX Drug Takeback Initiative day. Most local police departments will have collection points where you can drop off your drugs, no questions asked. Many towns now have a kiosk at police headquarters where you can leave your old drugs during the rest of the year.

 

See http://www.dea.gov/ for an extensive list of dropoff locations.