June 2007 Newsletter                               View an index of all our newsletters
 

Security For Your Home

A Gazette newspaper reader emailed me in May, expressing her concern for leaving her family’s newly purchased home during their summer vacation. This is a common concern for homeowners. Fortunately, there are many actions any homeowner can take to make the home appear lived in while the house is vacant.

Why not make it actually lived in while you areaway? Find a relative or single friend who is willing to house-sit in your absence. There are also vacation home exchange services that provide contacts with people from other areas who are interested in vacationing in our area. Check intervacusa.com or simplyhomeexchange.com, for example.

Otherwise, call your local police department. Many have programs for vacation house checks that will periodically inspect the perimeter of the home, check all doors and windows, verify vehicles found on the property and verify the identity of anyone found on the property.

Most other actions involve good common sense. Do not publicize that you are planning a vacation. These type articles in society pages of newspapers make wonderful reading for burglars. Do not change your telephone answering machine to state that you are out of town and will return their call at a later date. Turn your telephone ringer down to low so no one outside can hear its unanswered ringing.

Make your home look lived-in from the outside. Arrange to have the lawn mowed during your absence. Stop mail and newspaper deliveries while you are away. The US Post Office form PS8076 is their “Authorization to Hold Mail” or see http://www.usps.com/ for more information. If you are a true news junkie and must catch up on local news while you were away, arrange for a neighbor to collect your paper daily. Ask a neighbor both to park a car in your driveway overnight and use your trash can from time to time. Be sure to give your neighbor a key so they can enter your home if necessary and contact information in case there is an emergency.

Locks mostly keep honest people out of a home, but having quality locks and a security system can keep burglars out also. Arrange for a locksmith to survey the locks around the home. For instance, “Charlie Bars” for sliding glass doors are ineffective, but having a deadbolt lock on the moving door prevents a thief from lifting the door out of its tracks. Do not leave a key hidden outside. Thieves have hidden-key x-ray vision, so why make entry into your home easy?

If you do not have an alarm system, several alarm companies have deals for inexpensive installation of a basic system in exchange for signing up for annual monitoring for break-ins, fire and carbon monoxide. Every home that will be vacant for any length of time should
have an alarm system with monitoring.

Just before you leave, check every door and
window lock protecting the accesses into your home. Do not leave a window open during vacation absences. These comments seem so obvious, but security experts have found that sixty percent of all vacation period break-ins occur through unlocked doors or windows. If your garage does not have an electronic opener, do not forget to manually lock the garage door.

Lastly, try to make the inside of your home appear lived in when in fact it is vacant. Leave the drapes in their normal positions. Put the front door light and several lamps around your home on timers. It would be common to have the front door light on from dusk to bedtime. Lamps going on and off in different rooms would be common if the home was occupied. Also, put a radio and a television on timers with the radio on during the day and the television on during the evening.

By making sensible decisions about securing your property, your home will be as safe as possible. There is nothing better than returning home and sleeping in your own bed. Enjoy a worry free vacation and have fun.

Alban is proud to offer FREE Continuing Education Courses in Real Estate Offices!
Call Tina to schedule one of our educational seminars, for additional information, or to schedule our services at 800-822-7200 or 301-662-6565.

From the Desk of
Arthur Lazerow

I am pleased to introduce Joe Dempsey as the newest Alban home inspector. One of the responsibilities of being the boss is recognizing the opportunity to employ an outstanding individual and Joe is just that! In many ways, he reminds me of George Ash, a terrific guy and excellent home inspector who retired from Alban and home inspecting several years ago to live in Florida and help his significant other run her B&B for horse owners and their horses.

Joe fell into my lap one day as a result of his asking to accompany me on a “ride-along” to observe what home inspecting is all about. At the conclusion of the day’s two inspections, I realized Joe Dempsey was unusually comfortable and adept at working with people. Both the clients that day and their Realtors enjoyed Joe’s demeanor. I didn’t realize at the time that this was a job interview.

Joe lives in the District of Columbia. He began his housing career in 1971, working for a masonry contractor, after which he supervised installations of commercial interiors, managed a cabinetmaking shop and worked in the appliance repair industry.

His knowledge of all aspects of home construction is excellent, as evidenced by his outstanding performance on the National Home Inspector’s Exam. He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. and graduated from the University of Dayton, majoring in economics and religion, with additional course work in historic preservation and environmental planning.

Joe has completed the Inspection Training Associates full length home inspection course and his on-the-job Alban training. As I said above, Joe has outstanding communication skills. He will offer his clients a superb educational experience along with a quality home inspection.

Another Big Recall of Dishwashers

This is the second major dishwasher recall in 60 days. This one is really big, estimated to cover 2.5 million General Electric dishwashers. There are so many recalled GE dishwasher model numbers it is highly probable that Alban clients will be affected. According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, liquid rinse-aid can leak from its dispenser onto the dishwasher’s internal wiring which can cause an electrical short and overheating, posing a fire hazard. There have been 56 reports of property damage and 12 fires that escaped the dishwasher.

The list of recalled model numbers is so extensive that they cannot be summarized here.

Visit http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml 07/07190.html and compare your dishwasher model number with the announced list. The data plate for dishwashers is found on either the side of the dishwasher door or on the side of the interior of the box.