A home monitoring system is an effective way to deter criminals and keep an eye on the cottage when you’re miles away. It’s common to spend a portion of your time at the cottage and the remainder at your primary home, leaving your cottage unattended for the majority of the year. Furthermore, if after closing your cottage up for the winter, you remain in the city until the following summer, anything could happen during that time.
Should I Have a Home Monitoring System at my Cottage
There are a few options for making sure that you address issues with the cottage promptly. You can ask a neighbour to periodically report on the cottage or drive up on a semi-regular basis to see for yourself how things are going. A home monitoring system requires the least driving and gives you up-to-date information at any hour of the day so if anything happens to the cottage, you’ll know immediately.
Emergencies Could go Undetected
A fire is very visible once it reaches a certain size, as it will emit smoke and flames, however other damage to the property that might occur can be invisible from the outside and impossible to detect from afar.
Burst water pipes can lead to water damage costing thousands of dollars in repair, and malfunctioning gas devices are dangerous for the next person who steps into the cottage.
Positioning a camera to get a good view of the main water source and gas meter will resolve those issues.
Other less urgent damage to the home include:
- Broken windows from flying debris
- Issues with heavy objects falling on the roof
- Animals finding their way into your home
Although these events are not exactly emergencies, they should be dealt with sooner than later. Without a monitoring system, even if you drove up periodically to see how things are, you would still be left having to make arrangements once you got there. With a home monitoring system it’s possible to call the appropriate contractor to fix the issue without even leaving the city.
The Cottage Is an Easy Target
Burglars usually familiarize themselves with the patterns of a home’s use because their primary objective is to break into your home with the least amount of force possible and then to escape with your possessions unnoticed. Given that cottages are generally inhabited in the summer and less so in the winter, there is little you can do to trick a thief into believing that your cottage is lived in.
It’s far more worthwhile to redirect your effort towards installing a home monitoring system. In addition to receiving alerts when people arrive at your home, you can communicate with unwanted visitors. When they know that you’re watching, criminals are far less likely to consider your cottage a target. Having footage of your visitors often facilitates arrests so simply filming the entry points to your home is an effective deterrent.
Security is a must to a good quality life. The first thing while you plan to buy a new home is call some real estate professionals to find the safest neighborhoods in your area.
