So, I was robbed..What do you do for security?

[Kyle Shankin]

My wife and I have a rental that we've been rehabbing for 6 months, this house was the pits when we got it. Structural issues, dirty as all get out, holes in the garage roof...the list goes on. We're at the end of the rehab and nearly have our certificate of occupancy. Yesterday I get a call from the city, the final inspector is out there checking out one minor thing he had asked us to fix. "Did you know that your furnace and water heater are missing?". I obviously don't know this, but she responds with "well, at least the fridge, dryer, washer and stove are still in the back yard." 

I left work and headed to the house and called the cops. They came out and fingerprinted the place, took photos, etc. Their theory is that the thief saw the house online (we had listed it for rent), figured it was vacant and decided to help themselves. It looks like the thief smashed my lock box to get at the key. I secured the remaining appliances changed out all of the locks (the original key was missing) and even went as far as to purchase a wireless security camera system that saves to local and cloud storage, ya know, just in case the thief came back last night for the rest of the items.

I'm finding a renewed sense of respect for the old adage "an ounce of prevention...". I plan on moving this camera system around to each new project we take on. I'm also going to be looking at the cost of automatic exterior lights and keypad deadbolts (in lieu of lock boxes). Curtains in all of the windows will be a new standard. I'm also going to ensure that my contractors use 4" screws when installing new locks and knobs to make doors harder to kick in. One semi-radical thought that I had which I probably won't do, because it doesn't scale, would be to buy a beater car and just leave it parked at the house(s) to give the impression that someone's there.

Ultimately, provided my remaining appliances all work, I'm going to be out about $4,500 if I pay for new mechanicals out of pocket. I could also pay a $2,500 insurance deductible and face whatever headaches that comes with. Neither cost tanks the investment, but the situation is quite unfortunate.

So that's my story! Has anyone else gone through this? What measures do you now take? 

Oh, and one more bonus tip from the police officer who collected the evidence: clean the outside of your windows. Burglar's will first try to open windows before breaking down a door and a clean window is a fingerprint magnet.