SACRAMENTO SUL (CBS13) – After placing the ‘For Sale’ sign in the front yard, you may have just posted an invitation for invaders and burglars. Local realtors are fed up with the crime that targets their properties and are adopting an old tactic again – they are hiring babysitters.
Samantha Tov sees what is desperate and ugly in the real estate industry. Portfolio Real Estate’s real estate broker has seen an increase in the number of people who break into homes she is trying to sell.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: ‘I could Cry’: restaurants and families prepare for the taste of normal on Easter Sunday
“I was shocked that it broke in two, three times and that was when we hired a nanny,” Tov told CBS13. “Newer devices will be stolen. They will remove the doors and go through the garage. “
Tov was so frustrated chasing intruders and filing police reports of robberies that he is now hiring people to live in the empty houses on the market. House assistants prevent people from invading.
“Home assistants are usually a single person who doesn’t really have a home and live in a backpack and have an impromptu hammock,” said Tov.
Realtor Jonathan Lee says it kept him busy.
“It is difficult for buyers, right? They see the house and want to make sure the neighborhood is good, if the house is in good condition and, if they see these things, they can be scared, ”said Lee.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: Galt police arrested after being caught red-handed, says Galt police
In a market that is already heated with consecutive exhibitions, it is now dealing with intermediate intrusions.
“The frustration we are experiencing is that we need to hire babysitters. So this is a very long service, because deposits usually take about 20 to 30 days, ”said Lee.
Everything comes at a cost, from the expensive locks that are breaking, which cost $ 120 each, to all the damage and now the cost of hiring a nanny.
“We have salespeople who pay for it, and not just the nanny. We left them food and water. In the morning, we leave them breakfast and lunch, ”said Tov.
It can be a good show. Housekeepers earn about $ 75 a day. They go from house to house with just one backpack and do not need to pay rent.
MORE NEWS: I-5 to the south closes near SMF after a car crashes into the construction project, says CHP
It is a last-ditch effort by realtors to stop the crime.