PH Real Estate - The Broker Didn’t Inform Him about the Security Risk of His New House; Here’s What He Did

The Romero family members were so happy to move in to their new house. It was a classy bungalow with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and a spacious yard where the three kids can frolic all they want. Little did the family know that there were prowlers and burglars roaming around to pounce on their unsuspecting victims. The house was perfect and it came with a reasonable price that they readily bought it without doing some research. They should have suspected that something was amiss when the house seemed too good to be true. Nonetheless, the parents were honest and God-fearing people that they never suspected the agent wouldn’t tell them something as important as security risks.

The father, Carl, learned the bad news by coincidence from his neighbor, when he has coming out of his car to get something he had forgotten in the house.

“Hello, I suppose you’re the new owner of the house,” the neighbor surmised.

“Hello, Yeah, I’m Carl,” Carl extended his hand and shook the man’s hand firmly.

“I’m Alex. I live across the street,” he pointed to a mansion across Carl’s house. 

Carl nodded, “Nice meeting you, Alex.”

“I supposed the agent hasn’t informed you of the security risk of your house,” he said, sotto voce.

Carl looked at him, startled, “What do you mean?”

“Your house has various vulnerable places that burglars can enter. That house has been robbed a couple of times. That’s why, no one stays for long,” Alex disclosed unguardedly.

Carl was speechless with shock.

“That house seems to bring bad luck. The agent didn’t tell you, right?” Alex continued.

“Uhm, no,” Carl shook his head with disbelief.

“Anyway, if you want to know the details, I can tell you everything. I just want to help,” Alex declared, nodded his head and walked away.

Carl stood at the driveway, looking at his retreating back and thought: “What was that?”

He decided not to report to work that day to check on the house’s vulnerable spots. 

“What’s up?” his wife, Donna, asked him; her deep-seated eyes full of worry as he gazed at him from her lovely face.

“Our neighbor told me something strange,” Carl replied, “he said this house brings bad luck.”

“What?” Donna exclaimed.

“According to him, it has been robbed several times.”

Donna’s eyes grew wide with fear. 

“Perhaps, he was just kidding,” she stated reassuringly. “There are security guards at the main gate.”

“Well, true or not. I have to make sure we stay safe.”

Carl started scrutinizing the roof. There was a large patch at the corner of the ceiling, like it was sawn off with a razor sharp material. Using a ladder, he examined the area, and, indeed, anyone can easily cut off the roof and ceiling from the outside to gain entry into the house. 

This must be one of the entry points of one of the robberies, he said inwardly.

He had to replace the material with something that is more durable and strong, such as iron bars and a thicker material. He wrote this down in his notepad.

Next, he examined the walls enclosing the property. They could be scaled without difficulty from the outside.

Even the gate, the front and back doors of the house were readily accessible with the use of a master key.  Carl felt vulnerable. If it hadn’t for Alex, he could have been the next victim.

That very same day, Carl repaired the parts that he had noted down. With the help of a few builders, the ceiling was now re-enforced with steel bars and thick plywood, which would take heavy equipment to destroy. In that case, the sound would warn them of the burglar.

He added layers of barbed wires on top of the walls and replaced the locks with double locks that were theft-proof.

He also installed automatic motion lights that would turn off automatically when movement is detected from 20 meters away. Not contented, he positioned CCTV cameras from three angles: the rooftop, the front and the backyard. 

He had been busy the whole day that he didn’t notice it was already dusk. He had done all he could to ensure that his house was well secured. He paid the workers and sat down, tired but pleased.

Nonetheless, at the back of his mind, he knew he was missing something. He realized what it was when Alex approached him, while he was closing the gates.

“I see, you’ve been busy all day,” he said, a tinge of admiration reflected in his voice.

“I guess, I have to thank you for warning us,” Carl replied.

“You’re a trusting person. You believed me without questions,” Alex mused. 

“There’s no reason for you to lie to me,” Carl countered. “I’d like to believe in the goodness of man.”

“I have a suggestion,” Alex grinned. “You’d be an excellent partner.”

“Tell me about it.”

Alex suggested that they should talk to their neighbors about how they could beef up the security within the area. 

“First, let’s hold a meeting with the security agency and go from there,” Carl suggested. 

“Let’s do that.”

The next day, the two men held a dialogue with the security agency in charge of their subdivision. Carl confirmed that, indeed, there were three cases of robbery in that particular house. It was because the new owners were not warned of the security issues.

The security agency admitted that they were remiss in their responsibility.

“But do we just stop at your admission of guilt? The thieves may have passed through the gate but they were undetected. Why wasn’t anything done to correct the problem? It could happen again,” Carl felt his anger mounting.

“We’re going to meet the other homeowners and we’ll file a complaint, if you don’t act on our complaint,” Alex met the eyes of the security officer unwaveringly.

The officer tapped his desk and said: “Okay, we will assign two roving guards 24/7, and be stricter on the main gate security,” he acquiesced.

Next, Alex and Carl met the other homeowners in the subdivision for a meeting; security was the agenda. Everyone was advised to install CCTV cameras and motion sensors in appropriate areas in their homes. 

They can be expensive at first, but purchasing the product is the only expense. Once installed, they can be very useful as security measures. 

Any suspicious looking persons should be reported to the security office immediately. Everyone has the responsibility to look after the other homeowners because this would also ensure their own safety.

This was what Carl missed previously – the concern of everyone for the safety of the entire subdivision.

What about you? Have you ever encountered security problems in your home? You can also do what Carl did to ascertain that you’re safe and secure in your own homes.  

Tags:    home security, secure your home