Real estate brokers who handle the sale of ultra-luxury properties for high-profile clients take precautions to protect against theft. Boston Realty Advisors, which is handling the sale of Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez’s condominium (above) on the 37th floor of The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers in Boston, recently hosted a media open house where staff monitored the tour.

Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez’s condo recently made a splash in the news when it went on the market for $6.9 million. Reporters were invited to tour the outfielder’s fully furnished home at The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers, where personal photos, pricey artwork and sports memorabilia were openly displayed.

The real estate firm handling the sale of the Ramirez condo, Boston Realty Advisors, arranged for several people to be on site during the tours to ensure that none of the furnishings or personal items were removed or damaged.

Real estate brokers and agents who routinely market luxury properties and the homes of high-profile clients that are often furnished with irreplaceable antiques and valuable trinkets say they must take such precautions.

While many agents say that theft at such for-sale properties is extremely rare, they still are cautious about how they advertise and market the residences and often screen buyers before allowing them to visit the homes. And brokers handling the sale of such high-end properties generally do not host open houses for the public, which are routine for more moderately priced housing.

Jason Weissman, president of Boston Realty Advisors, said the firm asks sellers, particularly clients who are well known to the public, to remove certain personal items and valuables while the home is on the market.

“Some clients choose to remove those articles, some don’t,” said Weissman.

With condominiums that are located in buildings equipped with sophisticated security systems, such as The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers, there are already security measures and specific showing instructions for real estate brokers to follow, explained Weissman.

But in the case of single-family homes, Weissman said, Realtors often have to take other precautions.

Some sellers of luxury properties, for example, stage their homes with priceless antiques and fine artwork. In those cases, Weissman said brokers ask clients to get proper insurance, set up a special security or home-monitoring system or at least store away valuables that can easily be stolen.

“We really want to educate our clients so that they take all precautions,” he said.

‘Very Selective’
James Nemetz, manager and vice president of Hammond GMAC Real Estate’s Chestnut Hill office, said for very high-end homes the company usually does not host open houses for the public.

“We would only have broker open houses, and in general the brokers that would come in we already know,” said Nemetz.

Nemetz said there is very little opportunity for theft because showings of such exclusive properties are accompanied, meaning that the listing agent is present and oftentimes the agent working with the buyer is there as well.

And buyers interested in seeing those homes are well screened before any appointment is set up to view the home, he said.

“When you get into the very high end, the buyers for those properties are usually well known,” said Nemetz. “Buyers in that price range are very selective of what they see and the agent is expected to do a lot of legwork.”

Still, Nemetz said clients are told to pack away small trinkets and jewelry that can easily be swept up and hidden in a purse or pocket.

Agents who have represented very wealthy sellers say they are also careful about the types of marketing photos they make available for the public to view.

Pauline Ho Bynum, a Realtor in the Chestnut Hill office of Hammond GMAC Real Estate who is currently marketing several multimillion-dollar listings, including an $8.7 million mansion on 2.6 acres in Brookline, said when she includes virtual tours on a Web site she allows the camera to focus on moldings and staircases and other interesting details in a home. But she never allows photos that zero in on any personal property.

Ho Bynum has represented well-known public figures in the past and has advised them to store away personal photos if they do not want homebuyers to know that the house is owned by them.

“On the other hand, we also have buyers who are very sensitive to their privacy and very often I have shown properties where I’ve had to sign confidentiality agreements before the buyer is brought in,” she said.

Ho Bynum said she signs the agreement with the condition and understanding that she can tell her seller client the identity of the interested buyer.

Many Realtors who work with famous clients say they try to be as discreet as possible.

Jonathan P. Radford, a luxury property marketing specialist who works in the Boston office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said many clients he has represented – including European royalty, Hollywood celebrities, sports figures and business leaders – have asked him to protect their privacy.

“In many cases, I have asked listing agents to sign confidentiality agreements before bringing a buyer to see a home,” said Radford in an e-mail. “If the home is in a full-service building with concierge and a large lobby, we would try and bypass the lobby by going directly from the garage. If this is not possible and the buyer is recognized by all those present in the lobby, there is really nothing one can do to stop this [from] being printed in a newspaper the next morning.”

Radford said if a potential buyer who wants to see one of the high-end properties he has listed is not known, then he may request some type of mortgage pre-approval letter.

At the Ramirez property, only buyers who have a pre-qualification letter from a lending institution or an accountant will be permitted to view the home to discourage so-called “tire kickers” – those who are simply curious but not serious buyers – said Weissman.

But according to Realtors, the number of agents who deal with ultra-luxury homes and the buyers who can afford them are so few that there are generally few risks of theft.

“It’s a small world when you get up in the high end. We do seem to know most of the agents involved,” said Ann Trudeau, a broker with Barrett & Co., an independent real estate office in Concord. “We’ve been in the business for 28 years, and our agents are very experienced and they just know each other. Now that doesn’t mean they know the buyer, but they know that that agent is kind of partnering [and] keeping things legitimate.”

Trudeau said her company also does not advertise the addresses of most homes it lists for sale.

Along with other Realtors interviewed, Trudeau said that showings of exclusive properties are always accompanied, and that agents pre-qualify homebuyers before setting up appointments.

Trudeau and Nemetz, of Hammond GMAC, also pointed out that most cases of theft involve prescription drugs that are taken from medicine cabinets during public open houses.

“All Realtors in the community [have] shared a concern about that, and we’re all very careful about making sure sellers don’t leave their medicines available easily,” Trudeau said.