Home Safety Tips

KEEP YOUR HOME AND VALUABLES SAFE

DON’T LET YOUR HOME BE AN EASY TARGET! HERE ARE SOME GREAT TIPS TO DETER BURGLARS:  

• Get the right door. Make sure eachexterior door is solid core or metal so that thieves cannot easily kick the door in. A burglar is going to enter your home through a door or window, so it makes sense to make sure your home’s doors and windows are as safe as possible.
• Make sure your front door has a peep hole. Always know exactly who you are letting into your home before you open the door.
• Remove flyers from your doorstep. A build up of pizza and Chinese takeout menus in the front step will tip burglars off that you have been away from home for a while.
• Landscape smart. While it might be more private to have scrubs blocking the street view or directly in front of windows, these common landscaping decisions give thieves a place to hide and break into your home without being seen.
• Keep your home’s landscaping neat and trimmed. Messy landscaping tells burglars you are away, don’t care about your home security, and gives them more places to hide.
• Be light savvy. Put your home’s lights on a timer to simulate that someone is home without leaving the lights on and wasting energy.
• Make it seem like you do not live alone. If you notice someone outside you home, act like you are talking to some one inside or saying good-bye.
• Do not put boxes for expensive appliances or electronics on the curb. Not only might a thief want to steel your stuff, they might get the idea that you have a lot of other things to steal.
• Don’t make it easy to get to second floor windows. If you have a ladder, do not leave it in your yard. Many thieves are just looking for an easy opportunity.
• Get a home alarm system. The very presence of an alarm system will deter burglars and having a security system will often times lower your homeowners insurance.
• Do not store jewelry or cash in your bedroom. Build a secret hiding place for expensive valuables.
• A stuffed mailbox is a red flag. Have the post office hold your mail when you go out of town to avoid alerting criminals that you are away.
• Don’t leave Facebook status updates or Twitter messages saying that you are away. While that picture from Tahiti would make the perfect cover shot, wait until you get home to post it. Burglars check social media pages to target vacant homes.
• Load the car in the garage. Again, you do not want to advertise to the neighborhood that you will be away from home for an extended period of time. Park the car quickly or do it out of sight.
• Reinforce your doorjambs if you have weak door frames. When an intruder kicks in a door, it is usually not the door that breaks but the doorjamb. Reinforce this area with a strike plate. Don’t forget to reinforce your door from the garage. This is a prime spot for thieves braking into a home.
• Protect vulnerable sliding doors. Use a wooden dowel or metal bar for sliding doors and windows so they can’t be pried open.
• Secure your home’s windows. Double glazed or toughened glass windows will be harder for thieves to break. Make sure all of your windows have sturdy locks.
• Mow your lawn. Thieves might think you are on vacation if your lawn becomes overgrown.
• Get a dog. You do not have to get a big intimidating dog to deter burglars. Small, yappy dogs are just as effective at scaring criminals away. Overall, a dog is one of the best deterrents for burglars.
• Close your garage door. Why leave a major entrance open and let thieves see all the great stuff that they can steel? Also, the door leading from the garage into the house is often not as secure as the front door.
• Don’t hide keys. Whether the key is under the mat, in a fake rock, or above the door frame, crooks know these spots. Protecting your house from burglars is as easy as not giving them a key in the first place.
• Be neighborly. Get to know your neighbors. Once you get to know them, you can watch each other’s homes, move cars, and take papers and advertisements off front porches when on vacation. It never hurts to have another set of eyes watching your home while you are away.
• Use your alarm system. Even the most sophisticated alarm system cannot protect your home if you do not use it. Arm your alarm system every time you leave your home, day or night.