What Your House Quietly Signals To Thieves

A burglar rarely “targets” a home the way people imagine. Most of the time, they notice a signal, an easy opening, a dark house, an uncut lawn, a patio door that looks forgotten and they take the chance. So we get concrete about home security and share anti-burglary tips for sellers and homeowners that you can actually use, whether your place is listed, sitting vacant, or you are simply heading out of town.

We start with the outside: property maintenance that makes a home look lived in, not empty. Then we talk about the human layer of safety: neighbors who know your normal patterns and can spot something off. From there, we do a practical vulnerability check around doors, windows, and walkout basement entries, plus why lighting is still one of the strongest deterrents. Timers, smart bulbs, music, and other simple tech can create “occupied” cues that make a thief move on.

We also hit the basics that people still skip: locking doors, reinforcing locks, and using loud security sirens. We dig into affordable surveillance cameras and doorbell cameras, and we end with a smart move most people delay: recording and marking valuables so you are not guessing during a police report or insurance claim. Plus, Jeff O’Brien’s legal minute covers Minnesota well disclosure requirements you need to know before closing. Subscribe, share this with a friend who travels, and leave us a review. What is your go-to move to make a home feel impossible to mess with?

You can always find U. S. Home Talk and connect with the hosts and the community at their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/U.S.HomeTalk/ or at our website, USHomeTalk.com

Transcript

Welcome And How To Reach Us

Jason Walgrave 0:14

Hey, welcome back, folks. This is U.S. Home Talk. It's Wednesday noon Central Standard Time. We're coming at you. We got some great info today. Jason Walgrave here with Walgrave Real Estate Group and the Minnesota Real Estate Team at Remax Advantage Plus. We've got the uh spectacular Marcus Walgrave with Hague Realtors out of Sioux Fala, South Dakota, the Sioux Empire Real Estate Market. We also have our great producer and insurance guru, Mr. Evan Little. Mike Overson is once again. He is uh he's doing so many loans, folks. He is just he is just a machine.

Marcus Walgrave 0:53

He is though. I mean, really, he is a machine. He is machine. That's true. I think a couple weeks ago when we had when he was on the show, when he could fit in the schedule, I mean that bro's bro's lats were swole. I mean, he's you know, he's doing work, not just in the office, but also the gym.

Jason Walgrave 1:12

Also the gym. I'll I I will get emails from Mike, and and I think everybody that knows me knows this. I don't stay up late, right? I'm I'm I early to bed, early to rise guy. Um Overson, I'll get emails from him at like 11, 11:30, sometimes 12:30 at night, yeah, because he's still working. I mean, he's um, you know, my Mike's a fantastic husband and father, and and so he he does a really great job of prioritizing family, but he also gets the work done. You know, that means he's got to stay up until midnight to get the work done. That's what he's gonna do. So um, although we we do like to give him a hard time, um, it's usually more fun when he's here than we give him hard time, but but this will have to do. This will have to do. Yeah. Uh folks, uh, best way to get a hold of us anytime is our website, ushometalk.com. Check it out. We have a real estate hotline number. You can call or text that number anytime. 612-2347585 is that number. Um, our website's got some great uh information and tools. You can connect with Marcus, myself, Mike, Evan, all of our uh fantastic show partners, US Home Talk uh partners. So go to ushometalk.com.

Maintain The Property So It Looks Lived In

Jason Walgrave 2:21

We're gonna talk about anti-burglary tips for sellers. Um it is if you look at um statistically, uh, there are more burglaries in a nicer weather than there are in the winter months where where there's um less nice weather. So we're kind of in that season. And so uh we're gonna talk about ways to um kind of lower the likelihood of of your home being burglarized. Number one on the list, maintain your property. This one is I mean, look, uh you can drive around neighborhoods and and you can you can sometimes guess pretty accurately which homes are uh are vacant um or or appear to be vacant. And a vacant home is more likely to get burglarized than if than if someone is there. So uh making sure the lawn is is is mowed. Um in the in the winter, making sure that driveway uh is clear, you know, and and so uh we have one of our neighbors, I think they I think they're gone for man, three, maybe four months during the winter, um, but they still have a snow service, they have someone coming in and shoveling that driveway and making it you know appear that uh someone's there. But number one on the list, maintain your property.

Marcus Walgrave 3:37

Yeah, I mean, I you I think to your point exactly, right? I mean, if it looks like it's been mowed recently or the snow has been removed recently, well, if you're thinking about uh uh you know breaking into a place, uh you probably don't want to run into anybody. So, you know, those are probably some quick you know deterrence, like hey, these people are definitely home. Um, and especially right now, I mean it seems like you got to mow every two two to three days. I mean, the grass is growing so fast. So, you know, if it looks like it's it's uh uh just been mowed, I mean they're they're home.

Jason Walgrave 4:08

Yeah, they're home. Number two on our list, uh anti-burglary tips

Neighbors And Weak Spots Around The House

Jason Walgrave 4:12

for sellers. Number two on our list, know your neighbors. Um, you know, I I think I I feel like in today's world, um we know less of our neighbors than 20, 30, 40 years ago. Uh, and I don't know, maybe that's because we got so much going on, everybody's so busy. And but but neighbors are gonna look out for you. So so know your neighbors. You know, we have um we've got some good neighbors. If we're gonna be out of town, we'll just say, hey, we're gonna be out of town this weekend. Just you just want to give you a heads up, you know, and so you got your neighbors keeping an eye on it for you. If you're if you're out of town and there's not supposed to be anybody there, and there's all of a sudden there's somebody there, you know, neighbors can you know make a call for you and and uh keep an eye on it. So number two on our list of anti-burglary tips for sellers is know your neighbors. Um, number three, access your home's vulnerability. What does that mean? Uh just do just take a look around. You know, walk around. You got you got doors that aren't closing, you got you know windows that maybe latches are broken. Um, is it is it easy to access your property through the maybe you got a walkout basement and and there's a door that doesn't lock well or doesn't lock at all. Um, you know, let's take a look at assess your home's vulnerabilities and and make sure that you take care of those.

Marcus Walgrave 5:28

Yeah, right. I mean, uh I think one growing trend that we saw here in the Sioux Falls uh new construction real estate market was that there's a number of people who, if you had a walkout lot, you know, or or what that is, is that you can go down into your basement and then you can access your your uh backyard. So you could you don't that's kind of the point, you don't have to go out the front door. Um otherwise it if you don't have a walkout, um you need to have stairs off your deck to get to get to the back. And that's where you know we see a trend down here where if you were building a house, a new construction house on a walkout lot, uh a lot of people were choosing not to have the steps coming off the deck because they're like, we can go downstairs, you know, and and let the uh the pets out that way, or the kids can go out that way. They just felt like it was one less way for somebody to come in and check on doors and windows if they couldn't get up to the deck.

Jason Walgrave 6:22

Yeah, I I've had clients build homes that um have uh had teenage kids at the time, and they're like, Yeah, I don't want to walk out. Let's go ahead and make that let's make that a lookout basement. You know, so uh let's build a moat. Let's build a moat. Uh number four on our list, um, we're talking about anti-burglary tips

Lighting Timers And Tech That Fakes Occupancy

Jason Walgrave 6:41

for sellers. Be sure to check out our website, ushometalk.com. We've got a real estate hotline number. You can call or text anytime, which is 612-234-7585. Call or text anytime. Feel free to uh leave questions or comments uh in the comment section on Facebook and YouTube. Uh either way, we want to make sure we get your questions answered. Number four on the list respect the power of lighting. Are the lights on? Do you have a timer? Maybe you're gonna be out of town on vacation for a week. Set up a timer. Uh front lights on the house, I think, are important at night. Um, we always keep you know a few lights on all night long in the front of the house. And then on the interior, you know, set up some timer lights where you got um uh lights going on. It it's it's powerful, you know. Lights on suggests that there's somebody there, you know. So a house that's dark and has been sitting dark for a week or two kind of sends out the message that there's nobody there.

Marcus Walgrave 7:40

Yeah, and and I don't know if this is on the list too, but with how many blue Bluetooth speakers we have throughout the house, I mean go ahead and and uh put a put a uh uh uh a music list on on repeat or you know, get some Sirius XM running and and and keep it keep it playing. And you know, uh the the days of hey, turn the lights off, you're wasting wasting money, it's like, well, you know, that getting robbed is probably gonna spend a little bit more money you know replacing those items than it would be with a couple extra dollars paying for your super affordable light bulbs.

Jason Walgrave 8:12

Yes, yes, that that's a great one, Marcus. We're talking about anti-burglary tips for sellers. Uh, we're gonna do we got uh 10 total. We're gonna do uh one more and then we're gonna go to Jeff O'Brien's legal minute. Number five on our list, use technology to make your home look occupied. Um when I when I think of this one, it it it immediately makes me think of home alone, uh, where you know Kevin gets the displays up and it looks like there's people in there and got MJ dancing, yeah, dancing. And but but it it's you know technology's great. Uh, like Marcus said, you got light bulbs on on Bluetooth, you got TVs on Bluetooth, music. I mean, there's certainly things that you can uh you can use with technology's help to really make it appear that there's somebody home. Um, if if it appears at somebody's home, uh it's much less likely that that you're gonna get uh burglarized. And so uh we're gonna go to Jeff O'Brien's legal minute. We'll come back and finish up with our last five.

Jeff O'Brien 9:10

This is

Legal Minute Wells Must Be Disclosed

Jeff O'Brien 9:11

Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hush Blackwell with a U.S. Home Talk legal minute. Before signing an agreement to sell or transfer real property, the seller must disclose in writing to the buyer information about the status and location of all known wells on the property. Included in the well disclosure statement are the legal description and county, a map showing the location of each well, and whether each well is in use, not in use, or sealed. At the time of closing of the sale, the information on the well disclosure statement, the name and mailing address of the buyer, and the quarter section, township and range, or lock block, an addition name of the property must be provided on a well disclosure certificate. The seller or person authorized to act on behalf of the seller signs the certificate. When the deed is recorded with the county recorder or register of titles, the buyer must provide the well disclosure certificate along with a $50 fee. Contact the Minnesota Department of Health for proper procedures for the disclosure of wells at the time of the sale of condominiums or state leased land. This is Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hosh Clackwell with a U.S. Home Talk Legal Med.

Jason Walgrave 10:04

Thank you,

Locks Reinforced Entries Sirens And Cameras

Jason Walgrave 10:05

Jeff O'Brien. As always, very, very good stuff. Folks, we're talking about anti-burglary tips for sellers. Um, best way to get hold of us anytime is our website, ushometalk.com. Our real estate hotline number is 612-234-7585. Next on our list. Uh, and you think this one will be obvious, but you would be surprised. Lock your doors. Oh, and and this one I think is tough for uh Marcus and I because we grew up in Laverne on a on a farm. Uh and it was, I don't, I mean, growing up, I have no memory of us ever locking the doors. Um, I'm sure mom and dad probably did at night, but it just um it just wasn't common, you know. But uh today's world, you just lock the doors, you know, keep the front door locked, keep the side, just keep all the doors locked. Um, and that's you know, that that can deter and and you know prevent some some burglars from going on.

Marcus Walgrave 11:05

Yeah, you know, the the right before you go to bed, the the the check the all the doors and windows kind of a deal that that a parent will do. Um, I mean you're talking about seconds, it only takes a couple seconds to to go through the house, check out, you know, maybe maybe the kids had some windows open because it was really nice outside, you know, outside playing. I mean, it it doesn't take long to to to do a quick site uh uh um lap around the home and inside the home and just make sure everything's locked up. Lock them up.

Jason Walgrave 11:36

I think the most common one that that's uh left unlock is that uh walkout basement patio door. Um I I mean I that's the one we we miss, you know, because where the kids are we're going in and out or they're going out to the pool and and it's just the front door, that one gets locked, and this, you know, the garage door, but uh that basement walkout patio door, that would be one to uh just to keep an extra eye on. So uh lock your doors. Next on our list, uh reinforce your locks. Uh you can do more than just a regular lock. I I think of when our um when our boys were were younger, you know, like two, three years old, uh, they were um they're adventurous, you know, they're they're they like to explore. And so they would, especially Joseph, he would just just leave, just walk out the front door and start, you know, checking out the neighborhood. And so we we had to reinforce our our locks with a a lock that he couldn't reach that was you know close to the top of the door. Um, that was for you know keeping the kids in the house, of course. But in this example, you can do it works both ways. It works both ways. It works both ways. Keep them in or keep them out, right? Yeah, but uh reinforce your locks that can work really, really well. There's some great um great uh tools out there. You know, we see uh patio doors or or um sliding doors, you know, that you've got that extra lock that goes at the bottom, you know, and and so that is um that that's another one to consider. Folks talking about anti-burglary tips for sellers. Um, let's see what else we got here. Uh number eight on our list, Blair the Sirens. You know, so if you have a security system, um, you know, a lot of those include um very loud sirens. Uh, you know, that that's something that's gonna likely that's gonna likely um deter uh burglars, or even if someone comes in the front door, and if the sirens are going off and it's loud, um that that's gonna help uh drive them away. Uh and that is that's why it's number eight in our list of Blair the Sirens.

Marcus Walgrave 13:37

Louder the better. Louder the better. There's some cool light products out there, you know, some flood lighting that you can buy that or or you know, the door uh um cameras, the door ring bell uh ring cameras. I mean, they have a lot of really neat features. You don't have to have a new house that um it was built with modern tech. You can buy these products and install them um in in the front of your house, in the back of your house, on the side of the house, and and some really neat features that they have. Yep, it's good stuff.

Jason Walgrave 14:07

Folks talking about anti-burglary tips uh for your sellers, uh, for homeowners. Number nine, we got two left here, folks. Number nine, consider surveillance cameras. I mean, boy, uh what's 50% of homes have some type of ring camera, you know, doorbell camera right now. I mean, they're they're pretty common. Um, I've had I mean I've seen some I've seen some extreme stuff, you know, sellers that have cameras like everywhere. I mean, we're talking 10, 12 cameras throughout each side of the house, the back of the house, the front of the house, and the garage, and you know, and and so you can get um you can get maybe a little carried away, uh some might say with with the cameras, but cameras are great and the technology is fantastic. They have you know, they have cameras now where they I mean they just they run off a battery, you don't even need to have them hardwired. You know, you can stick them on this, you know, outside of the house and and um you know tech Bluetooth and they're connected to the internet and um some really cool stuff with with cameras right now. Um I think ring cameras or that type of doorbell cameras are is a really great feature as well.

Marcus Walgrave 15:11

And they're affordable now. Before they were like, ooh, that's pretty expensive for for that. Now they're you're talking 4K video and wireless and yeah, wireless, like you said, Bluetooth using Bluetooth tech and and affordable. I mean, you can get a you know, a six-pack of cameras and and the whole system, maybe for a small monthly, you know, uh a fee, service fee to have that wired up and and put all that information into a cloud. So a lot of options. Yeah, a lot of options for sure.

Jason Walgrave 15:43

Folks, we're talking about anti-burglary tips for homeowners. Uh, best way to we got one more to go. Best way to get a hold of us anytime is our website, ushometalk.com. And our real estate hotline number is 612-234-7585. Uh, last on our list, um, advice.

Record Valuables For Claims And Recovery

Jason Walgrave 16:00

This is a good one. Um, mark your valuables and uh record uh your and keep a record of it, right? And and this is gonna be more towards if it happened, you know, if if you were burglarized. I think this also is, you know, if you have a fire or you have, you know, something where your your valuables are damaged or stolen and whatever the case is. I haven't I'm I haven't done this yet, you know, and I mean it's on on the list, right? We gotta we gotta make a record of of all the valuables because um what happens if you know a burglary happened or a fire happened and there's no possible way any of us could remember all the stuff that we have in the house, right? Um so I saw I saw a uh piece of advice a number of years ago is where somebody somebody just went through uh they went through the camera. Went through the camera and they just went through their closet and their you know and and uh video of all their valuables and kind of the whole house as a video record made it easier, uh would make it easier if if you did have uh if you lost those items.

Marcus Walgrave 17:02

So folks, if you don't have a smartphone, you could reach out to Jason or I and we can get you uh uh tuned up to uh um a real estate photographer and they can blast through your house in 10 minutes and get you a a suite video that's gonna be you know four minutes long, and you can put that in your uh um your cloud in box or cloud or whatever you need to do and be good to go. Yep, that's good stuff.

Jason Walgrave 17:26

All right, folks. Uh, this has been anti-burglary tips for homeowners. Oh, did I got one?

Bonus Tip Big Dogs And Closing

Marcus Walgrave 17:31

I got one extra one. You got one extra. I do, yep. Um, a really big aggressive rottweiler. So nobody is messing with a house with a big ornery rottweiler.

Jason Walgrave 17:44

So I I was um I met with some sellers last week, and um they got a just a beautiful house. Um and um they have some dogs, right? And and I've forgotten what kind of dogs they had. Like, where's the dogs? Oh, they're in the garage, and I'm like, okay, so I'm looking at the house, and then I open up the garage to look in the garage. 210-pound bull mastiff just sitting there at the bottom of the bottom of the steps, and he just kind of looks up at. I mean, his head is twice as big as my head, right? And he's just looking at me and I'm like, that's a big dog. Didn't make a sound, you know. I'm I mean, I think he's super gentle, but man, that was a big dog. That was a monster dog, so yeah, Rottweiler's dogs, and um, the those German shepherds, any of those protective those can be uh breeds. I I agree, Mark, because you got a dog, you got a you know, ferocious sounding dog barking. Pretty unlikely anyone's coming in that house.

Marcus Walgrave 18:44

Um now if it's a dog that's rolling over on its belly one you know, just by the sight of some of a masked person, then yeah, probably not uh like your little Frenchie. Yeah, yeah. Oh, hey, he he's got a bark to him.

Jason Walgrave 18:59

But no bite. Yeah, but no bite.

Marcus Walgrave 19:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No bite. Folks, we do bark, yeah.

Jason Walgrave 19:04

We do appreciate you tuning again this week. Whether you uh catch us at noon on Wednesdays Central Standard Time or later in the week via our streaming platforms. We do appreciate uh your participation. And uh we thank you much. We hope you have a great week next Wednesday at noon.