Definitely remove sensitive documents with personal and financial information. Friends had their "spare" credit card stolen from a filing cabinet during an open house.

I went to an open house the other day, opened the closet to check out the storage space and saw on an eye level shelf huge folders clearly labeled "medical bills," "taxes," etc. I was kind of shocked because I was just opening the closet door to gauge the space and all of this sensitive, personal info was just right there and labeled! Yikes. And there were about a million people at this open house and it only takes one bad apple to do serious damage to your credit. So, I would remove or lock up any info like that re: personal finance/personal info.

Definitely remove valuables. If you don't have a locking file cabinet, removing your financial files probably makes sense, too. I heard about an open house a few years ago when the owner's designer purses were stolen, so anything could be a target, I suppose.

Beyond removing items that might be stolen, you will want to remove half or more of what is in each closet and storage area to make them look bigger. Ditto for kitchen cabinets, etc. You can probably live without the food processor and stand mixer while the house is on the market. Put them in off-site storage.

Talk to your realtor about what artwork and photos to remove. When we sold our first house, our realtor actually recommended keeping our photos, as they were representative of the lifestyle and would help market the house. Our artwork isn't terribly avant garde, so that all stayed, too.

I would remove photos that say too much about you. A while back some friends were very interested in a house. There were lots of photos of someone, presumably the owner and his family, with a very prominent politician who had been defeated for re-election just a few weeks earlier. The friends figured out that the owner had a political appointment and guessed he wanted to sell quickly. They negotiated hard and got the house for a meaningful price reduction.

I once had a pair of boots stolen from an open house. I had only worn them once. You never know what will attract a thief, but I would never leave my jewelry or silver.

Anonymous wrote:As a Realtor, I advise my clients who wish to have an open house that anything of value, real or sentimental should be removed. I have known agents to have heart meds, cameras and other stuff stolen during an pen house as we can't be in all places at once.

+1 - though I will note you can stick things in random places, like drawers and they will be safe unless you live in a sketchy area to begin with.

As a Realtor, I advise my clients who wish to have an open house that anything of value, real or sentimental should be removed. I have known agents to have heart meds, cameras and other stuff stolen during an pen house as we can't be in all places at once.

If you aren't using your crystal and china every day you should probably pack it up anyway. But no, that's not something an open house visitor is going to make off with. Take jewelry and prescription medication out of the house entirely. Think things that can quickly and easily be thrown into a purse.

Prescription drugs.

What about like a gaming system and crystal/china?

I would.

House going on the market and realtor wants to hold an open house. Do people typically remove jewelry, important papers, etc? Not that I have a lot but I also don't have a locking safe or file cabinet.