Most home burglaries are carried out by opportunistic thieves.
They want to be in and out as fast as possible.
A safe that takes that takes time and effort is going to deter them, and help keep you valuables safe.
Yes you can always keep things in a bank deposit box, but it may not be very convenient.
What Sort of Safe?
Well you can get a basic small home safe for less than $80, or pay well over $1,000, so here are some thoughts on choice:
What do You Want to Keep Secure?
In my case it’s passports, wills, portable hard drives, and small amounts of foreign currency, so a small safe would be fine for me.
If you have got lots of expensive jewelry, want to secure your lap top, or other large items you will need something bigger.
It’s probably best to get all your valuables together before you make a decision on size.
Combination or Key?
I would agree with a recent survey I saw that came out with the result that twice as many people prefer keys. We all have too many PIN numbers to remember.
If you do go for a combination lock make sure you change it from the manufacturers standard settings. . . I have heard locksmiths say that their standard opening technique for a combination safe is to enter the standard setting which works for well over half the safes.
Fire Protection
A basic safe is just a heavy steel box with a steel door and doesn’t offer any protection against fire or even smoke damage.
I would recommend that you you look for something with insulation that offers at least one hours fire protection
Location?
A common site is in the WIR of the master bedroom which in convenient . . . but obvious for a burglar. A better site might be the larder/pantry or in the wardrobe of a second bedroom.
For a typical Australian house a safe bolted down to the floor is the best option rather than a wall safe. It should be bolted into a concrete slab, or a floor joist. (You don’t want to make it too easy for thieves to break it out and take it with them)
Have you thought about where your meter box will go?
As you can see from this photo it is often one of the earliest things to be installed . . . . . Don’t like it in the location and its going to cost big dollars to change!
Because the Meter Box is normally at a height of around 1m above ground and fairly large its much more obvious than the water and gas meters.
The first Australian House I built and I completely forgot about the meter box until I saw it in place, in the middle of a blank wall facing the front of the property.
It ‘Stuck out like a Ruckman at a Jockey Convention’.
Some Thoughts On Location
Have a look where the box is on the Display House.
If you want it at the side of the house think about where your fences are going to be, you don’t want it behind a fence.
The box needs to be convenient to find if a Circuit Breaker trips at night.
If you are planning Solar Power the closer it is to the panels the better.
Although I am not a big worrier about Electromagnetic Radiation there are some people who recommend that you don’t have a meter box on the same wall as a bedhead.
Probably the best site is next to the front door if you can find a space.
Have too few circuits and you will get the circuit breakers in the Power Box tripping out all the time!
Minimum
The minimum number of electrical circuits for a new home would be 4/5, as follows;
Lights
General Power outlets (GPOs)
Hob and Oven
Air Conditioning
Hot Water Service (Only if Electric)
In my opinion this is only suitable for a Granny Flat, although I have heard of it suggested for larger properties.
Suggested Circuits
A good procedure is to have separate circuits for rooms that have heavy loads as well as separate circuits for major items.
This gives the following circuits for a 3/4bedroom house
GPOs Kitchen
GPOs Laundry
GPOs Living*
GPOs Bedrooms*
Lighting Living*
Lighting Bedrooms*
Hot Water Service**
Oven
HotPlates**
Centralised Air Conditioning
* Upstairs and downstairs for a 2 storey home
**Not required if Gas Appliances
3 Phase Power
If you want Reverse Cycle Air Conditioning for a large house or want Instantaneous Hot Water you will need 3 Phase Power. In this case it may be worth spreading the GPO and lighting circuits over the different phases.
Don’t know when but they haven’t gone up for 4 years so it isn’t going to last much longer!
How Much?
Well the real answer is no one knows, but some of the financial wizz kids are predicting something like 1.5% rise.
To me that means expect a 2% rise.
So What Will It Mean to You?
A 1% rise on a new mortgage will increase the weekly payments by around $20/week for every $100,000 borrowed.
That means for a 2% rise on a typical $400,000 mortgage you could be looking at $160/week.
Don’t forget this won’t be the only thing going up. Gas, Water, Electricity, Rates, all seem to be on the move upwards while not a lot seems to be happening on the wages front.
Here are a few thoughts about what you could do:
Already Along The House Journey
It could be worth looking to fix either part, or all of your mortgage. If you have separate mortgages for the house and the land it may be best to fix one while leaving the other variable to maintain some flexibility.
Start increasing your mortgage payments now so you get used to living on less, and you build up a cash buffer.
Think about contingency plans in case you get hit with something like a reduction ,or loss of income.
Starting To Look At A New House
You need to factor in the potential price rise into your budget, and your expectations.
Considering going for a smaller house rather than having a financial millstone around your neck for the next 5 or more years.
Going into every Display Home the first person you see is the Builders Representative.
When talking to the representative it helps to understand a little about them, so here are some thoughts;
Pay
We all work for money but the Representative’s conditions of employment might be a fair bit different to you.
Most Representatives will receive minimal, or even no basic pay.
Their commission on each sale will be several thousand of dollar, but they may not get it for months.
Although they may get a partial payment for your initial signature they usually won’t be paid the full amount until the slab goes down.
This means their main driver is to get you committed as soon as possible. . . . So don’t be rushed. Take your time to understand exactly what you are buying. (The current ‘Limited Offer‘ will be replaced by a different offer of similar value)
Priorities
Because of the way the rep is paid their main interest will be in people who are committed to buying a house rather than ‘Tyre Kickers’.
