Step 6: Secure the Property

After I take ownership, I'm mindful of the need to make the house and any outbuildings secure. Adventurous kids and hormonal adolescents are no longer free to enter. Plus, I’d prefer that curious folks from the neighborhood only see the inside when I’m around to lead the tour.

Step 5 is when I install my own locks and make sure that doors shut completely. I also board up any broken windows and brace them so they can’t be pushed open easily from outside. It’s similar with any sliding exterior doors. It doesn’t take much to beef things up with a board, broom handle, or something else substantial to keep folks out.

Besides people, I want to keep animals from coming inside as well. I’ll admit that it’s hard to keep snakes out, and I don’t mind having the tiny lizards on site. At this stage, I’m most concerned with bigger animals: stray cats, racoons, and possums. I've had more than a few animals wander thru, seeming just as curious as the people in the neighborhood, and I don’t want four-legged critters entering if I can keep them out.

I realize that animals are clever and smart. They seem to know and remember where they can go to rest and get a break from harsh weather. We’d likely be the same if we lived in the wild. Once, I disregarded one opening because I thought it was insignificant: the hole for the dryer vent. Somewhere near midnight, a baby bobcat came in, and it didn’t want to leave. Looking back, the fury little thing was probably just lost and sacred. I was tired and had to go to work in a few hours, so I went back to bed and let this cat make itself at hme—at eighteen hundred square feet, there was plenty of room for both of us. However, the animal quickly curled up in a ball at the foot of my bed until morning. At daylight, while I was waiting for my first cup of coffee to brew, it came out to look around. I opened the front door, and it went on its way, likely to the woods at the end of the block. Since this was back in 2000, I didn’t have a cell phone to document this special visit, and official ID from a wildlife professional was not exactly an option. It was a husky cat with a stubby tail, and I still to this day think it was a Carolina bobcat. Although I especially enjoyed the late-night visit from that critter, there were other animals that I knew I needed to keep out, so I sealed up the hole before dark.

Make your new project house secure and seal up all the openings, including the ones that you may write off as insignificant.

My late-night visitor looked like this fur ball.

Jump to Step 7 - Pull Out the Valuables