WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — A house for sale in Warrensville Heights was hit not once but twice by thieves and vandals. A local realtor says it's a situation she's never seen.
"I've been selling real estate for 19 years, and I've never had anybody break in and spill paint everywhere," said Shoshana Socher, "head honcho" of The Socher Group, Keller Williams Greater Metropolitan.
The bungalow Socher has listed on Harvard Road was broken into through a kitchen window. The vandals splattered white paint all over the house.
"Just paint, just paint, just destructive, nothing cool, just paint," said Socher.
After extensive cleanup and replacing the window, Socher listed the home again.
"We fixed it up, and we were ready to go to market. It went under contract right away. The agent came to do her private inspections with her client, and I got a phone call. She says 'Hi Shoshana, I said yes, she said the front doorknob is missing on the house'," said Socher.
This time, Socher said thieves had boldly removed the front door handle and walked right into the home. Next, whoever was responsible cut out the hot water heater and furnace from the home and stole them.
"That's too extensive of a job, that's not like splattering paint, you have to have tools, you have to be strong, you've got to carry the hot water tank out of here, it's not a one person job to carry the hot water tank," said Socher.
The only things left were sawed-off pieces of pipe that once connected the expensive appliances to the home.
Socher said the homeowners are international and opted not to file a police report in this case.
The Akron Cleveland Realtor's Association said this incident is uncommon. However, the last time the association tracked thefts like this was during the mortgage crisis 15 years ago.
Socher follows the Realtor's Association's best practices to keep her listing safe.
"In this case, I don't have a for sale sign up in the front yard, let's just keep it quiet about it being on the market. There's a lock box on the house so a realtor can get in. I moved that around to the side door so that nobody would see it," said Socher.
If you are putting your home on the market, you can take a few precautions to protect your property, such as keeping up with the landscaping, turning on a few lights, and investing in cameras.
Despite the setbacks on Harvard Road, Socher said, "it made these people wait about six months between the paint, the furnace, the hot water tank, just getting everything lined up. It has been really tricky."
But, there is a good ending; the home is expected to close soon.
