Today on Facebook a local neighbor said a carpet cleaning truck came to her door and tried the door handle. She of course was freaked out and locked the door very quickly. 

Hence the title of today’s blog.

This mom happens to be in one of my son’s Boy Scout troops so I am sure I would have heard about it but what if your not facebook friends or in the local sports and activity groups?

Here is a neat new neighborhood tool NextDoor.com that I recommend checking out. In today’s age of social media what a great way to connect with your neighbors. Look out for each other and help to keep the neighborhood safe. Organize events, find out who the babysitters are, referrals for everything from electricians, plumbers and your neighborhood Real Estate Agent (Okay, I had to put that in there). We don’t all live in HOA’s where there ‘s a home owner website so this empowers us to all be involved and protect ourselves and our kids.

Another great neighborhood tool – Crime Mapping http://www.crimemapping.com/
Is also from the above mom that inspired today’s blog. She mentioned it one day and I thought what a great tool for my home-buyers and especially for my relocation families. I know the great neighborhoods and is where my expertise comes in but, this shows so much more than I can tell you. Crimes, nuisances and suspicious activity in the area. If it was reported you can see it. You can set it up to be from .25-2 mile radius and even check what crimes you want to be notified about. Then once a week you get an email. I set ours up around our house and it was a bit surprising to see the neighborhood mischief going on. Luckily I was relieved and nothing major but very interesting and a bit addicting too. 

I hope you find these sites interesting. Let me know what you think and please let me know of other sites you may know of or use. I would love to share. 

Stay Safe Everyone!