Are You Alarming?
Sally & David, consistently has so many great posts and most importantly is terrific about sharing it to us Rainers and beyond. This article has new & exciting information for all the readers to take advantage from. I, myself will be anxious to learn from it! So many times I write blogs and really don't think that it gets the impact that it should. So I love to see re-blogs of popular posts. Thanks again for sharing.
Even though my favorite policeman tells people the best key to keeping burglars away is a barking dog, a lot of Washington, DC residents have alarm systems installed in their homes. And yes, while Willie the Labradoodle has a rather scary bark, I have an ADT system to back him up.
But when a house is for sale, there are many reasons why I think having an alarm on and activated is a bad idea:
- It can send the wrong message about the neighborhood, like "You need an alarm!" Especially when the house is empty.
- Many agents are alarm phobes, afraid they will set it off and so nervous about punching in the wrong code that they often do - and the screech goes off.
- No matter how careful you and your agent or the company's showing coordinator might be about explaining how the alarm works and what the code is, even alarm savvy agents will get it wrong once in a while, and the screech goes off.
- When the alarm goes off, even if you are able to deactivate the thing, the alarm company probably has some way of notifying the police, and you don't really want Officer Friendly pulling up in a big old cruiser during your showing.
- Many local police departments are writing hefty tickets if they have to respond to a false alarm.
- When an alarm goes off, it is almost certain to put a sudden end to the showing and reduce to almost nil the chances that the buyers will think it's Dream House and want to make an offer.
Showing a home with a security system is a big distraction. If the alarm is armed, I'm always afraid that I won't be able to find the box in time. Then what if I punch in the wrong number - how can I undo it? And what if I can't figure out how to re-arm the place?
For sellers, I think that part of getting the home ready for prime time is putting away anything valuable and portable that you wouldn't want stolen (or broken by a child, which is more frequent).
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