Coming up with affordable options for your weekly grocery list is pretty straightforward. You know what is in the budget every week. You also know how much food you need to get you through until your next shopping trip. Unfortunately, not every expense is so easy to quantify. Take affordable home security.
Providers have done a great job reducing the cost of home security over the last few decades. What was once the exclusive domain of the wealthy is now within financial reach for most middle-class households. And yet, there are still homeowners who would love to invest in home security but feel like they can’t afford it. So what is going on?
The challenge with home security is that it is rarely a one-time purchase with a known cost. Home security has a lot of moving parts. And depending on how a property owner wants to protect himself and his family, there may be ongoing costs to consider.
Upfront Costs With Hardware
The biggest portion of the overall price tag is the hardware itself. Granted, it is not unusual for top-of-the-line devices to command a pretty high price tag. Likewise for the best-known brands. Like anything else, consumers pay more for both brand recognition and high-end features.
On the other hand, there are providers who understand the budget issue. They offer complete systems and individual devices at a lower price tag. Vivint’s HomeProtect system is a good example. It is designed specifically with the consumer’s budget in mind.
Hardware represents a considerable upfront investment. If a homeowner chooses to add more devices in the future, that is more money shelled out for hardware. In theory, a homeowner could end up spending a lot more than originally anticipated to outfit his system with all the devices he wants.
Fees for Pro Installation
Next up on the affordability checklist is the cost of installation. Obviously, there is no extra fee attached to a DIY system the homeowner installs himself. DIY homeowners invest their own time and effort, but not a single dollar. It is the cheapest way to get a home security system installed. But what if a homeowner doesn’t have the skills or abilities?
Some providers install systems for free. Vivint is a great example again. The company offers free installation with all its package is, including HomeProtect. On the other hand, there are other security companies that charge an extra fee for installation.
Monitoring the System Around-the-Clock
Last but not least is monitoring the system. Let us be clear: failing to monitor a home security system makes little sense. All the security devices in the world are of very little value if no one is paying attention to them and the alerts they generate. Homeowners have three basic options:
- DIY Monitoring – Homeowners can monitor their own systems by setting them up to send alerts to their phones and/or email. It is up to the homeowner to pay attention to those alerts and respond accordingly.
- Month-to-Month – Month-to-month monitoring is professional monitoring without a contract. You pay one month at a time with the ability to cancel whenever you want. HomeProtect is a month-to-month, no-contract option.
- Monthly With Contract – Homeowners can also elect a monthly monitoring contract. Contracts last from 1 to 3 years and are typically structured as subscriptions.
It should be evident that there is a lot that goes into pricing home security. Between initial hardware and installation costs, the potential for monthly monitoring, and adding new devices to a system over time, it’s hard to know exactly how much a homeowner might end up investing in home security.