To arm or to disarm?
One of the things I don’t enjoy when showing homes is disarming security systems, mainly because I am really bad at it. The up side is that I have gotten to meet and talk to some nice people from alarm companies and from local law enforcement agencies, the down side is the systems slow me down and make me nervous, because I am not a fan of loud noises.
I recently forgot where my neighbors key pad was, I not only tripped her system but had to convince the alarm company that I was just a ditsy neighbor, who entered the home to feed Willa the cat and just forgot about the alarm. I could have been a burglar , but he bought the neighbor bit and did not send anyone out to check. Since her system is deactivated with a key, I never needed the code until I accidentally tripped the alarm and it was too late to ask because she was already in Mexico.
Most of the homes that have security systems are in low crime areas. Maybe it is the security systems that keeps the crime rate low. No one has ever broken into my home, and we have never had a security system other than my neighbors and the dog.
Having an armed system in your home while it is on the market sends mixed messages to the buyer. On the one hand buyers sometimes appreciate having a security system in the home, on the other hand they wonder why it has to be armed all of the time. I have gotten most of my own clients to agree to leave their systems disarmed during the day, especially if they know there is going to be a showing, just to make it easier for buyers and their agent. Something to consider when putting your home on the market.
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I’ve had buyers ask that exact question! “If the seller puts their home on lockbox, and knows people are going to come look at their home, why does the alarm need to be on all the time? Maybe we need to do more research on this neighborhood because I don’t want to live in a place where I need to worry about the alarm…”
Sellers – It’s great to let us know you have an alarm, and please feel free to point out all the bells & whistles, but don’t activate it while you’re on the market – that just makes it harder for everyone!
- Chris Butterworth
I often wonder the same thing when I go into a vacant home to check it out to see what I’m going to be putting in it.
Why the alarm when there is nothing even inside? Lots of extra stress for the showing agent and the buyers to deal with an alarm, particularly in a vacant property.
Thanks – I thought maybe I was just being cranky on this one. I guess there are others who feel the same way.
All agents hate them. Funny thing is that as long as you can identify digits from 0-9, they’re not really much of a problem.
The fact that they’re connected to the “monitoring company” who has a direct line to the cops seems to freak everybody out. Having said that, I once showed a home that had one and was given no heads up on the alarm. It does kind of throw off the showing when a loud horn is blaring and you know that the cops will arrive any moment. Of course, I got the listing agents voicemail. We left the scene and never came back. 
Norm – do you have to understand the metric system to be able to operate a Canadian security system?
No, fortunately the digits have take the same form, and the same meaning in metric and imperial.
I’m sure that they just overlooked the opportunity to mess with those.
I agree with asking the sellers to consider leaving it off during the day. I’m cautious that I don’t “recommend” that since, if their home was burglarized when I suggested leaving the alarm off, then I’d feel responsible. When I show a home to a buyer, I’m always nervous when an alarm is set. One time, I entered the code that was in the lockbox, but the alarm still went off. To this day, I don’t know what I missed, but I missed something. Then, having an alarm blaring while you’re standing there with your buyer can be very un-nerving.