Window And Door Security Bars
When driving through a neighborhood and you
notice there are security bars on the windows and security screens on
the front door of most of the houses this could be a clue that some of
the houses have been robbed in the neighborhood.
Now this does not necessarily mean the robberies are still going on, it
could actually be an incident that only lasted a few months with one of
the local residents involved in criminal activities and now these people
no longer live there.
If you notice in the picture there are no security doors on the upper
windows and this would keep out most amateur burglars but not
professionals.
Security bars around doors and windows in recent years have been
replaced by home alarm systems. In residential areas the security bars
seemed to be a thing of the past but still provide valuable clues while
doing our home inspection.
Don't forget you can always ask one of the neighbors why they have
security bars around their doors and windows. Don't be afraid to ask
questions because there could still be criminal activity in the area
which would influence your decision on whether or not to purchase a
house in this area.
We purchased a home once and did an Internet search on the local area
and it provided us with an excellent record of little criminal activity.
Now for the bad news. While only living there for less than five months
the house had an attempted break in through one of the windows and the
catalytic converters stolen off of one of the cars parked in front of
the home.
Even if you talk to some of the neighbors or police officers in the area
or do online computer searches for criminal activity this does not mean
your house cannot be burglarized.
All you can do is gather as much information as you can about the
neighborhood to eliminate some of the potential problems in the future.