This morning I met a client at this cute, little unassuming house in the heart of Brentwood. It's vacant, but well-kept, and on an attractive, hustle-bustle block. We were there with a handyman to bid some finish work and updates she's thinking about having done, should a purchase be in the cards. The handyman took me aside and said "I don't want to alarm the buyer or anything, but there is no plumbing in this house." Huh? The copper piping in the basement was totally gone, without a trace.
Sadly this seems to be an ongoing, if not growing problem all across the metro, in all kinds of neighborhoods. Just in my last couple outings in Brentwood, this was the third house that had some sort of copper theft. It's almost commonplace in my house hunting excursions through any vacant houses. But when I stop and think, it's pretty creepy knowing that these crimes are happening right under our noses. What can be done? I suppose if I were selling a house and it had to be vacant, I'd consider an alarm system as a deterrent. Having a neighbor park a car in the driveway and keeping lights on a timer could help. Really, anything that might make the house seem lived in would help to discourage thieves that are scoping neighborhoods for their next target. With copper at $4/lb at the scrapyards, up 100% from $2/lb just a few years ago, it doesn't seem like this problem will be going away anytime soon.
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