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I’ve got a different type of question to ask, and the inspiration for this one comes from my father, who lives alone, but is quite self-sufficient- even well into his 90’s.

The question is this. What could he do without spending a lot of money to make it appear like his house has, say, a family of 4-5 people living there? This is all for privacy reasons. When he’s gone, an unscrupulous neighbor could realize the home could be burglarized. Even though he has an alarm, it could be a while before the police show up.

I did think about getting a couple extra vehicles, parking them there and moving them around every day or so. If the cars were too cheap, they’d leak oil and the HOA might insist on them being garaged, which would defeat the purpose.

I wasn’t ever sure what keywords to use in a Youtube search...

Other thoughts?

In the evening have lights on in multiple rooms and on a timer when not home. Another thing I thought of was to have many different types of clothes drying out on a clothes line, but highly doubt a hoa will allow one.

You could put a swng set up, bike in the front yard, get an old mini van with those stick figure family figures on the back.

Leave the sound on a TV or Youtube loop when he leaves the house.

Lemon Thrower wrote:You could put a swng set up, bike in the front yard, get an old mini van with those stick figure family figures on the back.

Leave the sound on a TV or Youtube loop when he leaves the house.

This is a somewhat upscale area with nearly acre sized lots. Neither a swing set or a bike would be tolerated in the front yard. Frankly, it just wouldn't fit in.

One thing I did think about, (but it is more expensive) is to have a 3-car or 4-car garage instead of the standard 2-car. After all, how many people living alone have a 3 or 4-car garage?

But that would cost more than what is in the budget. I'm looking for things that could be done for, say, $1,000 to $2,000 or less.

He can rent out a room. Then its a profit center, not an expense.

Since my wife retired we are out traveling a lot...she installed bluetooth timer remotes on many of our lights. She can use the timer or control the lights from her phone when we are gone or even when home.

We also have multiple vehicles in the driveway at all times with current registration.

Lots of shoes / boots / umbrellas visible from entry points & windows... if you look like a family, you got a bunch of stuff- everywhere

Not look, but sound have a radio playing outside in the day time or at night if you are out. Have it playing talk radios it sounds like some one is out in the backyard

hobo finds wrote:Not look, but sound have a radio playing outside in the day time or at night if you are out. Have it playing talk radios it sounds like some one is out in the backyard

I do this. Running in my workshop all the the time. But I live at the end of a little horn with no drive by and my neighbors all know me.

Market Harmony wrote:Lots of shoes / boots / umbrellas visible from entry points & windows... if you look like a family, you got a bunch of stuff- everywhere

This sounds like a very interesting idea!

Call girls

NHsorter wrote:Call girls

Hell yeah coming and going day and night. Thats what Im talkin about.

If you have vehicles parked as the person is no longer driving you need to move them around change parking places and make sure to wash of the dust and dirt as they have not driven in awhile. I would have the call girls rotate the cars when they were there. Lol

Also if I was 90 and alone and managed to have enough cash call girls would be great. Lol.

Seriously though trash can out every week even if you don't have much recycling can also. Fly the flag if you can put it out each day to at least holidays. Hell when I leave for a trip I fill up the bird feeders.

My wifes grandma had some people from her church move in with her. They didnt want to go to a home a lose independence so they just take care of eachother now. It isnt a huge church, so they kinda knew each other already but they werent friends before they moved in.

Another thing I thought of. It doesn’t make you look like you live with a big family, but will make your home look like less of a target for burglary. Specifically I’m referring to something a lot of us scrappers do. That is, keeping a lot of recyclable scraps in the backyard. Broken ceiling fans with blades missing, for instance. If someone took all of it, it would fill several pickup trucks and maybe they’d get a few hundred dollars. They’d make a lot of noise loading everything and would likely give up. Anyone who sees it would likely feel I must be broke to even have it sitting around.

My dad, on the other hand, wouldn’t be caught dead with such a mess on his hands.