Well I am a new home owner. Been living at my new place for about a month. I have been looking at home security systems for the house as I have a large front windows on my porch that can easily be smashed as well as the double doors for the back deck. My main reason for the investment is to ensure I do not have all my guns, electronics, and jewelry stolen. Plus the added benefit of insurance credits is nice too.

I have been reading reviews as to how horrible a lot of the companies are out there. A lot of them have very deceiving contracts, poor customer service, etc. I am looking for opinions here. I could make my own surveilance system to a PC, but that would be useless if I needed to call the police or something.

Thoughts, opinions, ideas?

(Getting a large mean dog isn't gonna work. I have a walmart door greater right now [golden retreiver] and a 9-month old baby.)

 

12-gauge shotgun by the front door and a .45 in the nightstand

 

I 'won' a FREE home security system when I entered a raffle for a truck about 12 years ago at the local State Fair (The Puyallup Fair for those that know it)... It was from ADT if I recall and we had the guy come out to the house and evaluate our setup and while the 'free' system only included a single code pad and a couple of doors sensors and a couple of window sensors and a 'free' month of monitor service and the install, he also tried to 'sell' us the 'complete package' which included the full monitor setup for the monthly fee and the rest of the doors and windows in the house...

Well, we thought about it and decided NOT to even let them install the FREE stuff....

I guess I've been very lucky in my life and have never had the experience of a burglary of my home, even going back to my childhood.... I've had my car broken into and I've had stuff stolen from lockers and such and my wife has had her car stolen in the past, but never at home....

I know there are the horror stories of home invasions where the owners are assaulted, tied up, and even killed outright.... This happens every day so you just have to evaluate it for your own situation..

Being a new home owner, I'm sure you are feeling pretty 'anxious' about everything in your new home! That's what I felt 12 years ago when I was a new home owner too! That's why I even agreed to meet with the ADT guy in the first place!!

Ultimately, I decided that this kind of a system was way over what I needed for my home and if I'm not in the house and it gets burglarized, then my insurance will pay for the lost items.... Sure, I'll be pissed as hell, but that's also why I'm armed and ready to use it if it happens while I'm home.... I've never been tested on this of course, so I'll either be dead or the puke that broke in will be dead, but that's my decision in the end....

If a security system makes you sleep better, then by all means, do it.... Check you local BBB for security companies in your area and go from there... If you do have problems in your area, then a video camera would be a good idea of course..

This is only what I decided to do for ME, so don't think I'm trying to tell YOU what to do... I'm only saying that YOU are the only one that can determine what is best for YOU!

Mitch

 

A security system provides YOU with a false sense of security. It will stop nobody. I would suggest calling your local law enforcement and find out just what their response time is in your area. I can assure you the crooks know. If it's over 2 minutes, a security system is waste of money and in most areas of our nation, it is a total waste of money. Instead of a siren, they should install a loud stereo. Neighbors are more inclined to look at that than an alarm system that seemingly never quits and goes off often. The best deterrent you'll ever have is to put decals on the windows and doors stating you have a system. It'll keep the kids out but an experienced burglar will go right past them as he knows he is going in, grabbing something of value and hauling butt in under 2 minutes. A gun safe with shelves for jewelry is probably your best investment. Just make sure it is bolted to the floor and is fire rated. Keep valuable papers in it as well especially birth certificates, picture IDs, social security cards, anything where an individual can steal your identity. A lot of burglarys today are not for your TV or stereo but your identity. It has more value and if they get caught, it's easy to get rid of and is light to carry. So I'd suggest skipping the security system. Get decals that say you have one and buy a fire rated gun safe and not one that is not electronic.

 

setup a video surveillance system, that way if someone does break in you can maybe find the guy and get your stuff back and have him punished

 

First of all congratulations on your new home.
Believe it or not that Golden Retriever of yours just might surprise you in the event of an unwanted intruder. Your dog is an excellent first line of defense. Put yourself in the shoes of the person who is breaking into your home. 1) you don't know if that barking dog is going to bite you. 2) the barking has sounded the alarm and alerted the home owner that somethig is amiss.

The downside of an alarm system is that many of them have motion sensors and your dog moving through the home could set it off.

If you do get an alarm service, don't put the sign in the yard or windows, it lets the bad guys know what they're up against in my opinion.

You SHOULD definately have and be ready to use your firearms. Because face it, you call the police and they come after the crime has been commited.

My home defense consists of 3 dogs 1 of which will definately put the hurt on someone and firearms that I keep locked and loaded with zero hesitation to use in the event someone would make the mistake of entering my home without "permission."

PS: For the firearms and valuables get a good safe (something that can't be carried away) and store those things in there.

 

APEX seams to have had the best deal for me here. The only thing I don't particularly like is the fact that the brain and keypad are one unit and located near the front door.

 

The bad thing about getting a gun safe is that I will have to keep in located in my garage. I have hardwood floors in my home and they are still a little soft. So I would have to buy an expensive model of gun safe that included humidity and temperature control.

 

Does nothing when your not there . Home invasion maybe . But the sorry SOBS like it when your not home to steal your stuff. Believe me Ive been broken into twice . Both times the alarm system saved me from being cleaned out. The frist time they came in thru the door with the delay . So they had just enought time to steal some of the wifes gold stuff and a 40 cal beretta out of the nightstand. I had 2 rifles behind the door and more in the closet but the alarm system scared them off . The second time they broke a glass bay door in the basement . This set off a motion detector causing the alarm to go off instantly and they never entered the house. I Just bought a Honeywell system off of Ebay Brand new still in the box $70 Cheap !! All I have to do is buy the door switches and install . I just made him an offer and he accepted. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

Raptor,

Oh yeah! .45 caliber auto with 14 round clip works for me. In my experience, the monitored home security is not worth it. Unless you live next to the police station, by the time help arrives, it will be too late.

 

We have a rotty & a sharpei & if you can get past them u are either very brave or just insane!!

 

Congrats on the new home!

I have been an insurance agent for 17 years now. I also have had the bad luck of being broken into 3 times. First thing you need to know is that an alarm does no good if it is not set. I don't know how many times I have had a customer report a break in and when asked about the alarm they say "oh we never set it it was just too much trouble"

But anyway based on my experience monitoring is fine if you want to pay the monthly fee but realistically it will not do much more for you than just the alarm by itself will. The 3 times it happened to me we were not at home and they never actually entered the house. The alarm tripped each time and they took off. I did on two occasions lose some tools from my garage that they got before they tried to enter the house. My garage door is not wired to the alarm unfortunately. One time the door was kicked in but the alarm scared them so much that they did not even bother to grab the $40 in cash that happened to be sitting on the kitchen table about 15 feet away. We live in a rural area with no neighbors in sight but just the loud sound of an alarm will usually make them leave in a hurry. If you live in a subdivision your neighbors will be calling the police for you if that alarm keeps going more than a minute. 2 of the 3 times it happened to me my neighbors called me at work to let me know.

Other than that the best thing you can do is make your home more buglar proof than your neighbor. We finally put up a gate and fence across the front of our property and since then have not had any problems. Anything you can think of to deter a criminal, all of which are lazy, will help. Good luck with the new home and buy a gun safe!