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My daughter (single) is planning to move from a single family home to a condo. She's narrowed it down to 2 choices, both in equally nice gated communities.
She wants to live on the second floor, with another condo beneath her.
Which do you think would be safer from burglary risk?
1. Open stairs that you walk upstairs to the front door on a shared porch. The stairs & porch are shared by your adjoining neighbor. No windows on the porch area at all. Typical apartment style stairs.
No balcony or patio.
or
2. A condo with a window and your private locked front door entry downstairs, that you walk up interior stairs to get to the rest of your unit which is on the second floor. No one else uses those stairs, they are inside your unit. Unit #2 also has a nice balcony.
She likes condo number 2 much better, but is concerned about the risk of an easier break in while she's upstairs.
Mostly due to the lone window by the door on ground level by the parking lot.
I don't really see much of a difference in safety risk in either one. Do you?
Thank you
My choice would be #1 if safety is the main consideration because the window by the door in the #2 option can easily be broken into. That's why police tell anyone who has windows along side a door is at a higher risk. Plus the fact that once the perp entered the downstairs door (#2) they would be not be visible from the outside while they climbed up the stairs to enter the unit.
She will have to decide if safety or the balcony is her priority.
Thank you, Katie. I see your point. If somebody quietly forces the downstairs window open at night in condo #2, then creeps up the stairs - she is trapped and possibly stuck in bed, as the balcony is in the living room. Way too risky.
I'll let her know that she needs to focus on the first one with the exposed stairs. Much more secure.
Part of me felt a bit leery of the inner entrance stairway to begin with, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
You nailed it Katie, much appreciated!
Thank you very much!
Thank you to all the posters that helped, reps given. Very helpful! : )
Thank you, Katie. I see your point. If somebody quietly forces the downstairs window open at night in condo #2, then creeps up the stairs - she is trapped and possibly stuck in bed, as the balcony is in the living room. Way too risky.
I'll let her know that she needs to focus on the first one with the exposed stairs. Much more secure.
Part of me felt a bit leery of the inner entrance stairway to begin with, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
You nailed it Katie, much appreciated!
Thank you very much!
Thank you to all the posters that helped, reps given. Very helpful! : )
You're very welcome! You and your daughter are very wise to be diligent in searching for her new home.
I'm going to offer a different opinion here. I think #2 would be safer.
Maybe it's the way I imagine the stairs in condo #1 since you described them like apartment stairs. I'm imagining a staircase that is outside with an outside porch and then 2 entry doors to two condos. One does not have to enter a door to reach any stairs. Anyone can walk up those stairs at any time. Even though it's a gated community a person within the gates can walk up. Because it's on the second floor it maybe a bit less noticed.
For condo #2 I'm imagining either a door with a window, a side light window, or some other smaller type window. I can't imagine in a condo it would be large for an entry door. Criminals enter where they are least likely to be caught. On a first floor a person breaking glass or pushing in a door is more likely to be noticed. It's a bit more in plain sight compared to a second floor entry up some stairs.
BTW--escaping via a second story window in a bedroom is not that different than escaping from a second story balcony if one needs to jump.
Just want to say just because I said #1 would be safer I'd still go with #2. It sounds like a safe hood and there's tons of cheap options for alarms on the door. Don't rule out just because one is a tiny % safer when in reality the odds of anything happening at either place is next to 0 if properly prepared.
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