Selling means opening your home up to strangers - which can leave you feeling vulnerable when it comes to security. Safeguarding valuables is one way to make your home safer while it's for sale; hiring a real estate sales representative is another.

Your real estate representative acts as a gatekeeper of sorts - someone prospective buyers have to go through if they want to view your home. As a part of their services, your rep pre-screens potential buyers by inquiring about their identities and reasons for wanting to see your property. Common inquiries inlude: Has the buyer been pre-approved for financing? Do they live in the area? Why are they buying? What interests them about the property? Such questions are meant to ensure buyers aren't going to waste your time, or your real estate rep's - in other words, to ensure anyone entering your home is there because they're serious about buying, and not for other reasons, providing peace of mind for sellers.

In hosting showings, your real estate sales representative is just as concerned as you are about safety, and cautious about who's entering your home. This is why real estate reps often take precautions such as requiring prospective buyers to sign a guest register with their name, address, and phone number upon entering your home, and/or brining a colleague along to provide added supervision during open houses - precautions you can request if you're concerned about security.