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Home Alarm question

shintoooo

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The new house we are buying has an alarm system and the owner has three years left on her contract and is asking us if we want to take over her contract for $110/quarter.

Is a home alarm really necessary these days? I feel like it's a pain in the ass more than it will help with burglaries etc...
I would rather just install cameras.

Also I feel like the kids will forget to deactivate it or the dogs will set it off.

So what's the consensus? Yes or no to home alarm?
 

LargeOrangeFont

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What he said.. what good does it do when someone comes in. Cancel service. Go to Big 5 and get a shotgun :)
 

milkmoney

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I couldn't live where I felt that I needed a camera system or an alarm system ,

Not knocking the idea of having it , jus not for me , guess I am jus old fashion country and never lived where it was needed
[emoji202] [emoji482]
 

77charger

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Ive heard some say that they canceled the service but the alarm will still sound if house gets broken into and that the thieves dont know if the alarm service is active or not but the siren is going off.
 

Icky

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We have one, and use it all the time, when I'm sleeping it's a wake up call, when we're not home hopefully it's a theft deterrent.
 

Wakebrdr94

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We have an alarm, and guns. I don't set it very often but make shte wife feel better when I'm away with work or not around. I don't feel like we need it, but there are burglary's everywhere, so i guess it really depends on if it makes you feel safe or not
 

steak&lobster

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The new house we are buying has an alarm system and the owner has three years left on her contract and is asking us if we want to take over her contract for $110/quarter.

Is a home alarm really necessary these days? I feel like it's a pain in the ass more than it will help with burglaries etc...
I would rather just install cameras.

Also I feel like the kids will forget to deactivate it or the dogs will set it off.

So what's the consensus? Yes or no to home alarm?

We have a big house and our bedroom is upstairs and isolated. I wanna hear if someone is coming in. I also sleep with my gun loaded (not chambered) under my pillow. It's like insurance, you don't need it until you do. . .
 

28Eliminator

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We have one, and use it all the time, when I'm sleeping it's a wake up call, when we're not home hopefully it's a theft deterrent.

Had someone try and open our back slider a few years ago at 2am... the alarm instantly went off, and the cops said the sound most likely scared them off. I hate to think what would have happened had we not had an alarm system. Pretty fuckin scary to be woken up by that when your in a dead sleep...
 

BHC Vic

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I think it's annoying and a pain in the ass. But I leave really early in the mlrning and my wife and kids are there alone. It gives me some peace of mind. I want to do the whole house automation system. Lots of cool stuff you can do now. We pay like 30 something a month so I don't think the price is too crazy for what the previous owners have
 

Jefftowz

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Keep the alarm, we have one and it alerts me anytime anyone opens a door, I can lock and unlock the front door. It has one camera on the front door area and I also use a ring doorbell and a ring camera on my back yard.
 

OldSchoolBoats

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Keep the alarm, we have one and it alerts me anytime anyone opens a door, I can lock and unlock the front door. It has one camera on the front door area and I also use a ring doorbell and a ring camera on my back yard.
We have the chimes on all the doors too, love it.
 

Gelcoater

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The new house we are buying has an alarm system and the owner has three years left on her contract and is asking us if we want to take over her contract for $110/quarter.

Is a home alarm really necessary these days? I feel like it's a pain in the ass more than it will help with burglaries etc...
I would rather just install cameras.

Also I feel like the kids will forget to deactivate it or the dogs will set it off.

So what's the consensus? Yes or no to home alarm?


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530RL

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The new house we are buying has an alarm system and the owner has three years left on her contract and is asking us if we want to take over her contract for $110/quarter.

Is a home alarm really necessary these days? I feel like it's a pain in the ass more than it will help with burglaries etc...
I would rather just install cameras.

Also I feel like the kids will forget to deactivate it or the dogs will set it off.

So what's the consensus? Yes or no to home alarm?

At 110 a quarter that sounds like a contract to both monitor as well as pay off the balance of the cost of the alarm. Our monitoring is 14.95 a month.

On the other hand, 440 bucks times 3 years is only 1,320 bucks so I'm not sure I would kill a deal on a million dollar home over 1,320 bucks.... I would however read the contract and make sure that at the end of that contract, you actually then owned the alarm system?

With respect to dogs setting it off, most good alarms have a "home" and an "away" setting. The difference being home only activates the door and window sensors and away additionally activates the motion detectors. Most good alarms also have a smoke detector system tied into it so if there was a fire when you are not home, it would call the fire department for you long before someone realized the house was on fire.

If your purchase has an accessory building, or a guest house on the alarm, definitely worth it as no one would know if someone broke into it until you went out there the next time. Our alarm is partitioned so we can set the accessory building separate from the main house.
 

pronstar

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We recently had an ADT system installed.

Already had cameras, recording someone steal my shit made little sense.

Also got that Ring doorbell dealio...which reminds me, i think the batteries in it are dead lol
 

Icky

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Had someone try and open our back slider a few years ago at 2am... the alarm instantly went off, and the cops said the sound most likely scared them off. I hate to think what would have happened had we not had an alarm system. Pretty fuckin scary to be woken up by that when your in a dead sleep...

I bought some ridiculously bright lights from light bulbs etc,(forget which brand) and RAB motion sensors, it looks light daylight around my house when they go off.

No more home Depot or Lowe's junk for me.
 

BUDMAN

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We have both an alarm and cameras. We only use the alarm at bed time or when we go out of town. The cameras was more to make sure my shit was still going to be there when we got home after leaving the step son home alone.
 

Magic34

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I've had ADT for years, they will almost give you all the equipment for free on a 3 year contract. I had a 3 year contract when we first moved in, fast forward almost 10 years later, still had the same system. I told them for as long as I've had this old stuff, I need a killer deal on new stuff to stay with them.

I like it. We have 4 cameras (2 at front door and 2 at garage), garage door connection, wireless touch pad screen, installed and everything was $200 on a 3 year contract.
Using the app, I like being able to tell if my main garage door is open or closed (and either close or open it), when the system is accessed, who has been at the front door, etc. I realize you can do this without monitoring, but for us it works. We've never had an issue, we live in a safe neighborhood, but you never know. I'm probably paying too much every month, but it works, and it has been reliable.
 

rrrr

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i would want to shop around before agreeing to someone else's contract.

Me too. We pay $14/month for cell based monitoring.

Alarm systems do more than protect your perimeter.

Don't forget they have a panic button that's just as effective as a calling 911.

They also have smoke detectors that notify the fire department when tripped, and the hooter in the house goes off, waking the occupants.

That could save your family from injury or death.
 

shintoooo

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Great info. Thanks for all the replies. Looks like were going to have an alarm one way or the other. Going to find out more about the system that's already installed.
 

Desert68

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$15 per month is a fair price for monitoring, there is no reason to pay more. There is no free equipment or free installation. Very few companies run their own central stations to monitor the signals. Anybody can sell the monitoring and their reseller cost is about $6 per month. It is a good idea to ask where the monitoring facility is located and who is doing the actual monitoring. All surveillance and security system equipment is advancing in technology just like everything else. Any system that is older than a few years will still certainly work, but it would be a worthwhile exercise to examine the current system and see what is currently available. The equipment costs are fairly low. Good luck.
 

Desert68

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One more comment. Big companies like ADT have huge legal departments and are ruthless when it comes to enforcing their contracts. Depending on your location, you might consider looking for a local, small security/surveillance contractor with a good reputation. The large corporations will send a sales weasel to you home and try to sell you equipment you do not need, services you do not need, etc.
 

RitcheyRch

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Good valid points and thanks


$15 per month is a fair price for monitoring, there is no reason to pay more. There is no free equipment or free installation. Very few companies run their own central stations to monitor the signals. Anybody can sell the monitoring and their reseller cost is about $6 per month. It is a good idea to ask where the monitoring facility is located and who is doing the actual monitoring. All surveillance and security system equipment is advancing in technology just like everything else. Any system that is older than a few years will still certainly work, but it would be a worthwhile exercise to examine the current system and see what is currently available. The equipment costs are fairly low. Good luck.

One more comment. Big companies like ADT have huge legal departments and are ruthless when it comes to enforcing their contracts. Depending on your location, you might consider looking for a local, small security/surveillance contractor with a good reputation. The large corporations will send a sales weasel to you home and try to sell you equipment you do not need, services you do not need, etc.
 
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