A New Way To Have Your Art Stolen. Beware!

Oh wow, that sucks! So sorry to hear someone did that to you.

What you could do is check out places that might sell original art, even furniture companies. My mother had a floor clock stolen out of our house and she went looking for it and found it in an antique store. You would have to know my mother, she went up to the store owner and said, "That's my clock!" He gave it to her!

You could call stores and say you are looking for a painting and give a general description of the painting but not too exacting (that way they may know something is up). I don't know all the ins and outs but it may be worth a try and possibly some commentators will have ideas on how to establish ownership.

At least you have a place for the police to start. The realtor should have documented information on the people they show the house to. If they don't, I'd get a new agent.

This theft ring is probably operating in your area and if people don't report it the police are unaware.

That is awful.... but it does/can happen.... Any time you are selling your home, it is advisable to put items of value under lock.... regarding artwork, it's pretty hard to replace the spot with another piece...... there is no good solution, I guess, other than tell your realtor you want to be home when the open houses occur....?

That is awful.... but it does/can happen.... Any time you are selling your home, it is advisable to put items of value under lock.... regarding artwork, it's pretty hard to replace the spot with another piece...... there is no good solution, I guess, other than tell your realtor you want to be home when the open houses occur....?

I would think the realtors that have shown your house, if they are honest, will probably know which of their clients separated long enough to take your artwork and put it in their vehicle and then come back into the house or stayed outside. I would think most couples or two lookers would normally stay together with the realtor so any prolonged separation would not be the norm.

I've gotta be honest....I remove all my valuables anytime there is a showing, but I never, ever in a million years thought someone would walk off with one of my paintings. It's not like they lifted something from a famous artist = they lifted something from a starving artist! Because of the nature of the piece and the ease in removing it, I hoped they took it because they wanted to take something and they liked it.

The other thing I am still kicking myself for is not following up immediately when I noticed it missing two weeks ago. It was in a guest bedroom, so I generally just vacuum and dust it.

At this point, I can follow up with every realtor and their clients, but I can't prove anything.

Sad, but true.

I can promise you this...it won't happen a second time!

It doesn't usually happen like that. We had a bunch of jewelry being stolen in my old neighborhood that was taken from homes for sale. Ends up that the thief looking at the home unlocks a window when the realtor isn't looking, then comes back to do the robbing when nobody is home.

Deborah - you can request that your listing agent is present for all showings.
A little inconvenient for them, but too bad. This is your home - & they are well compensated with a sale.

I'm sorry that you lost one of your paintings .

That is such a despicable thing to do. I feel so sorry for you. I know it's two weeks ago but you should still follow it up with the police and the realtor and do some detective work as Suzanne has suggested. Even do a google reverse search for the picture just in case they are stupid enough to put it on the internet for sale.

That is awful! I would surely call the police and allow them to investigate anyone who was shown your home. Also take into consideration that the value of an original painting would probably exceed the limit for grand theft which if I remember right is about 900.00 or so. Also, that is probably something that these criminals do over and over again and they need to be stopped.

this is sad for loss. this happen to my family when we sell house in spain but not to art. my husband leave key with seller and thief take bath and tap and pipe and also door handles. we have to make all new again before to sell. this very old trick for thief and very bad. but my husband say they bite only once and not again because he wise now. i am thinking this be a little flatter to have work theif. this make your art of desire yes :-) i try see bright side.

I am sorry to hear about the theft of your work, but thank you for telling us about it. You wonder about the mind set of those who do those things, However I am intrigued about the painting you had the dedication to work so long on, it must have been very special. Joan Landry

too bad, maybe even 2 weeks later you can follow up

if nothing else it will serve as a warning to other sellers

Definitely have to have restriction with showing your house that currently has personal belongings. My sister use to stage homes for sale and they would catch people trying to steal all the time.

How terrible. Does your realtor have any advice on how to proceed? If, as you say, no one other than potential customers were in your house, then the realtors representing them would have all their information. I know, I'm sure they don't want to go around accusing anyone, so it's really kind of a conundrum. Perhaps your homeowner insurance will cover it. I'm so sorry!!

Its not your realtors problem that someone stole something. Many realtors work months for free, and even spend their own money to drive, park, pay meters, and so on to work selling your home. Some never get paid after months of work, making the starving artist (US) seem like a great job. Some make big money, and so do some artists. To expect them to come to all of your showings is nuts. If that's the case hire a person to watch your house.
Why should anyone expect a realtor to work for free is beyond me.

The Realtors office should have a list of the realtors and the potential buyers who were in your house. Ask for the list and call each and everyone and see if they remember seeing the painting hanging when they were looking at your house. With the dates of the house being shown, you should be able to narrow it down somewhat. Then send a flyer to all the other realtors and see if they are reporting items stolen in other houses. Then see if the potential buyers who looked at your house also looked at others on the list that had items stolen. More than likely, there will be the same name that occurs on all the lists of people who looked...and you might have a pretty good clue...

I am so sorry you got taken. I would take it up with the realtor as well. They are responsible since they take people into your home. I hope you have a photograph of the piece stolen and can report it to the police. Karen has a good point. Maybe who ever is doing the stealing can be trapped.

Good grief!!!! That's just awful!!!!!!

It is actually quite common on higher end homes to have the listing agent accompany showings.

Think about it: Your most valuable possession - filled with your life's earnings - & 50 strangers from out of town trotting through your home over the course of a weekend.

The listing agreement more than likely has a " Hold harmless agreement ".

Its not quite common at all for listing realtors to accompany other realtors on showings, as i sold it for 7 years. Maybe in Hollywood were the agent or broker makes over 100,00 per sale, but that isn't the norm at all. That is why they have open houses, and brokers opens.

So Sad :-( Selling a home and moving is stressful enough. What a rotten agent to not watch the prospective clients better. They should know such things happen. Definitely talk with the recent showings agents company to put them all on alert. So sorry this happened to you.

I did a lot of model homes earlier in my career.....everything was bolted on the wall or GLUED in place..yes, glued...right down to the candy dish with the jelly beans inside of it.

Dang!

Some people suck.

Sorry to hear that happened.

Deborah - what type of lockbox do you have on your house ?

Now that the thief has been inside your home , & is familiar with the layout......

I'm in the process of selling the house of a deceased relative. I totally emptied it, so there's nothing to worry about. But when a house goes on the market it starts moving out of your control. If I were selling my own house I'd consider putting everything in storage and moving into a rental unit.

Good advice from Karen. Kevin, I don't agree with you. Any realtor needs to do 100% for their client. The more vested the realtor is in the sale, the more he or she makes out of the sale, because they take a percentage. Picking a good realtor can be like picking a pediatrician for your child. It's just that important. You'll never get a chance to recoup lower profits on a sale because your realtor wasn't there for you.

similar tactics were used in several incidences here in my neighborhood over the past 15 years, they were done to elderly widows but instead of Realtor's they came in as a salesmen of sorts and while one diverted the owners attention one or two others would come in and steal money or jewelry.
I'm just glad it's not a real bad problem here, we try to keep an eye out for each other here but sometimes it still happens.

create a new gallery called "stolen works". Surprisingly these works seems to bring some interest. Not only will it bring curiosity as we humans are but if someone was to see the real thing in person they can report it to you.

Hmmm Melissa good idea.

Unfortunately, no place is safe. I had a piece go missing from a gallery, and nobody ever had a clue what happened to it. Probably the same scam HAPPENS IN ART GALLERIES too.

To protect your art pieces: Chain 'em down. Put armed guards beside them. Insure them for zillions.

Fortunately, with the gallery, I got paid for my loss - probably business insurance covered it - heck of a way to sell a piece, though (^__^) - at least I am good enough for thieves.

I suppose artists could carry out a similar scam to sell their art: Distract gallery owners and attendants, steal one of your own pieces, report it as a loss, get reimbursed by gallery's business insurance.

Gallery owners beware too.

Patricia, like any business you should always make the client or customer your top priority. Also in real estate, just because you may get a commission does not mean your going to get anything. The home has to sell. It also has to close. I'm not sure you read the whole post the OP wrote, but the realtor sold a painting for her and she got two more commissions from this as well. Does that sound like a professional not looking out for her client? The OP also isn't sure if the piece was stolen or when, as she also stated.

Another way art can be stolen is packages left on the front porch. I sent an original painting and the recipient was having their air conditioner replaced at the time. The neighbor remembers seeing a package along with the new air conditioner unit. Later both the air conditioner unit and the package were gone. :(
Package thieves seem to be more aggressive around the holidays. This gives a new meaning to lost art.