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If your strategy for staying safe while home alone is to turn on the TV extra loud at night, you may want to check out this recent article from Zillow Porchlight. As the number of Americans who live alone is on the rise, Emily Bell offers expert tips for staying safe and secure at home.
Lighting is a huge safety factor — just get it right. “Outdoor lighting is a huge deterrent for intruders, or even just people snooping around,” says Brown. “But don’t leave your lights on for 24 hours a day. It can actually attract burglars to leave your lights on during daylight hours.”
The same goes for interior lighting. “It’s natural for people to have the lights off in the day and on at night. Anything else can be a signal that you aren’t home,” notes Brown.
Extra lights on when you’re alone at night can create the illusion someone else is there. (Just keep it to one or two rooms, because, you know … the environment.)
Motion sensors and timers are cheap ways to create the illusion of more occupants, but there are other gadgets you might not have heard of.
David Nance, a personal safety expert and CEO of SABRE, recommends something like a TV light simulator. “This is a little device about the size of a coffee cup, using the same amount of energy as a nightlight, that mimics screen and light changes produced by a real HDTV.”
Meaning if you’re upstairs taking a shower, you can create the illusion that someone else is downstairs watching TV.
The “Home Alone” idea actually isn’t ridiculous. Nobody needs to know you’re alone. Things like lighting and gadgets can help, but there are also some simple tricks.
For women especially, “an amazing psychological and simplistic deterrent is to take a pair of men’s size 13 or 14 work boots and leave them in front of the door,” says “Security Sensei” Jordan Frankel of GlobalSecurityExperts. Another simple deterrent: “a giant dog’s water bowl.”
The principle applies when you’re home with a stranger, too. “Whenever you’re having someone over to repair your home, you should invite at least one other person over,” says Brown.
Another nod to the power of the pooch: “Even having a dog with you can decrease the likelihood that you become a target,” she adds.
We tend to trust locks implicitly. And when we move somewhere new, most of us don’t do a lock overhaul.
“Just like when you check into a hotel, they give you a key and most people assume ‘I’m safe. I can lock my door,’” says veteran security expert Chris McGoey, aka “Crime Doctor.”
“But you have no idea who has the keys. In an apartment situation, you’re also assuming your landlord has changed the locks, but that assumption is false in many cases. Landlords often don’t change locks. There could be 20 keys out there,” McGoey advises.
Hound the landlord once you move in, and make sure those locks are new.
Read the full article: 12 Security Tips for Living Alone Safely – Zillow Porchlight
Time is running out and there is no better time than now to find your dream home. Lennar is celebrating the holiday season and wrapping up their best deals of the year right now. Homebuyers have the opportunity to start off the New Year living in style in their brand-new home.
Give your family the ultimate gift this year and enjoy 2017 in your dream home. Plus, for a limited time only, Lennar Sacramento is offering $25,000 off a new home at select communities.*
“We are extremely focused on selling and closing our new homes by the end of the year,” said Laura Kilgore, Director of Marketing for Lennar Sacramento. “That is why we have some great deals, allowing buyers even a better chance of moving into their new home!”
If you are in the market for a home, whether it be a single-family home or a home designed specifically for multigenerational living, you need to see what they have in store at a few of Lennar’s most popular communities.
At The Ridge at Blackstone in El Dorado Hills, Homesite 479 offers great savings. This home boasts the Residence Five floorplan, also known as Plan 4253, this super spacious home gives 4,253 square feet of space. This residence is one of Lennar’s wildly popular The Home Within A Home®. Designed for dual living situations, this home has an attached private suite with separate entrance, living room, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchenette and one-bay garage! The main home provides an additional four bedrooms, with a huge master suite complete with a luxurious, large master bathroom and massive walk-in closet.
The Estates at Heritage El Dorado Hills active adult community also offers Lennar’sThe Home Within a Home® floorplan on Homesite 2 and presents 2,955 square feet of living space, three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and a three-bay garage. Priced at $672,050, this gorgeous home comes complete with included solar, upgraded flooring, Quartz® kitchen countertops and two-tone interior paint.
Additionally, The Portola Residence at Heritage Westshore Homesite 107, an active adult community, offers a 1,433 square foot home with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two-bay garage – attractively priced at $327,138. This home comes equipped with upgraded flooring, granite kitchen countertops, two-tone interior paint and much more.
All homes include Lennar’s signature Everything’s Included® package that offers upgraded and energy-efficient features all included as standard. For further information on these move-in ready homes, visit Lennar.com or call (916) 304-9711.
With hundreds of communities nationwide and homes designed for first-time, move-up and luxury homebuyers, Lennar has grown to become one of the nation’s leading and most respected homebuilders and proudly remains steadfast in their commitment toward quality, value and integrity. Lennar has a longstanding history of building exceptional homes in only the most well planned and desirable locations throughout the country.
Take advantage of great savings this December with a select number of quick move-in homes at a few Lennar communities that are offering up to $25,000 off.* With 13 homes offering savings, including four The Home Within A Home® floorplans, prospective buyers should contact Lennar today to learn more or follow the Lennar Tucson account on Facebook to see daily deals.
“We’re encouraging everyone who is in the market for a new home to act quickly in order to take advantage of these savings, which last through December,” said Tom Gansheimer, Division President of Lennar Tucson. “We’ve got a diverse selection of floorplans to choose from suitable for a variety of lifestyles.”
Set in Tucson, Lennar has two communities in their Star Valley masterplan with discounted quick move-in homes for sale from both Signatures at Star Valley and Horizon at Star Valley. Star Valley is a great place to raise a family with amenities that include a community park with basketball courts, fenced in dog parks, ramadas, walking and jogging paths, and playgrounds. Just outside of the community is a world-class golf course for players of all levels.
Three The Home Within a Home® homes are available that offer great savings at Vistoso Reserve and Eagles Summit. Set in Oro Valley, the Lewis plan is The Home Within a Home® quick move-in available at Vistoso Reserve. This home provides 1,939 square feet of living space that includes three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
At Eagles Summit, which is also located in Oro Valley, both the Oracle and the Revelation are The Home Within a Home® floorplans that provide savings through the month of December. The Oracle plan is a single-story home with 2,594 square feet of space that includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The Revelation plan is also a single story home that provides four bedrooms and three bathrooms across 3,173 square feet.
Lennar created The Home Within a Home® home design as a way to accommodate multigenerational or dual living situations by providing an attached private suite. The private suite comes with a separate entrance, living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette, but also includes a lockable door inside the suite that connects to the main home. This setup allows for as much direct access to or privacy from the main home as each individual situation desires.
For more information on the quick move-in homes offering great savings, visit Lennar Tucson’s Facebook page or contact Lennar today by calling (800) 864-1058.
For full list of new homes for sale, visit us at www.lennar.com/tucson.
With hundreds of communities nationwide and homes designed for first-time, move-up and luxury homebuyers, Lennar has grown to become one of the nation’s leading and most respected homebuilders and proudly remains steadfast in their commitment toward quality, value and integrity. Lennar has a longstanding history of building exceptional homes in only the most well planned and desirable locations throughout the country.
* Offer available on select homes if buyer signs and delivers a purchase agreement between 12/16/16 and 1/15/17 and closes and fully funds on or before 1/30/17. Purchase agreements signed and delivered prior to 12/16/16 are excluded. Offers, incentives and seller contributions are subject to certain terms, conditions and restrictions, which may include the use of designated lenders and closing agents. Certain incentives could affect the loan amount. Offer good for a limited time only. Lennar reserves the right to change or withdraw any offer at any time. Contact a New Home Consultant for home purchase details. No offer to sell or lease may be made or to purchase or lease may be accepted prior to issuance of an Arizona Public Report. A Public Report is available at the State Real Estate Department website ww.azre.gov. Broker Lennar Sales Corp. Lennar Arizona Construction, Inc. ROC# 228129, Lennar Arizona Inc. dba Lennar Homes ROC# 232731, US Home of Arizona Construction Company ROC# 065983. Equal Housing Opportunity. 12/16
