guard shacks

Started by ThomB1 • 12 replies • 1757 views

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ThomB1 (Mississippi)
Posts: 1

Posted:

There is a single entrance into our neighborhood of about 100 homes. We are considering building a guard shace that has large visible video cameras. What are the security, aesthic and impact on property values to having such a guard shack ? THe design we have is maintenance free. I appreciate you input and please identify your HOA, city & state. Thanks in advance !

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

first, there is no such thing as maintanence free. It will never need painting, the cameras will never need cleaned, re-aimed, the circuitry will never need reset or rebooted? SPray painted graffitti will slide right off?

What's the purpose of the cameras? who will monitor them?

PatrickH (California)
Posts: 204

Posted:

Hi Thom,

Will the guard shack be manned 24/7? If so, that will be the biggest issue for the HOA, the cost/benfit analysis of that expense.

If you live in area with a lot of guarded communities, you might be able to figure how much more a home in one of those cost compared to a community without guards. It may or may not have much of an impact on home prices.

If there aren't a lot of guarded communities in your area, having the guards may be "overkill" and not worth the cost of implementing.

I'm sure there are folks in this forum who live in guarded communties and can give you some good insight to the benefits and drawbacks of having them.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Thom,

What's the point? Are the streets in your community private? If not, you cannot prevent anyone from coming in. THere is a community in my neighborhood that has a guard "shack" and was manned in the evenings and weekends. THe City told them to cease and desist -- reason, public streets! Regarding gated communities; IMO, they provide a false sense of security. Where there's a will there's a way -- the motto of every burgular! Also, as Brian pointed out, nothing is maintenance free.

LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

I am with Brian on this one. We had cameras installed as a package with our new cable co. Guess what? No one knows how to use them! Its is a waste of money they are very complicated, unless you are very computer savy. Then who is going to take the time to do this? We have a guard and cameras. I live in a 55+ and if you think a 80 is going to go out at mid night to view or fix cameras forget it

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Thom,
This sounds like an aweful big expense for a small association like yours.
Anyhow, will there be a gate or is it just a shack. Obviously it is unmaned because of your idea to purchase cameras,
Ours got stolen the first week that we had them. Seems that whoever had to have them, stood on a hood of a truck and took them. Now we have a fancy, schmansy moniter, looking at a black screen. The people who were to review the tapes each week, failed to do so and the tape reset itself before it got reviewed. So many details for you to work out but unless you are in a high crime area, it may not be the way to go.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

This is an old post and the posting rules for this website prohibit mentioning the names of specific communities or vendors.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

ChadH3 (Alabama)
Posts: 50

Posted:

Thom, I can't speak to a guard shack as we don't have one. We have four entrances to our subdivision and we were going to put in a camera system at each. Luckily for us, the company who was going to install them were on a 6+ month delay and we ended up coming across a relatively new company called Flock Safety.

Flock has automatic license plate reading cameras that run off of solar power and LTE data (we don't have to pay for power or internet). We pay an annual fee per camera and Flock takes care of everything else. Installation, maintenance, etc. If a camera is damaged or stops working, they replace it at no extra cost. And everything goes to the cloud and our Board members have access and we can grant temporary access to our police department if ever needed.

We were the first in our county (and one of the first in our state) to get them and now several other neighborhoods in the area and our city's police department have signed on with them.

Would highly recommend looking into their product before spending big bucks on something that isn't as effective. Best of luck!

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ThomB1 on 05/09/2008 7:35 AM

I appreciate you input and please identify your HOA, city & state. Thanks in advance !

User Names and State are already identified under the author bar.
Posting rules prohibit mentioning names of HOA.

Quote:

Posted By ThomB1 on 05/09/2008 7:35 AM

What are the security, aesthic and impact on property values to having such a guard shack ? !

Security - 50/50

To some it will indicate that there is so much crime in the area private security is needed.
To some it will provide piece of mind.
To some criminals it will indicate this is a wealthy area worthy of scoping out.
To some criminals it will indicate there is a better chance of being caught and to look elsewhere.

Aesthetic - Can't say

This is going to depend on construction, setting, personal tastes.

Impact on property values - 50/50

Similar to reasons in security, it may bring buyers into the area or it may deter buyers from looking in your area.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Shoot - missed that it was an old post.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Likely reactivated by a banned spammer.

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