Ring Door Bell: Good Solution for Hawaii House Security

Never thought I would be a consumer for the ring doorbell. In fact, I gave my team member Barbara Dow a hard time when she mentioned last winter she bought a video door bell. We were chatting on speaker phone from my cab as I drove up Highway 19 to Kawaihae Harbor to pick up my new Subaru. Could not for the life of me figure out why Barbara wanted a video doorbell. Are ya too lazy to get up off your sofa to answer the door? My cab driver was muting his laughter as we drove along. Both of us thought it was an idiotic thing to buy, a Ring doorbell.

Well, who is laughing now, I ask myself. Because I found a good reason to install a Ring doorbell.

The first Ring doorbell I saw, btw, was at a new listing in south Natomas that is going live in MLS on April 13th. I stood outside the home, pressing the ring button and nothing happened. Put my ear on the door, no sound. Finally, I pulled out my car keys and banged loudly on the door before the seller answered. Did the ringer work, I asked? Oh, the battery died.

See, right there is a flaw. If it’s too much work to remove the Ring doorbell to charge the battery, what does that tell you? The Ring doorbell I bought says the battery should last a year. Well, depending on how many videos it shoots. Judged by the number of motion alert videos I’ve received this afternoon, it looks like we will get 5 motion alerts a day.

I wonder if the geckos in Hawaii set it off? Hmmm, what is this? This wasn’t here before. Definitely something new. Hey, Norton, come check this out, and all their little geckos friends show up to poke around it.

This all came about because a few days ago, I was pacing about in my back yard chatting on the phone, with guess who, Barbara Dow. It was about 8 AM. All of a sudden, I looked up to find a man standing in my lanai. Oh, yes, after I shrieked because his sudden appearance freaked me out, I recognized him as the strange guy next door whom I wrote about last winter in this blog: My Hawaii neighbor does not much like troublemakers.

Now, I thought we had patched up things, but apparently not. My other neighbors say this guy is overly sensitive to sound of any kind and his wife swears at the neighbors on our other side. He began to spread his aloha by calling me the “worst neighbor in the entire world.” My mouth fell open. It got worse. He said my conversations are the most annoying thing he ever heard in life, adding there was nothing he could do about that rude behavior.

However, to say I was caught off-guard and shocked is to put it mildly. I asked if he had a solution for this so-called irritation. He suggested: “You could sit in your bedroom and talk.”

Hey, I’m not his daughter. That’s not a workable idea. I come to Hawaii to work on Sacramento real estate because I love to work from my lanai. If he doesn’t like it, that’s just too bad. But his continually walking into my yard unannounced and uninvited is trespassing. I sent him an email asking for a way to settle this amicably and in a neighborly fashion. He ignored it.

See, the thing is buddy, I’m not going away. Sure he has absolute silence for 6 to 8 weeks, and then this Sacramento Realtor shows up. He’s gonna have to deal with it.

All right, this is where the Ring doorbell comes in. But first I had to clear this idea with the HOA. Our front yard is accessed through a gate. I decided to padlock the gate. By installing the Ring doorbell, visitors can’t come to my front door anymore. I can talk to them via the video doorbell at the gate. Anybody who tries to jump over the gate will be videotaped and, if I’m home, will get a face full of mace.

At first blush, the HOA rep said she did not think it would be allowed because our front gates and fences are maintained by the HOA, making them common areas. However, she emailed the Board and sent them my email, in which I described the reason for wanting to install a Ring doorbell. To keep this crazy intruder next door out of our yard. And to videotape his intrusions.

Eureka! The Board member wrote back. He suggested I take a 3-foot section of a 2×4 and whack him next time. Turns out the Board member also hails from Minnesota, like me. No wonder I liked his sense of humor. He approved the installation. Yay!

I will add the installation was very easy. Every tool you need comes in the box. Although, to err on the side of caution, I did pick up from Lowes a drill / screwdriver combo, you don’t necessarily need it. Further, the one tool I always have at my side is my cellphone. Now I can work from my lanai without worrying that I won’t hear a visitor at my door or that people can get into our yard without permission.

An added benefit, of course, is when I’m back in Sacramento, I can still keep an eye on the house in Hawaii from my cellphone.