CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Roy and Ellen Paratore know they have a beautiful home. It's modern, updated and unique. And they felt confident they would sell it once the market got better. But they weren't prepared for some of the pitfalls they'd face when trying to move.
The couple has lived in SouthPark for 20 years without any trouble -- until now.
Over the weekend, their house was one of two homes for sale broken into by thieves.
"They came in and entered through the window where they forced it open with crowbars," said Roy Paratore.
Police say the couple and a second homeowner in the area fell victim to a sophisticated team of burglars.
"These guys knew what they were doing," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Steve Whitesel. "They cut alarm wires, removed the battery and cut it off from the inside of the house."
Whitesel believes the burglars posed as home buyers at an open house by day and then came back at night. He believes the burglars could have also gotten information on the home or other homes from virtual tours. The Paratore's home was featured on an online tour.
"You have to have your home on a virtual tour now to sell your home," said Dickens-Mitchener realtor Joan Goode.
While open houses and virtual tours help sell homes, Goode offers advice so that you don't become a victim. "You should hide the jewelry you have."
She recommends you hide flat screen TVs, computers, silver and crystal, too.
The Paratores' flat screen was stolen and so was all of Ellen Paratore's jewelry. "Gone, gone -- my old rings," she said.
"It's a violation of privacy. It makes you uneasy that they can break in that easily," said Roy Paratore.
Police say crime in the south Charlotte area where the break-ins occurred is down over this time last year. And they acknowledge the couple did many things right. They had an alarm on, put up motion sensors and secured their property when they were gone. They admit, this time, the burglars were simply two steps ahead of everyone else.
However, police say the couple did one thing that may help them solve the case. They had serial numbers from their stolen TVs.
If you know anything about the SouthPark burglaries, they ask that you call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
