Are you getting ready to put your home on the market? Remember that open houses are just that, open to the public. Be sure to take measure to not only get your valuables and personal belongings out of sight but take the time to lock them up in a filing cabinet or safe. Make sure you are covering all your bases.
Remove, store, lock-up the following items:
- Firearms
- Weapons collections
- Financial information (bank statements, bills, invoices, credit card statements, stock trade confirmations, 401k documents, anything with Social Security numbers or other identifying information)
- Passwords
- Cash
- Checkbooks
- Jewelry
- Collectables (coins, stamps, baseball cards)
- Valuable artwork
- Medications (remove from common storage locations and place where others won’t easily find)
- Medical information
- Genealogy or family tree data and displays
- Pictures of children and any photos labeled with names
- Children’s information from schools, clubs, teams, report cards, itineraries, party invitations
- Personal/intimate items
- Upcoming travel plan information
- Spare keys
And, if you have anything that isn’t valuable per se, but has sentimental value, also err on the side of caution and throw that in as well.