^^^still laughing at the typo and the comeback…
I live in a safe suburban community, but my philosophy, having grown up in a city, has always been better safe than sorry. The alarm system was the very first thing we did in each of our homes, before even furnishing. The signs and stickers are a known deterrent. Many of my friends and neighbors leave their cars and doors open. I think that’s crazy in this day and age, no matter where you live.
Alright…I’m a bit paranoid after being mugged a decade ago in a public parking lot in broad daylight. So, a security system is a must and has been for the last three houses I’ve lived in. We don’t have dogs so it does provide alot of peace of mind for me. We only use it at night and when we leave the house. We also had a security system when we lived overseas and that was great because our house had been broken into before we lived there.
The signs and stickers I hardly notice anymore but I think it would be a deterrant.
Also, ours is tied into a carbon monoxide detector. We had an incident where it went off and the fire dept came. Thank goodness for that because I hate to think what would have or could have happened if the security system hadn’t called and convinced me to just have it checked out by the fire dept.
Sally, a few years ago very few people in our neighborhood had security systems. No need. We still have a very nice neighborhood but times have just changed. Now when I walk around and see so many security signs in front of homes I don’t feel threatened by it, instead I just think that I have smart neighbors who care about their homes and preserving the safety of the neighborhood.
Having the system also makes me feel better about my older kids coming in at all hours of the late night/early morning - I can hear the door open and then I can hear them reset the alarm so I know all is good. 
We do get a small break on our home insurance for having it. We have a dog, but not sure what he would do if a stranger came in. Honestly, the dog is one of the most valuable items in our home - I’ll keep the security system to protect him!!!
Got a security system years ago when H traveled a lot and the kids were small. I don’t bother setting it during the day (unless we are out of town), but set it every night. Yes, it makes me feel a LOT safer.
I live in a very nice area, but am surprised at the random crime that occurs here. There was an armed home invasion at a house not far from us earlier this week.
Wow, you are all making such good points. I didn’t expect to be persuaded to consider using the security system but now I am thinking it might be a good idea. When my kids are home there are 2 or 3 of us in the house but otherwise it’s just me (and the dogs). Since the system is already in place, it’s not like I’m moving to the neighborhood and presenting myself as that new lady who’s distrustful of the neighbors. And I do like the idea of being alerted when the kids come in late at night.
We live in a good and “safe” area but our neighbors on either side of us have been burgled, as have we. Ironically, the neighbor who has been burgled the most frequently (3x) has an alarm system but travels frequently. The other neighbor also has an alarm system but was still burgled. The night our home was burgled, we were out for a party and many other houses were burgled the same night.
We have had H’s broken into, even tho we have a “safe” neighborhood.
I am considering getting a security system, but our walls are solid concrete, so I don’t know how they could install it without it being visible. I like the idea of being able to monitor the house remotely if not in town. Any ideas about what kind of system could do that?
I like the door chime because it lets me know when people are coming and going. Also, it prompts our dog to come over and greet us when we come in. The camera, that is easily accessed from a smartphone, lets us keep an eye on our dog when we are out!
That might be one of my favorite features of our system. I can log in when out and about and see what pooch is up to! Mostly it’s boring, but occasionally he’s given us some good laughs.
@anxiousmom - we have ADT, but I suspect any major alarm company will offer an app you can use with their system remotely.
We can also turn two hard-wired lights and two lamps on and off remotely. But we can also set the lights to come on at random when we’re gone so it looks like someone is at home. And like others, ours is also hard-wired to a smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house, and we have a back up cell in case we lose power.
@teriwtt Just wondering if you ever call up on your answering machine and say hello to him, like we do???
Our voice mail is through Comcast, so you can’t hear a message as it’s being left.
That being said, when D1 visits and brings her dog, sometimes when we are out and no people are at home, we’ll log in remotely on the camera to see what the dogs are doing, then call the house phone, because D1’s dog goes crazy when our house phone rings, kind of like they both do when the doorbell rings. But when it’s only our dog and the phone rings, he doesn’t even bother to lift his head up. So we’ll log in remotely to the camera, see them both sleeping in their respective places, then call the house phone and watch them both jump up from a sound sleep and start barking toward whatever phone they’re nearest. And we have a good laugh. Yea, I know, it sounds sort of cruel, but we’ve only done it 2-3 times.
Beeps can be turned off, so that is a nonissue. We went from the hardwired 25 plus year old system to nothing when windows were replaced to nothing for awhile then to a wireless one. I did like hearing when a door was opened so we opted for the beeps on function. Did not use that in our old house while raising our son.
Keep the alarm company sign outside, especially if many neighbors have them. A burglar goes for the easy houses- yours would stick out (besides- how do you know all of those neighbors actually still have the security company monitoring them?). We did not pay the original security company for monitoring, but with beeps and setting local (in house) alarms any burglar may not have known that. If you do opt to pay for monitoring do use the system. I know some who routinely pay their company but never alarm their house- wasting money.
LOCK YOUR DOORS! That is a simple thing you should have been doing all along, even in your previous area. Of course you should also be locking your car doors as well (even when in a locked garage to be extra safe).
You can decide whether or not to pay the security company to monitor alarms, but don’t let others know. In your new neighborhood keeping the signs at least will assure that you do not stand out for any potential thieves. Remember that strangers do cruise neighborhoods.
I sometimes think we are overdoing security but would rather “be safe than sorry” and H wanted it replaced. We replaced flimsy single glass windows with hurricane rated ones (and energy efficiency features as well- a huge difference) so any would be intruders can’t just “break and enter”. That plus locking doors makes it hard for would be burglars.
Some people prefer gated communities for security (in addition to alarm systems) but I find so many different services entering our area I don’t see how that is very useful. Cumbersome to have a guard monitoring ins and outs- friends need to be let in and can’t drop off anything at your door if you are not there… Plus they get comfortable with regulars. With coded gates it would be easy for gate codes to be given out by other residents and workers could pass them along. I guess gates keep out the riffraff like me.
One of the things our tech told us when he set up our alarm was to get in the car (in the garage) and lock the doors before you open the garage door. I do not always but everytime I don’t I think of his words.
I can’t imagine not locking doors in general. Whether it’s home or car. Why wouldn’t you?? That’s why they have locks.
(Though I think locking a car inside a garage is overkill)
My sister lives in a gated community with a guard at the entrance and she STILL had her house robbed a few years ago–they literally tore it apart (likely looking for drugs). The police estimated that they were there for five hours. The damage and losses were in the $15,000 range.
My dad is what I would consider paranoid and he not only locks his car inside the garage, he puts on of those old “club” things on the steering wheel/brake pedal too.
Lots of people where I live don’t lock their houses. Most of us lock our cars but every now and then I’ll go to a store and see a car in the parking lot with the doors unlocked and the engine running.
If you go to a gym and use a locker, do you just leave your stuff there or do you put it in a locker with a lock? Kids are taught to use school lockers with locks. I guess I’m not understanding the emotional resistance. I’m by no means a scaredy cat type but you just never know if there is a petty thief around.
We have an alarm system. Changed the access code a few mos ago. Not sure I remember it 
I also don’t understand the big deal in locking the doors - it takes literally seconds to lock and unlock. Just do it!
We have alarms on the front and back doors as well as the slider on the sunporch and a door on a 2nd story sundeck. We have an alarm on the sun porch that would go off if any glass out there was broken (3 walls of solid glass) . A motion detector in a central area. And a few window alarms that go off if the alarm system is set (but not if I want to open the windows when the system is not set!) It was reasonable to have installed and the monthly fee is reasonable for feeling safe. And let me tell you, we have had the system go off a couple of times - it is LOUD beyond belief and the alarm company responded VERY quickly! (when it has gone off it was our error…)
Do people still have answering machines?!?
We live in a gated community with a controlled gate and security guard. However, many of the homes back up to a golf course. A few years ago, some houses on the golf course were broken into, while the owners were hosting Christmas parties!
We always lock our doors and set the security system at night. I don’t view it as protecting me so much as giving me notice if someone tries to break in. Between the alarm and the screeching dog, hopefully I’d have the police on the way pronto and even might get the perps to reconsider.