He was checking to see if you were home. He wouldn't burglarize the place, but he would tip off an associate to handle the removal of appliances and other expensive materials.

You need to get a system installed ASAP - doorbell camera, floodlight camera on the rear of the house, and interior camera, and interior alarm system with motion sensors + window/door sensors. You can get all of this from Ring on Amazon for around $600 total.

You also need to get Internet and wifi setup at the house so you can remotely monitor and get notifications. Love our Ring system.

We live in DC and homes under construction are constantly get hit by burglars. We are constantly seeing posts on NextDoor and our neighborhood listserv about homes under construction being robbed of materials, tools, etc. It's a plague.

Most of the people stealing are themselves in the trades or associated with tradesmen. They will turn around and sell the appliances or fixtures/supplies to unsuspecting clients.

Same goes with landscaping - expensive trees and shrubs are stolen from a random house and then "sold" to an unsuspecting client of the landscaper. It happens all the time.

if he had missed your call, why wouldn't he call back on the phone? Why show up at your door? That seems strange to me.

I don't know why people are calling you insane with all the theft and burglaries going on everyday.

Trust your gut OP. Go get cameras to have outside and inside the house while it is vacant

He was not going to burglarize your home.

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I’ve never heard of a burglar knocking on the front door first.

What is it about this handyman that makes you doubt that he didn’t just make a mistake?

Burglars absolutely knock first. That’s how they check if anyone’s home.

Anonymous wrote:He was not. This is insane.

+1
This is off the charts insane. OP something is not right is this is your first thought. Paranoia is the first sign of a few mental illnesses. I would go to a therapist asap

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I’ve never heard of a burglar knocking on the front door first.

What is it about this handyman that makes you doubt that he didn’t just make a mistake?

I figured he knocked on the door just to make sure nobody was home at it was 2pm and play it off if there was. Most burglaries happen during the day because people are less likely to be home and some are very professional about it. A friend's home was burglarized and they took her appliances and they had a box truck with a fake moving company name on it and professional looking movers clothing so nobody in the neighborhood questioned what they were doing and they were ultimately never caught. I think it's an odd mistake and during the initial consult and before the work appointment I received texts confirming the time and letting me know he was on his way. This time he just showed up.

This is exactly what happened. And you are correct, most burglaries happen in broad daylight.

You are not overreacting. He's casing.

Trust no one. Last year I had exterminators come out. Two arrived. They looked in my upstairs master bathroom which is adjacent to my bedroom. Then we went downstairs and while one had me engaged with writing out the estimate the other one said something about having left his flashlight upstairs and ran upstairs to get it. The next day I had three diamond rings missing from a jewelry tray that is right next to that bathroom. No one else had been in my house. Two of the three rings had belonged to my grandmother, one was her wedding ring. Irreplaceable. When I called the company to complain they were angrily defensive. I didn't bother to make a police report (btdt multiple times -- they won't get them).

Anonymous wrote:Is he a trusted neighborhood handyman who was referred by the builder or a friend, or is he someone you found in the Home Depot parking lot or through a flyer on your door?

Found him on thumbtack with dozens of positive reviews. I was happy with their work and price. But showing up to what should have been a vacant home based on a supposed missed call is what’s upsetting me.

Is he a trusted neighborhood handyman who was referred by the builder or a friend, or is he someone you found in the Home Depot parking lot or through a flyer on your door?

Anonymous wrote:Handymen in my area make $250 or more per hour. It does not pay for them to unhook appliances and resell used appliances out of a box.

That's crazy expensive. You should hire a handyman without telling them your address first.

Handymen in my area make $250 or more per hour. It does not pay for them to unhook appliances and resell used appliances out of a box.

It’s suspicious or at least odd behavior. If you think you have a missed call from someone, you call them back. You don’t just show up at their house.

Anonymous wrote:More likely answer is something still awkward but not nefarious - he was working a job close by the house that didn't have a bathroom, really had to go and knew you had a bathroom/backdoor open and was just going to use the bathroom quickly and go. Again, sounds weird but if you've never been someone that has worked a job that doesn't have regular access to the bathroom it is a true problem haha

Agree with this or he left some tools behind somewhere and was going to check on that.

Handymen can earn more money hourly at their high rates than trying to fence some used appliances on a corner in a truck.

Anonymous wrote:More likely answer is something still awkward but not nefarious - he was working a job close by the house that didn't have a bathroom, really had to go and knew you had a bathroom/backdoor open and was just going to use the bathroom quickly and go. Again, sounds weird but if you've never been someone that has worked a job that doesn't have regular access to the bathroom it is a true problem haha

Unlikely, a vacant house wouldn’t necessarily have running water.