Know Your Mailman....or Lady

Your local federal messenger (mailman) probably knows your street and surrounding neighborhood better than you.  How do I know this?  Well, it is a bit obvious, but recently I experienced it first hand.

I arrived to an appointment to sell a home security system several towns away from my own.  A kind gentleman welcomed me inside.  We chit-chatted for a bit about the home, his neighborhood along with my neighborhood, and the benefits of having a home security system.  It took about 10 minutes for us to stumble on the fact that he was my mailman!

Mail deliverers are like silent sleeper cells doing constant reconnaissance on the homes in their assigned territory.  They know the names of each person living in a home, what kind of mail they are receiving, and any suspicious or unsafe trends occurring in the neighborhood.  My mailman could describe the house I lived in off the top of his head along with who else lived in the house simply by me giving him the house number.  He even listed some of the mail he remembered me receiving over the past year.  Very impressive!

Now of course a mail deliverer is not authorized to tell you all the information they know about people's personal lives, but they can offer valuable information about the safety of your neighborhood.

Next time you see your mailman on his way up your path, step outside and say hello.  A responsible homeowner should always get to know theirs.  He may watch over your house a bit closer in the future or share information from his route that can better keep you safe.

When the Man is Away, Burglars Will Play

Last week an elderly couple went from being safe in their home for almost 30 years to victims of a home invasion.  An individual broke the glass on a window and reached in to unlock it.

It is very possible the individual had been watching the home.  The husband leaves each morning very early for several hours.  It was during this time the home was broken into while his wife was still sleeping upstairs.  Fortunately, not much was taken.

This is common with home invasions.  Burglars do not mind entering a home with a woman inside.  Women are known to comply with a burglar and aid in the process of finding the most valuable items.  This is of course the safest option for the woman by complying, however, this scenario can be entirely avoided.

In this same neighborhood, two women were tied up by a burglar while he went through the house.  With home security systems, distress buttons are available on the systems keypad and on optional remotes.  So, even when the system is not armed, the residents inside are.

The elderly couple is now on their way to being safe again.  Today they signed up for a home security system with extra motion detectors.  Hopefully, their lives will be able to recover from this event in the near future.

Top 10 Security Myths

  

Here are some helpful reminders on being a responsible homeowner!

Hiring the Best. Hiring Vets.

I had the great privilege yesterday to help host our booth at a Veterans job fair at the National Guard Armory in Orange, NJ.  Seeing  so many eager men and women with that familiar determined look on their faces brought me back a bit.  As a veteran who went through a period of unemployment, it became easy to connect with a lot of them: understanding the jolting of their life being restructured, the uncertainty of what is going to happen next, and the overwhelming desire to feel needed again.

Here at Slomin's, I was welcomed with an honor and respect I could recognize.  Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to pass that on to my fellow veterans.  And by the end of the day it looked like we had close to half of a dozen new candidates to be security consultants.  And the best part: they already are security consultants.

America's heroes already know what it means to help and protect its citizens.  From protecting our Nation as a whole, to one family at a time.

The most valuable items found in a home

I was happy to help a family this weekend plan the installation of a new security system in their home.  It was a pleasure working with them because of their correct understanding of why a family should have a home security system.  When I asked them what room of the house they were most concerned about protecting, they told me their daughter's room.  It put a smile on my face.  Usually I have to explain to homeowners that it is not the den with the hidden safe or the game room with the 60"TV that contains the most valuable items.  And this couple knew that.  Always remember that items can be replaced.  Protect yourselves and the sanctity of your home.  These things cannot be replaced.