When it comes to moving into a new apartment, few things are more important than feeling safe. With first-floor apartments being more accessible to the outside world, it’s easy to wonder, are first-floor apartments safe? The answer is yes, but there are a few things that responsible first-floor apartment dwellers do to improve their safety and feel more at home in their street-level pad.
Do first-floor apartments get broken into more often?
The short answer is yes. This is one of the reasons that it often costs less to live in a first-floor apartment compared to an identical unit on a higher floor.
The fact that first-floor apartments are more easily accessible shouldn’t deter you from signing the lease, however. That’s because it is possible to curb the risk of attracting unwanted guests.
Read on for some of the most practical and effective methods you can use today to secure your first-floor apartment and prevent anyone from entering your home against your wishes.
What makes first-floor apartments less secure?
With street-level convenience comes street-level exposure.
Easier access
The most obvious reason that a first-floor apartment is less secure than those on higher floors is that it’s easier to gain access.
It’s easier to gain visual access through ground-level windows. This makes it possible for criminals to make a more educated guess about whether they’re home or not or likely to return soon.
It’s also easier for criminals to gain physical access to your apartment. This is because first-floor apartments are the only units that are accessible from the street and don’t require an elevator trip or lengthy walk up the stairs and down a hallway.
Easy in, easy out
Along with easier access comes easier escape. If a burglar doesn’t have to struggle to get into your apartment, they also won’t have to work very hard to make it out unseen and without causing any sort of disturbance.
Criminals will try to avoid video evidence
Depending on your setup, your apartment unit is one of the few places within your building that isn’t under some degree of video surveillance. This fact will make your apartment more appealing to potential criminals. The good news is that many apartment complexes nowadays do have adequate video surveillance in the areas around first-floor apartment entrances.
No downstairs neighbors
In apartment buildings, noise travels much more effectively downward than it does up. An upstairs neighbor hears a lot less from downstairs neighbors than vice versa. If your downstairs neighbors know you’re out of town until Thursday night and they hear a bunch of footsteps above them on Wednesday afternoon, they may feel compelled to investigate. If there’s no one below you to hear those footsteps, your apartment is automatically a more attractive target.
Simple things you can do to make your first-floor apartment safer
There are a number of simple ways to secure your first-floor apartment.
Check out the entrance
Scope out the entrance before you sign the lease. Whether it’s in person or through Google Street View, you should check out the entrance to your specific unit before signing anything. Try to check out the entrance at night. If you don’t feel safe, you probably shouldn’t make the move.
In the circumstance that you’re only able to check out the entrance in the daylight or online, make sure to check the immediate area for camera coverage, dark alleys, etc.
While the immediate area outside your door doesn’t define the safety status of your apartment, it’s a good indication of what you should expect to encounter when you head out each day and what is outside when you go to bed at night.
Lock it up
By no means is this an “insider tip.” It’s more common sense, but still worth mentioning. The basic rule to follow here is that if you’re not actively using the door, you should lock it. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting two feet away from it on the couch on a Sunday morning. If you’re not using your door, keep it locked.
Another thing to think about when it comes to first-floor apartment living is your keys. If you lose your keys, alert your landlord immediately and let them know that you’ll need the locks changed that day. Beyond that, make sure your keys don’t have anything on them that could identify your apartment building, especially your specific unit.
The last thing you need to remember is sliding glass doors. If you’re living in a first-floor apartment and you have sliding glass doors, lock them. Many burglars look for these doors specifically because many people forget to lock them up in comparison to standard doors.
Cover it up
Regardless of whether you’re home or not, you don’t want random people knowing your daily routine or your comings and goings.
The best way to prevent someone from casing your apartment and taking advantage of your routines is by not allowing them to look inside your place. That’s not to say that you need to have your blinds closed at all times. You just need to shut the blinds at night, while you’re gone and any other time you’re not craving natural light or aren’t interested in having a glimpse into the outside world.
Put it on video
There are many companies that make cheap and easy-to-install doorbell cameras or above-door cameras. If your apartment allows it, install a camera in a position that gives you full coverage of your front door. Many of these stream to your phone and will allow you to check on any oddities outside without having to unlock your door.
A more cost-effective option, if your apartment doesn’t let you install your own security camera, is to get a professional-looking sticker or sign notifying passersby that your door is under video surveillance (whether true or not).
Even if there’s no evidence of a camera, a sign is possibly enough to convince a potential criminal to go elsewhere. The potential of a camera, in many cases, are as effective as actually having a camera.
Get to know your neighbors
If you have a good relationship with your neighbors, they’re more likely to report anything strange or suspicious and they’re more likely to help you out if you need it. This is not only good advice for safety, but it’s also a surefire way to get the most out of your time in your apartment. So, be neighborly!
Get a dog
Whether it’s a rottweiler, a chihuahua or anything in between, as long as your dog makes noise when someone unexpectedly comes through the door, it’s good to have. A loud dog is as effective as a dangerous dog for home protection, especially in densely populated apartment buildings.
If you’re looking for an excuse to get a dog, you’re welcome.
Make the move
If the only thing keeping you from renting an apartment is its first-floor location, reconsider. While they’re slightly easier to gain access to, they’re also perfectly safe places to live, provided you follow the advice above.
Source: rent.com