Whether you are in state or out of state, if you have an unoccupied property, get it set up for service right away. This may seem basic. But consistent attention to the basics is how you make money in this business... and it's also how you avoid losing your shirt.

This morning one of our properties in Garfield Heights was broken into. We've been renovating this one for a couple of months and someone noticed. They kicked in the door and had begun cutting the power and gas lines to the new furnace when the police showed up and caught them. They disabled the alarm once they got inside, but not before it had gone off and triggered a zillion calls and messages to us, the police, the alarm company dispatch and the alarm company owner who had installed our device personally.

If you've been in this game a while, you know this is always a possibility. In any home we own that is not tenant occupied, we put in an alarm, motion sensors and cameras so we can see what's going on inside the property at all times. It may seem like an unecessary step, especially if you think you're in an area where something like this couldn't happen. But it can and does happen everywhere.

Here in Cleveland (and other cold weather climates), this kind of monitoring is especially important. During the winter months, if someone cuts your gas lines, you can easily have your pipes freeze and burst leaving the water running inside your property. Not only will this likely cause thousands of dollars in damages, imagine the size of your water bill if it's running full force for a week or two and no one notices...$$$$.

I'm glad to share the name of our alarm company if anyone needs a good one. If you've got a related story or tip, please share.

Erin Dorsey Robinson

[email protected]

Cleveland, Ohio

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