When your home is for sale, your real estate agent will customarily ask you if you wish to keep a lockbox on the front door. This box will hold the key to your home, which can make things easier for the agent representing a prospective buyer. For example, since you won't be home at the time of a scheduled viewing, the buyer agent can arrive at your home in advance, unlock the lockbox to secure the key, and then gain entry into the home. While many people are content with using a lockbox in this location, other homeowners are leery about the idea of someone potentially breaking into the box and obtaining the key. If you're concerned about having your lockbox on the front door, here are some alternatives to discuss with your agent.
Lockbox On An Interior Garage Door
You may feel better having the lockbox where it can't be seen from outside your home. If this is the case, it can be a good idea to secure the lockbox to the door that connects your garage to your home. When the garage door is closed, no one will be able to tell that you have a lockbox. When a buyer agent gets in touch with your agent to schedule a viewing, your agent can provide the passcode that opens the garage door. The agent can enter the code and then obtain the key from the lockbox to enter the home. If desired, you can change the garage passcode for security reasons after the viewing is over.
Lockbox On A Back Door
Many homeowners who don't like the idea of having a lockbox on their front door are OK with having this box secured to a back door of their home. The premise is that the back door is less visible to people passing the home, which means there's theoretically less of a risk of someone seeing the lockbox and attempting to break it open to get inside your home. This location is especially ideal if you have a backyard fence that makes it difficult for people to have a line of sight to your door where the lockbox will be.
Lockbox Hidden In Your Yard
Just as you might keep a spare key hidden in your yard to use in the event of losing your house key, you might wish to hide the lockbox somewhere in your yard. Ideally, this will be in a location that the buyer agent can retrieve with ease. For example, you could buy a fake rock that has a hidden compartment inside it, and then place this rock in your garden. Your agent can easily describe the rock's appearance and location to the buyer agent so that he or she will have no trouble getting the lockbox and key.
Share2 December 2016
When I started looking for a new house a few years ago, I realized that I had no idea what I really wanted. I knew that I wanted a place that had been updated recently, but apart from that, I was completely in the dark. After evaluating my budget and considering my options, I decided that it would be a good idea to go around with my real estate agent to help me to find a place. My agent was incredibly helpful, and I was able to narrow down my choices within a few hours. This blog is all about making the ever-important decision of becoming a homeowner.
