Do burglar bars/security doors lower property values? (housing, venting, very expensive)
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If you install the burglar bars just remove them before you sell the home. It is common to see elderly people, especially widows, install them on their homes in what most people would consider safe areas. Your home is yours so do what you need to do to help your wife feel safe in it.
It is the perception when you go to sell the property that is the issue. So just remove them when you sell.
No, it's not common at all, even among the elderly. My neighborhood consists of about 50% elderly retirees and no one has bars on their windows. Maybe some people have an alarm system installed, but I wouldn't know about it if they did, and those aren't highly visible.
Security bars are only seen in areas where high rates of crime actually occur (and where they would be even higher without such deterrents in place). What is it about black and hispanic neighborhoods (or entire countries it seems) that adds a sense of unease when entering them? It's almost as if the weather changes when traversing even just a block or two. It must be stressful for even the residents to have to deal with that kind of mess.
Why can't people just be responsible and not engage in crime....then people wouldn't need to make their homes look like a fortress. Heck property values might actually go up and honest/normal people might actually want to live there and open up businesses and so forth!
Yes, as a prospective buyer, I am put off by anything which suggests a less secure neighborhood or one which appears to have less than desirable neighbors or appears shabby in any way. Bars and security doors certainly suggest all of that.
If you decide to go ahead and add security features to your house, keep in mind that the Google view of an earlier time period will still show the security bars and doors on your house, and buyers like myself use Google to see how the house was maintained before it was put up for sale.
Anyone can pretty up a place to sell it, but I want to know that the owners have maintained it well over time.
Yes, as a prospective buyer, I am put off by anything which suggests a less secure neighborhood or one which appears to have less than desirable neighbors or appears shabby in any way. Bars and security doors certainly suggest all of that.
If you decide to go ahead and add security features to your house, keep in mind that the Google view of an earlier time period will still show the security bars and doors on your house, and buyers like myself use Google to see how the house was maintained before it was put up for sale.
Anyone can pretty up a place to sell it, but I want to know that the owners have maintained it well over time.
Very common in Phoenix to have the security-screen doors, be it million dollar homes or cheap condos. they're often painted similar colors to the house so they blend in, and the steel screening is enough to keep most flying insects out, while still allowing a breeze in milder weather - and they're usually equipped with both a deadbolt & regular doorknob so you could sleep with that breeze & still have decent security.
From a security standpoint, the vast majority of residential doors are laughable - they don't even need to be kicked to have the wood around the latch plate fall apart. It's not the door so much as the frame - very thin wood, and not much of it. Even your typical "steel door" is two layers of thin sheet metal over styrofoam..
After having security doors for a few years, I've come to appreciate having the barrier between myself and whomever rings the doorbell, and I wouldn't care too much about resale value based on google images- my houses never look anything like they did when the previous owners had them - a buyer interested enough to look for security doors would also notice lots of other changes that add comfort and value.
Where I live, they don't decrease the value. You will see them here and there and many of them seem to have a cultural tie. For example, many of the Chinese families will put them up.
I think they are ugly. And they will ESPECIALLY look out of place if you are the only house with them.
When you go to other countries, like Costa Rica, they have really nice bars around the house (not a dangerous country) and some of them are quite elaborate. They don't really do ones like that in America.
Depends on whether a lot of other homes have them - if so, to NOT have them might hurt. At least make them as decorative as possible. But, aren't they a fire hazard slowing down trying to get outside?
They absolutely lower values. They also are a fire hazard which is a far more likely occurrence than a home invasion.
You should look into impact glass which is sturdier looks better will drastically lower noise and much more insulated.
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