How Not to Distract From a $10k Front Door
Where does the lockbox go?
That one’s likely a head scratcher: doesn’t the lockbox always go on the front door?
Usually, but not always.
If you’ve never bought or sold a house, the lockbox is the device that stores the house key(s) and lets Realtors (and prospective Buyers) gain access.
The best place to put a lockbox is the front door — if it fits.
However, sometimes it doesn’t; other times, it fits but will readily slide off the door handle (that’s the case if the handle is an open-ended lever rather than a closed loop).
At $150 a pop for an electronic lockbox, that’s not something Realtors want to regularly replace (not to mention the security risk associated with a missing house key!).
Custom Front Door
And then there’s the $1 million home I showed yesterday with the custom, $10k wood and glass front door.
Yes, the lockbox could have securely gone on the front door, but it would have banged against the glass every time the door opened and shut.
The owner’s solution?
They wrapped a 12 foot bike cable — color-coordinated, no less — around a column just to the right of the front door, and attached it to that.
Neat: nothing marring the aesthetic appeal of the front door, and no risk of damage, either.
