Protecting Privacy: Selling a Home

[OMB]

ISO Advice.* We're thinking of putting our house on the market.* My firearms are secured in safes but my reloading room is an open section of my man cave (basement).* I have too much reloading equipment (the usual, press, scales, tumblers, gauges, vise, etc) and reloading supplies (cases, bullets, primers, powder, etc) to lockup in a closet or the like.* We plan to allow viewing by appointments only but I'm told people like to view homes without agents following their every step. I would be very concerned if prospective buyers had unaccompanied access to my reloading area.* Not sure if throwing covers over it all or roping that section off makes sense.* Wonder if anyone has had this problem and how they may have solved it.* It would be hard to be too careful these days, never know who talks to who.

 

[Mondial]

If you do allow unaccompanied visitors to view your 'for sale' domicile, put a camera in that area and clearly mark the area as being under surveillance.
Otherwise, lock the door/area and put a picture /description of the area for the prospective visitors.

 

[traveller]

ISO Advice.* We're thinking of putting our house on the market.* My firearms are secured in safes but my reloading room is an open section of my man cave (basement).* I have too much reloading equipment (the usual, press, scales, tumblers, gauges, vise, etc) and reloading supplies (cases, bullets, primers, powder, etc) to lockup in a closet or the like.* We plan to allow viewing by appointments only but I'm told people like to view homes without agents following their every step. I would be very concerned if prospective buyers had unaccompanied access to my reloading area.* Not sure if throwing covers over it all or roping that section off makes sense.* Wonder if anyone has had this problem and how they may have solved it.* It would be hard to be too careful these days, never know who talks to who.

My first house, at the first showing there was a basement room with a substantial steel door and a Z shaped hallway leading to it that was specifically excluded from any tours. When I came back for a second look, the seller himself was there to unlock it. It was built as a tornado-shelter with a emergency egress into the yard and it held his reloading equipment, gun safes etc.
In recent years, I have toured houses that had rooms excluded from the tour. A home-office, equipment storage for a business, a room full of starving pitbulls etc.

I would make sure you have a lock on the man-cave and exclude it from the tour. If someone comes back, you have to be present for them to enter the room.

 

[OMB]

Thanks.* My reloading room is really just the back section of an open basement.* The furnace & water heater are in the front portion and most likely want to be seen.* Short of locking the basement, I really can't close any doors to my reloading area.* Seems my options are: a video camera, roping off the reloading area, turning off all lighting for that section, of just insisting that I accompany the agents, prospective buyers.* Actually, I'd prefer not to move at all but my wife wants warmer weather.

 

[Combloc]

If you do allow unaccompanied visitors to view your 'for sale' domicile, put a camera in that area and clearly mark the area as being under surveillance.
Otherwise, lock the door/area and put a picture /description of the area for the prospective visitors.

As a realtor, I can tell you without a doubt that, sign or no sign, it is illegal for a seller to record audio of private conversations without the consent of all parties concerned. If your video equipment is capable of recording audio, even if you contend that the audio recording function is off, you're asking for trouble.

 

[Blacksmith101]

As a realtor, I can tell you without a doubt that, sign or no sign, it is illegal for a seller to record audio of private conversations without the consent of all parties concerned. If your video equipment is capable of recording audio, even if you contend that the audio recording function is off, you're asking for trouble.

So homes with Alexa are asking for trouble?

 

[TopTechAgent]

Audio recording is a no no and even video recording won’t stop anyone from snooping around. It will just give evidence of what happened after the fact.

It’s a hassle and expensive but you might want to consider packing it all up and putting it in storage. Likely the house will sell fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[K31]

If you are moving you are going to pack up that gear eventually or sell it off. Why not just box it up now?

 

[Darkemp]

ISO Advice.* We're thinking of putting our house on the market.* My firearms are secured in safes but my reloading room is an open section of my man cave (basement).* I have too much reloading equipment (the usual, press, scales, tumblers, gauges, vise, etc) and reloading supplies (cases, bullets, primers, powder, etc) to lockup in a closet or the like.* We plan to allow viewing by appointments only but I'm told people like to view homes without agents following their every step. I would be very concerned if prospective buyers had unaccompanied access to my reloading area.* Not sure if throwing covers over it all or roping that section off makes sense.* Wonder if anyone has had this problem and how they may have solved it.* It would be hard to be too careful these days, never know who talks to who.

Buy your new home before you sell the old one- we are working on doing that this spring- by the time anyone sees our house it will be an empty box.

 

[Biggfoot44]

NOT what you want to hear , but ......

The whole point of listing home is to sell it .

The whole point of selling your home is to move out of it , to move someplace else .

You will take all your stuff from this house to next house .




So , time to take down and box up your reloading room now .?

 

[Bertfish]

Pack it up now OP. Even just putting it in boxes is better than it sitting out.

Had to have my place appraised a while back for a refi. Guy took a pile of pictures. I just told him no pics in the basement facing my safes as I didn't know who he worked with. He was super receptive. I'm sure folks in this profession deal with this all the time

 

[Uncle Duke]

Pack it up. You'll have to pack it up anyway.

Honestly, if I'm a prospective home buyer, I'm not amenable to roped off sections. My home tour is going to be about me, not you. And I'm not buying anything I can't see.

Good luck with your sale.

 

[Clovis]

If it were me in your situation I think I would pack it up and store it off site in a secure facility until you move. I know it makes it tough to do any reloading but some things in this circumstance need to be put on hold.

 

[lazarus]

Pack it up. You'll have to pack it up anyway.

Honestly, if I'm a prospective home buyer, I'm not amenable to roped off sections. My home tour is going to be about me, not you. And I'm not buying anything I can't see.

Good luck with your sale.

Ditto.

I’d box up all the reloading stuff. Not much you can do about the safes. I’ve toured plenty of houses with safes. Hell I’ve toured houses where idiots had guns (not pellet guns) laying on the damn dinning room table.

Yeah, it’s absolutely a risk. Control for it box it and tape it. Check the boxes after the tour. Still taped?

I’d move first. That said, when I go to retire I won’t likely need to sell my house to finance my retirement house. And likely I’ll have bought land years before and built the house (or at least a cabin on the property) before retiring and selling my house. Not something I need to figure out for 10+ years though.

But there have been houses I’ve walked away from because I couldn’t see all of it and there was just enough other stuff that raised a question or two in my mind I didn’t want to pursue my agent getting the sellers agent/seller to show me the area.

Honestly even roping off the area or a camera with a big “under video surveillance” sign would make me back away slowly and find something else.

I might be buying the house, but I’ve gotta deal with the seller and if they seem like they are kind of nuts? Nope, don’t need that. I’ve dealt with sellers that we’re nut jobs and it just wastes time and money.

As a seller you want both the house to look as nice as possible and to seem as normal as possible. Strongly religious? Well unless you are going to hell for it, take down all the religious decoration. Gun guy? Take the 2A signs and deer heads off the wall. You want to minimize any personality possible.

The buyers need to be able to picture themselves in the place and a blank slate is the broadest ability for people to do that. And they need to not question what kind of seller they might deal with.

Somethings might not be able to be removed. The giant bed that spins? It might not be able to be moved till you sell. Mirrors on the ceiling? Remove those and touch up the drywall. The sex swing? Save the acrobatics till after the sale.

 

[outrider58]

If you are moving you are going to pack up that gear eventually or sell it off. Why not just box it up now?

^^^This

Along with removal of all personal items including photographs. You want to stage as sterile an environment as you can live with. Besides, it will give you a head start on your move.

 

[sundaeman]

Were planning to move, then sell. If you really don't want to pack it up, perhaps a fairly tall three sided screen of canvas/pvc. I have a shelf in the basement that has black canvas front cover, can't see a thing. when it's closed, works great for when electrician/plumber has to come by. Pop a camera somewhere with a view.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I can't read OMB's mind , and from the written words on the internet , I'm getting a mixed vibe , but might be the lack of subtle clues from the internet .

Are you actually intending to move on purpose ? Or going thru the motions of testing the waters to appease the wife , without actually wanting to sell ?

If the former , pack up all your goodies now , and the sooner you're into your new place , you can aet up your expanded , improved reloading and Gunsmithing workroom .

If it's the later , the sooner you nip the whole thing in the bud , the better it will go over .

 

[AssMan]

I'm not sure I understand...I've never toured a home when an agent was not present. Throw a blanket over the equipment and don't worry about it. When I sold my home last year, I had tens of thousands of rounds on a rack in my garage. I didn't like leaving it there, but I had nowhere to put it (a storage unit isn't an option for ammo).

Point is, I don't think buyers are going to be touring your home unaccompanied - and you should be clear about not allowing that.

 

[slsc98]

I will admit up front - I didn’t / haven’t read beyond first couple sentences of first post. I don’t need to.

I have sold many homes and walked though (literally, no sh*t) MANY HUNDREDS as a buyer.

There. Is. No. Reason to have my reloading room even still set up - if I am a SERIOUS seller. Okay, to be kind, an EXPERIENCED seller.

If one’s realtor hasn’t already given one guidance on why I don’t want one’s reloading room set up I’d need to find a new realtor.

If I am trying for FSBO this whole question would be a big KUHLOO that I am a seller that will benefit from involving an experienced agent.

Trying to wrap my mind around thinking I want sell a home but putting off packing my chit up and being ready to MOVE FAST as soon as an offer comes in!

(The times I’ve listed a house I just went ahead and loaded up several months of everything I needed just before packing up my shop. If “components aren’t available” is an issue all the more reason to just get the area cleared so potential buyers can “dream themselves” occupying that space rather then being distracted by what I am doing in what I want them to buy and use.)

OP, don’t take offense - I just wanna see you sell your home. For the best price possible. As quickly as possible. With the least stress possible.

Don’t see that happening a lot when sellers try to “live daily life normal” in a space they want others to pay as close to the premium as possible.

Best o’ success tho!

 

[Sundazes]

Sometimes prospective buyers are not. They are casing a home or looking to steal personal items left there during the showing.