Thought about keyless door locks?
We sure have. Keys can be a problem. They get lost a lot. Or just never get returned by rental guests and contractors. For the purpose of security, we never indicate a property’s street address on our key tags. We also charge guests $25 for a lost key to motivate more careful key handling. And when, on departure day, we don’t find the two keys we provided, we aggressively pursue the missing key. Truth is, we have only mixed success. We have heard more than one owner darkly joke that “By now, most of the Lower Cape must have a key to my house.”
Many owners stash a key at the property to facilitate the situation when a rental manager or authorized contractor needs access and doesn’t happen to be carrying a key. We are very thankful to owners who stash a key, as it can be a huge convenience for us and others. But we must admit there is certainly some security risk in the practice.
Keyless entry may be something to consider. We are seeing it more and more these days, especially as part of new construction or renovations, although almost any door, including a slider, can be converted to keyless entry.
Instead of a key, you use a code, set by you and changed or even customized by individual user. Electronic keyless systems can report who’s coming and going and when at your property, giving you unprecedented security, control and peace of mind.
Even a power outage isn’t a problem if your keyless system has battery back-up or operates mechanically.
Of course, no locking approach is foolproof. If you or we or a guest can lose a key, we can certainly forget a code. Or forget to tell those who need to know that the code has been updated. But wait – how about a keyless lock with a fingerprint reader? Ahh, new technology at work for you!
If you’re interested in exploring keyless door locks for your Cape property, here are a couple of links to check out:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/84/topics/118284-keyless-combination-entry-locks-a-good-idea