Used Armoured Cars

At work I spoke to a young friend about the housing affordability crisis (HAC) in Australia. He lamented that buying a house now would cost about $500,000. My young friend is absolutely crazy because there are plenty of houses much cheaper than $500,000. For example, you can buy a house in Melton for about $250,000. However, he then said that he didn't want to buy a cheap house because "it's poor for a reason." He claimed that cheap houses were normally in bad neighbourhoods where there is a lot of crime.

I don't actually know what the crime rate is in Melton, but assuming that high-crime suburbs have lower price, I started wondering if it is worth it paying a vey high premium in house prices (or rent) just so you can the chances of being a victim of crime when there are other perhaps cheaper ways of reducing your chances of being a victim of crime. For example, perhaps it would be cheaper overall to buy a house in a cheap suburb but then protect yourself by putting a concrete wall around your house to keep you safe. To protect yourself when you go in and out of the house you will need a strong automatic garage door as well as an armoured car.

My friend scoffed at the idea, saying that an armoured car is extremely expensive. I didn't know whether this was true or not, but I checked the internet and have found a site (in America) that sells used armoured cars, and there are some used armoured cars there for only US$25,000, so that is pretty cheap.

For me, safety comes first, so I think maybe it might be a good idea to buy an armoured car. Many people tell me that if I live in a good neighbourhood then I will be fine, but I think that crime doesn't disappear just because the net worth of the people around you rises. It's better to be safe. There's no harm in being prepared.