Ok so I have a condo now and I want to put an alarm on it. I dunno if I want to pay for monitoring but I'm curious to see if anyone has done a do it yourself project w/ motion detectors, glassbreak detectors, keypads, etc.

I think I can install my own but I know nothing about the business, what's good, what's a ripoff, etc.

 

We avoided doing it as a home project, established a contract with Brinks ($400/year). Two circuit breakers at doors to our home, and one motion detector on the stair. For us, it was well worth it.

 

when you get a condo Ern?

Congrats BTW!

 

I did DIY awhile back, using what is now Shell/Motorola security system. (Was Xanboo).

It worked, but honestly, I think monitored is better/safer/easier.

This time I'll probably go with Timewarner or ADT unless the DIY products have improved vastly in the last few years... (they're more expensive than monitored anyway, but i like that you can stream shit to your cell phone)

 

I actually have a cape home that I'm going to rent and now a condo for just me I've been quite the busy bee lately that's why you have not seen me as much.

 

a cape home, wtf, when did you move into the Hamptons big spender?

 

What happened to the townhouse in Penn? Where'd the condo come from?

 

Decided to go for a condo in yardley, PA -vs- hatfield. Yardley home values are great and the town is in one of the best school districts in PA.

 

LOL!

It's a fix me up in Edison, a good place to own a home. I just fucking hate Edison and it's congestion, just tired as hell of living in this area. I decided to fix it up and rent it out to a family or something. I have tons of work to do to it but it will be worth it as most real estate investments are. The condo is for me, and it's 20 min's from my job. It needs no work and is in a really, really nice town.

 

Are security systems really necessary? I'm sure the people on this board can mostly afford to live in good neighborhoods with low crime. When is the last time there was a break in around your neighborhood?

 

eclipse23, if you're going to go monitored, they'll put a system in for you almost for free. Installing one yourself can be a pain (running the wires sometimes sucks).

I just came back from the alarm supply place, to get my alarm system back up to operating status. It's not monitored, but I needed to replace a couple of switches and the battery backup. Previous owners installed it, so I might as well get it working again. Basically, I'm tired of seeing the #3 (back door) flashing on the control panel, and having the alarm go off briefly when the power goes out.

I really don't know why the owners put the alarm in, 'cause it's a very quiet neighborhood

 

Break ins happen everywhere. The nicer the neighborhood, the nicer the stuff.



Get a dog

 

We work 2 minues away from each other and live 10 minutes away from each other.

 

Wanna date?

 

Crime in Yardley (2002):

* 0 murders (0.0 per 100,000)
* 0 rapes (0.0 per 100,000)
* 1 robbery (39.9 per 100,000)
* 1 assault (39.9 per 100,000)
* 3 burglaries (119.6 per 100,000)
* 28 larceny counts (1116.0 per 100,000)
* 0 auto thefts (0.0 per 100,000)
* City-data.com crime index = 73.3 (higher means more crime, US average = 330.6)


Crime in Yardley (2001):

* 0 murders (0.0 per 100,000)
* 0 rapes (0.0 per 100,000)
* 0 robberies (0.0 per 100,000)
* 4 assaults (160.1 per 100,000)
* 4 burglaries (160.1 per 100,000)
* 18 larceny counts (720.3 per 100,000)
* 0 auto thefts (0.0 per 100,000)
* City-data.com crime index = 72.1 (higher means more crime)


According to these statistics I should not need one but I protect all my investments.

 

Will it help me acheive mega mod status?

 

um, in some areas, it is BECAUSE you live in a good neighborhood that your property is targeted.......

 

For these monitored systems, do they have some alternative way to "phone home" when a thief with have a brain just walks over to the telco box on the side of the house and pulls the wires?

 

That's what I refuse to paint my house, and I leave a old vw up on blocks in the front yard, It deters criminals

 

Yeah, I lived in the ghetto for the large majority of my life, and the only time we were robbed was by a crackhead friend or family member.

Whereas, now that most my family has been in the burbs for the past 8-10 years or so, many have been robbed.

In general, I feel your house is safer in the ghetto. There are constantly people out and about, and their not afraid to say something if they see some suspicious shit.

In the burbs, it's dark, people keep to themselves, best case scenario... someone gets suspicious and calls the cops ... but by the times cops get to anything ... your house is looted.

 

That's 100% true. My parents live in an upper middle class neighborhood and they get crackheads from MILES away that take the bus to the suburbs to rob the joints. Then they have a buddy pick them up in a car w/ the stash when they are done therefore there's no suspicious car sittin in an odd spot. This happens all the time according to their local PD. The problem is that if you go through a nice suburb at 11am on a fall morning (while school is in session) it's like a graveyard. Since most people who have nice things WORK all day, and they are usually DINKS (dual income, no kids) or they are DIKS (Dual Income w/ kids). There are some towns that you could literally walk up to 2-5 homes that the front or back door is wide open. In the ghetto you DO have alot more eyes at all times of the day. I like neighborhoods w/ a good number of retirees they make the best watchdogs since they are usually very curious about the neighborhood and what's happening around their property. My father is ex-military so he grew me up locking every door in the house EVEN when you are home during the day.