Protect Your Property in Rancho Santa Fe

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Home Security Check

By: Joseph D'Agnese

Published: February 1, 2010

The first step toward protecting your home from break-ins is to conduct a home security check that will show where your property is most vulnerable.


This step-by-step list, arranged according to the hierarchy of risk, is a good place to start.

Your home's appearance

Burglars want an easy target. Stand on the street outside your house and ask yourself: Does my property look neglected, hidden, or uninhabited? A front door or walkway that's obscured by shrubbery offers crooks the perfect cover they need while they break a door or window.

Consider trimming shrubs away from windows, widening front walks, and installing outdoor lighting with motion detectors. Simple motion-activated floodlights cost less than $50, and installing them is an easy DIY job if the wiring is already in place. All sides of your house should be well-lit, not just the front.

Doors: The first line of defense

Are your front and back doors vulnerable? Steel, solid wood, and impact-resistant fiberglass are all good choices for security. If you must have glass, make sure it is tempered or reinforced for added strength, and that sidelights are positioned where somebody can't easily reach in and turn the lock.

Open all doors and check the strike plates, the metal fittings that catch bolts and latches. Chances are, the strike plates are fastened to the soft wood of the door jamb with two screws only. Not good. Best are four-screw strike plates with 3-inch screws that penetrate the jamb and bite into the hard wood of the stud behind the jamb. All exterior doors should have deadbolts that throw at least a 1-inch bolt. Ask your locksmith to upgrade to Grade 1 or Grade 2 locksets and deadbolts, the most secure options.

Back doors and garage doors are more likely to be attacked before the front door, according to Chris McGoey, a Los Angeles-based home security consultant. If you have an attached garage, secure the door by disabling the automatic opener and locking the door before you go away on a long trip. The door leading from the garage into the house should be outfitted with the same hardware as all other exterior doors and be kept locked at all times.

Windows

In order of risk, ground-floor and basement windows are more likely to be attacked than second-floor windows. The exception is second-floor windows that can be easily accessed by a deck or other elevated structure outside the home. Make sure all windows can be opened, closed, and locked with relative ease--and then remember to lock them. The biggest problem with windows is that homeowners leave the house and leave them wide open.

For added security, consider installing blocking devices on the most easily accessed windows so they can't be opened from outside, says McGoey. Wooden dowels laid in the track block windows that slide horizontally, and steel locking pins (about $7 each) inserted in small holes drilled through the frames prevent windows from sliding vertically. If you install a home security system later, the pros will install glass-break sensors on your most vulnerable windows.

Storage sheds

Don’t ignore the doors and windows on your outdoor storage shed, especially if you store tools such as ladders, saws, screwdrivers, and hammers, any of which would be handy to a burglar. As with house doors, the best option is a secure deadbolt. Hasp closures are easily defeated because someone can insert a crowbar behind the hasp and snap it.

Not all storage shed doors are able to accommodate a deadbolt. In that case, opt for a heavy-duty slide bolt ($15-$25) instead of a hasp closure. With one of these, a tough steel bolt slides into a fitting attached to the shed door frame or a second shed door. The bolt is then rotated down and locked in place with a padlock. When attaching a slide bolt, avoid screws, which can be easily undone. You're better off using nuts and bolts because they're stronger, and because the nut does its job from the interior of the shed.

Patio doors

It's relatively easy to lift a set of older patio doors off the track, even when they are locked. Don't attempt to do this on your audit, but take time to inspect the doors and hardware. Replace any missing or broken locks, and consider installing and using locking pins to prevent them from sliding.

Consider your family's habits: Do you leave the patio doors open all summer? Locking the screen door isn't good enough; it keeps out bugs, not thieves. Get in the habit of closing and locking patio doors when they're unattended or you're not home.

Safeguarding household valuables

Thieves want easy-to-grab electronics, cash, jewelry, and other valuables, though some are not above running down the street with your flat-screen TV. Most make a beeline for the master bedroom, because that's where we're likely to hide spare cash, jewelry, even guns.

Tour each room and ask yourself: Is there anything here that I can move to my safe deposit box? Consider getting rid of old jewelry you never wear. A home safe, bolted to your basement slab, is a good spot for everything else. Have you made a video inventory of other items of value in your home? Are you properly insured for theft? Understand that high-ticket items in your home office, such as computers, professional camera equipment, or other business essentials, may require an additional rider or a separate policy. And take steps to back up the personal information stored on your home computer.

Joseph D'Agnese is a journalist and book author who has written numerous articles on home improvement. He lives in North Carolina.

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Is buying a house still a good investment...consider this

July 13, 2011

Dear Sir:

The author ignores some important facts in arguing against the financial benefits of owning a home (“A Home is a Lousy Investment,” July 11, 2011). First, most home buyers do not pay cash for a home, but instead take out a mortgage along with a down payment. Following the author’s example, a home buyer in California who purchased a median priced single-family home in 1980 ($99,550) with a 20 percent down payment ($19,910) would see that investment grow to $296,820 when the home was fully paid off in 2010. Investing the same $19,910 in the Dow-Jones Industrial Index in 1980 would result in a balance of just over $238,000 in 2010 and be subject to taxes on the investment gains along the way.

Second, during the 30-year period while the homeowner is whittling down their mortgage balance and banking home equity, the renter has been paying rent that has increased by an average of 3.7 percent per year even as the monthly principal and interest payments on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage remain level. Based on rental trends, it is not too difficult to come up with reasonable scenarios where the investor who rents a home will pay significantly more in rent than the homeowner will pay in mortgage interest over the span of the 30-year mortgage. That’s because rent payments for a comparable home could easily exceed the principal and interest payment on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in as few as seven or more years. In the end, the homeowner will have a free and clear asset while the renter will continue to pay rent.

Third, many homeowners also are able to take advantage of deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes when filing their federal income tax return making the cost of ownership even more favorable compared with renting. Furthermore, a capital gains deduction of up to $500,000 ($250,000 for single homeowners) applies when the home is sold.

Fourth, homeownership builds wealth. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2009 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median net worth of the typical homeowner exceeds $190,000 but is less than $4,000 for the typical renter. Given this difference, it’s hard to see how long-term renting is a strategy for financial stability and independence.

And, finally, people who buy homes well within their budget are long term planners. Research suggests that people who are long term thinkers and willing to forego short term gratification do well in many dimensions of life-wellness measures. That is why homeownership meets long term objectives and provides great incentives for people to work hard and lay the foundation for a stable and successful country.

Lawrence Yun
Chief Economist, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Washington, D.C.

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