Open houses and opioids

Family heirlooms. Diamond earrings. Cash.

You and your clients know to move these items before hosting an open house. Whether it’s leaving them with a trusted family member or close friend, or enclosing them in a safe, it’s generally a no-brainer for homeowners to make sure valuables are safely out of sight.

But what about prescription medications? Those may not always come to mind, forgotten in a bathroom medicine cabinet, leftover from a wisdom tooth removal. But with the U.S.’s opioid crisis, in which an estimated 130 people die from every day in the country , prescription medications are one of the first things criminals are looking for.

And some homeowners never even realize they went missing.

As a Realtor®, it’s important to remind your clients how imperative it is to remove medications from view during an open house or house showing. While Realtors® strive to keep track of every visitor’s move, it’s simply not always possible. Having an additional agent helping at an open house is helpful, but not always available for each event.

When clients are securely storing their valuables, stress the importance of safely storing medications with their diamonds and other jewelry. Help them protect their homes and themselves.