Learn five ways live video security solutions can turn your real estate dogs into show winners.
Commercial real estate property can be fickle. Class A properties may never have experienced serious crime but are still expected to provide a premium level of security. Class B and C properties can suffer property damage and crime that gets progressively worse. Declining neighborhoods, empty offices and apartments, bad tenants, unruly visitors, and regular trespassers are a few of many factors that can drive away tenants and depress property rent and income.
Property owners and managers watching their pedigreed investments turn into mutts often bring in video cameras and security guards for video security solutions. But they can find such security measures insufficient to stem significant and ongoing problems. What these efforts lack is the critical element of live video surveillance, which helps multiple ways.
1. Superior property coverage. A security guard, can only watch a small part of a property. Security patrols are only on-site for a limited time. A remote video monitoring service using advanced video analytics and trained operators can watch multiple security cameras installed throughout the property, pointed at hotspots like gates, other entrances, fences, back alleys, parking lots and garages, building exteriors and doors, common areas, and even the leasing office.
2. Proactive security. Recorded videos can only be used to review incidents and identify suspects AFTER crimes have occurred and the perpetrators are long gone. Live video monitoring is proactive. Trained operators can watch your property in real-time BEFORE incidents escalate. When they see suspicious behavior they can activate warning speakers and call police. In many cases potential criminal activity is deterred and suspects remaining on your property have been arrested on-site.
3. Reduced security costs. Commercial real estate guards are expensive. Live video security solutions can save up to 80% off the price of guards.
4. Increased safety. Live video monitoring provides comfort to your tenants that the property is being watched even after on-site staff has gone home. Many prospective tenants today rate commercial real estate security as a key factor when leasing.
5. Improved reputation. When trespassers and criminals know they’re being watched live and police have been called, they don’t just leave. They typically find locations without or with less real estate security and don’t come back to your property.
The results. Stealth Monitoring published a case study that shows how one real estate dog turned into a show winner. An apartment complex had only 30% occupancy due to drug deals, serious crimes and property damage. Commercial real estate security guards were being laughed at, paid off and even seriously injured. Some residents were too scared to be outside at night. When the owner wanted to hire a police officer to patrol the property, he was told he had to pay for two officers for safety reasons, which was cost-prohibitive.
Stealth Monitoring consulted with the owners to design a comprehensive video security solution that included added signage, live video monitoring every night, and incident investigation for the onsite property manager. People who caused problems began to move out.
The full security system and installation cost $50,000, which included controlled and locked perimeter fencing, plus $2,000 per month in monitoring and service fees. This was a vast improvement over the nearly $20,000 a month in security guard cost and property damage repair the client had been paying. Within 18 months, occupancy went from 30% to 77% and the average rent per unit increased by $100.
Stealth Monitoring is a security industry leader in live video surveillance with over 15,000 video cameras watched nationwide. Stealth proactive video monitoring can detect and deter crime in the U.S. and Canada while reducing security guard and other expenses. Please contact Stealth today for more information on video security solutions to protect your property. Visit our web site to see actual videos of criminals being apprehended at a range of commercial businesses
