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People advertising their properties on marketing billboards and the internet could unwittingly be giving burglars valuable information about their homes, say police.
Hamilton police are warning vendors and real estate agents to consider security before they publish photos of properties and their interiors.
The call comes after police nabbed a man who later admitted to four burglaries in the Hamilton area following a car chase through the city on Wednesday.
The man told police he had studied billboards and websites advertising houses for sale or flatmates wanted and would look for pictures showing electronic items in people's homes.
Detective Sergeant Arthur Harper said a number of plasma screen and LCD televisions were stolen from homes around Hamilton last week.
"Of these several were from homes for sale with photos of their lounges displayed on billboards outside.
"A picture of the inside of your lounge looks very nice and is sure to attract prospective buyers but it is also likely to attract prospective burglars attracted to the high-end electronics on display."
Mr Harper said there had been other incidents where agents were distracted and thieves posing as potential buyers unlocked doors or windows for later access to the home.
But agents throughout Hamilton were surprised by the news.
The general manager of Harcourts in Hamilton, Brian King, said incidents like these were the first he had heard of in his 18 years in the industry.
The Real Estate Institute's Waikato/Bay of Plenty president, Sue Hovell, agreed it was a Catch-22 situation for agents who wanted to present the homes they sold in the best possible light.
But she said demographics and location were other possible contributing factors.
"If that billboard wasn't there, would the same burglar or potential burglar look at the home and know what's in there?"
Waikato police communications manager Andrew McAlley said groups of criminals cruised streets noting the addresses of homes with LCD and plasma televisions which emitted a distinctive glow.
