Selling your home with a gun safe

Shark_Cage

Shark_Cage

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Did not see this posted before (apologies if it has). Question for those of you who sold houses with a gun safe. Did you try to hide the safe during the open house? I can't think that would be easy to do since people think that they can inspect everything.

I've been thinking of installing a safe in our bedroom closet but I know we will be moving in 5 years or so. A very limited number of non-gun people know I own firearms (only 4). I don't like the thought of increasing that number. I am concerned about open houses for two reasons.

1. The sheep may be turned off by the sight of the safe (actually not that concerned other that selling the house quickly). Probably my LaRue Tactical bumper stickers in my workshop will take care of that.

2. Someone may see the safe during an open house and come back to empty it when I'm not there. Now this is a concern.
 
Shark_Cage said:
Did not see this posted before (apologies if it has). Question for those of you who sold houses with a gun safe. Did you try to hide the safe during the open house? I can't think that would be easy to do since people think that they can inspect everything.

I've been thinking of installing a safe in our bedroom closet but I know we will be moving in 5 years or so. A very limited number of non-gun people know I own firearms (only 4). I don't like the thought of increasing that number. I am concerned about open houses for two reasons.

1. The sheep may be turned off by the sight of the safe (actually not that concerned other that selling the house quickly). Probably my LaRue Tactical bumper stickers in my workshop will take care of that.

2. Someone may see the safe during an open house and come back to empty it when I'm not there. Now this is a concern.
Click to expand...

With the fact that I've never bought or sold a house before in mind, I am assuming that most people who are selling a house have a new place to live already. If this is the case, I'd also assume that your guns would be transferred there already, thus negating the robbery scenario.

I could be WAY wrong here about the buying before selling thing.
 
I can understand your concerns, but most people checking out houses are probably responsible homeowners or prospective homeowners themselves. Not exactly the demographic of the would-be thief.

That being said, I just now realized that if I were a crook, I would pick-up a house hunters guide!

You feel any better?[wave]
 
I wouldn't worry about the safe scaring people away. More than likely they will try to make you include it in the sale of the house.

I've bought and sold a few houses....never did an open house because I heard horror stories and had been to some open houses where it would have been way to easy to steal stuff because the agents payed little to no attention. When people wanted to see our house, they had to make an appointment and do the walk through with their agent and my agent. My advice would be to avoid having open houses. People that go out of their way to make an appointment with an agent are very likely to be legit and you then have less to worry about.
 
As a former safe technician and Licensed contractor I have installed safes in a lot of "high end" homes.. People don't seem to mind to see safes in homes while at an open house (unless you leave the door open and they see your arsenal) Then the Antis' might have a problem.

NOW on the other end. The type of safe you install and HOW you install it will deter the criminals. STAY AWAY!! from the Home Depot/Lowes safes all of them these are Sentry brand safes very low quality even their best can be opened with one good blow from a 10 Lb. sledge hammer( Iknow this personally while in training I got to break one open Hehe!)

Any safe less than 300 Lbs. should be BOLTED to the floor, wall, ceiling wherever you are gonna put it. That way as the open house is going on people cant just walk away with it without 2 or 3 other guys to help.

O.K. that said remember the whole "you get what you pay for" slogan people tell you? that is 100% true when buying a safe. the cheaper the safe the cheaper the quality (inner workings, thickness of the metal, Fire proofing, etc.)

I could go on and on about safes hopefully i answered your question.. So here is a company out of Norwood Ma. I have a few friends that work here and they can answer ANY of your security questions about safes they deliver and install them too. BONUS

Mancini Safe Company
toll free:(888) 445-9082
Local: (781) 544-483
http://www.mancinisafe.com/

The lead technicians name is Dan. Although everyone there is pretty knowledgeable Dan is a friend of mine that i would put my trust into..

Good luck!!
 
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Put an empty cardboard refrigerator box over it during the open house and tell the realtor that it is a fridge that you are planning on moving into the new house when you sell yours
 
LTCRN said:
Put an empty cardboard refrigerator box over it during the open house and tell the realtor that it is a fridge that you are planning on moving into the new house when you sell yours
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I like that idea! Thanks.

Of course everyone will think we're the laziest people on the planet with a refrigerator in the bedroom.
Ha
 
LTCRN said:
Put an empty cardboard refrigerator box over it during the open house and tell the realtor that it is a fridge that you are planning on moving into the new house when you sell yours
Click to expand...

I keep one around for when ever I have some one I do not know working on the house. Does not happen often, but just recently, but water and gas wanted to install new meters and I had to have the building inspecter in for some other stuff. Just throw it over the safe and ignore it.
 
I sold a house in Manchester, NH with a stack-on gun safe in my walk in closet. The lady that bought the house didn't mind at all. The safe, while cheap, was bolted to the floor and wall. I had it at the time to just keep the kids out and not thieves, as I figured I had an alarm system for that, and didn't have the guns I have today.

I have a different safe now, but I still miss my old stack-on actually. Heh...

I explained that it could be taken out, and even though while it was a gun safe, it could be used to lock just about anything up in it. I think she was thinking of storing paperwork and passports in it along with other stuff that kids shouldn't find. It was a definitely plus in the sale, and this girl didn't own any guns.
 
You may wish to use something that does not look like a safe. For example, I have a large Greenlee jobsite box that I use as a small-arms locker. I keep it in the semi-walk-in closet in the second bedroom of my condo, which I use as a den. It locks with two heavy-duty recessed padlocks that can be replaced at any time. I set up the interior to hold my rifle, shotgun, air pistol, ammunition, accessories and important documents. My girlfriend placed large plastic bins full of her off-season clothing on top of the small-arms locker and clothing hung on the closet rod drapes over it. It doesn't look like a safe or a gun locker, so the average visitor would not be the wiser. If I decide to sell and have an open house, I will cover it with a blanket or comforter and then stack my girlfriend's clothing bins on top of that to further hide it. You can get a Greenlee, Knack or Rigid (all similar) jobsite boxes for less than $300 each. This might be a lower-profile and much lower cost answer to your gun-storage needs.
 
Our house is for sale with a safe in it. I informed the realtor straight up what her clients may see. If she wants to warn them beforehand that's up to her. She screens them pretty good. The way I look at it where we live guns and hunting are part of life here. I'd love to sell our house but I'm not altering or moving anything. If it offends them maybe they should be looking in another part of the state. With a safe, lockable gun cabinet, loading bench, ammo locker, and trophies everywhere I will make no attempt to change who I am for the slight possibility of a sale.
 
Imagine not buying a house just because it HAD a gunsafe in it.

It should be noted on the disclosure statement forever more, that a gun safe was once in that house. This is definitely worse than someone DYING in a house. Your house is tainted forever.

I can't believe that you guys are even the slightest bit concerned about this.

Make sure you hide the bed. Who knows what sort of deviant things have happened there.
 
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I would think the safe is a plus for a home sale. If my house had one when we were looking at buying, I would have tried to negotiate for it. Just because there are guns in it now, that's not all it can be used for.
 
Sputa Arms said:
Any safe less than 300 Lbs. should be BOLTED to the floor, wall, ceiling wherever you are gonna put it. That way as the open house is going on people cant just walk away with it without 2 or 3 other guys to help.
Click to expand...
My safes weight considerably more than 300 lbs. They are still bolted to the floor. They were delivered by two guys with a truck and dolly. If two guys with a truck and a dolly can get them into the house, two guys with a truck and dolly can get them out of the house.

Bolt down your safes. It isn't hard, doesn't take long, and adds significant security.
 
I'd be psyched to see a safe in a house, and would definitely try to get it in the sale! In fact, it'd become the top contender in houses I'm looking at. Just have to convince my other half that the HOUSE and not the SAFE is the main selling point[grin]
 
My only concern would be that if it is bolted to the floor when the P&S is signed the buyers own it upon closing, unless you stipulate it in the agreement.
 
Doubt the sheep will know what the hell LaRue is. I don't really know what it is, and I've been shooting for quite a while.
 
For security concerns, I would likely find a close friend or friendly gun shop to bring my safe's contents to during any open houses or walkthroughs. Maybe just keep your carry guns and bedside gun(s) (if they're separate) in the house - this way you could stash them in another area (locked utility cabinet?) during the "invasion" and still have easy access for the rest of the time when you're home. This would allow you to leave the empty safe's door open and perhaps give a would-be burglar the impression that you've already moved out your arsenal to deter folks like him.
 
Just be sure remind them that there could be any number of random spent casings or live rounds scattered about that you missed when moving out and if they don't have an LTC, they will be charged with a felony if they are ever found. Best to say "no" if the PD asks if they can come inside... [laugh]
 
M1911 said:
My safes weight considerably more than 300 lbs. They are still bolted to the floor. They were delivered by two guys with a truck and dolly. If two guys with a truck and a dolly can get them into the house, two guys with a truck and dolly can get them out of the house.
Click to expand...

And the guys who delivered it were probably getting $10/hr, with maybe the hope of a tip for getting it done quickly and cleanly. The value of the contents probably considerably improves the motivation.
 
A couple years back I was thinking of selling my house and moving down south. The Realtor told me that a couple people who came through the house on an open house did not like that I owned guns and had a gun safe. I told the Realtor that I did not want to sell the house (a house that I put a lot of work and care into) to a bunch of pansies like them and that I would not sell the house to them based on that. The bottom fell out of the market not too long after I started showing the house so I took it off the market and decided to stay.
 
Ultimate said:
Why does it have to be a gun safe? If they ask, tell them its a valuables and important paper safe.

If you are concerned about the possibility of a return visit, maybe you can find another location to store your guns?
Click to expand...

What do you say when it's two or three safes?

M1911 said:
My safes weight considerably more than 300 lbs. They are still bolted to the floor. They were delivered by two guys with a truck and dolly. If two guys with a truck and a dolly can get them into the house, two guys with a truck and dolly can get them out of the house.

Bolt down your safes. It isn't hard, doesn't take long, and adds significant security.
Click to expand...

Mine are almost 1000 lbs empty...it took them a lot more than two guys and a dolly to get them into my cellar...full..it wouldn't be an easy feat to them out of my cellar...but you never know...I'm sure that if they tried to take them out it would break the stairs before they could get out of the house....

lupis42 said:
And the guys who delivered it were probably getting $10/hr, with maybe the hope of a tip for getting it done quickly and cleanly. The value of the contents probably considerably improves the motivation.
Click to expand...

I tried to tip the guys that delivered my safe...they wouldn't accept.
 
M1911 said:
My safes weight considerably more than 300 lbs. They are still bolted to the floor. They were delivered by two guys with a truck and dolly. If two guys with a truck and a dolly can get them into the house, two guys with a truck and dolly can get them out of the house.

Bolt down your safes. It isn't hard, doesn't take long, and adds significant security.
Click to expand...

True! You should bolt down every safe but that was just a general rule that we were taught so it cant just disappear like those sentry safes..
 
C-pher said:
Mine are almost 1000 lbs empty...it took them a lot more than two guys and a dolly to get them into my cellar...full..it wouldn't be an easy feat to them out of my cellar...but you never know...I'm sure that if they tried to take them out it would break the stairs before they could get out of the house....
Click to expand...
My big safe is about 900 lbs empty. I've got a walkout basement, with a reasonably steep slope on the side of the house. Two guys used a dolly to deliver it and install it. The right knowledge and equipment allows folks to do that sort of thing without a large group of people.
 

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