Maintaining the security of our homes is an issue for many of us. Poverty and unemployment determine people to make desperate gestures in their attempt of feeding their families. Breaking into other people’s houses is one of these methods. While we can’t prevent it from happening, we can, at least, do what’s in our power to limit such attempts and their consequences. Here are the best home security tips you could use for keeping your family and your belongings away from burglary:
1. Install a monitoring and alarm system
Installing a monitoring system is an easy way of preventing intruders from breaking into your home. You can opt for video monitoring or for an alarm that goes off when someone enters a certain perimeter. Depending on your budget, you may want to have your alarm system linked to a monitoring service or you may want it only to make a loud noise that would scare burglars away.
If you have more money, you can install video cameras in all sensitive spots and have a dispatcher watch them 24/7. There are lots of companies that provide such services. It is up to you to choose a service that includes only the video monitoring or a full package that would get you an intervention team on site within minutes after unusual activity is detected.
2. Get a solid entrance door and a good lock
If your entrance door looks flimsy, it may trigger the attention of individuals looking to break into houses for stealing purposes. This is why it is important to have an entrance door that looks as solid as possible. Nobody wants trouble, so any individual who would notice your good door would tend to avoid it. The lock is also very important. Always choose good locks, with safety features that can make the life of eventual burglars a nightmare.
3. Leave your lights on while away
An empty house is a good target for most burglars. If you are going to be away for longer periods of time, you can leave one or two lights on in order to mislead potential intruders.
Even better, you can install an automatic system that switches the lights on and off at certain intervals of time. This will make watchers believe there is somebody inside the house, so they won’t be tempted to break in.
4. Ask a neighbor to pick up your mail
If you are going on vacation or on a longer business trip, don’t let your mail pile up at your door. Ask one of your neighbors to pick up your mail every other day in order to make others believe you are actually at home.
5. Don’t let your valuables in sight
What is the first thing one can see when entering your house? If you have valuable jewelery, paintings, sculptures or other relatively small items with a big value, make sure they are not easily accessible from the entrance door. If burglars manage to break in, they might grab whatever they can and run away very fast in order to avoid getting caught. By placing valuable items nearby the entrance, you make their task easier.
Never leave big amounts of money on the coffee table or on the kitchen counter. Keep your jewelery in hidden places. If you have extremely valuable items, you may keep them in a safe at your local bank.
You can’t ignore such measures and expect burglars to stay away from your home. This is the world we live in and we have to adapt to it the best we can. One of these adaptation measured is to secure our home as well as we can against all robbery. Not even the best home security tips won’t guarantee you 100% security, but at least they are going to decrease the risk of getting robbed of your most valuable assets.
Last but not least, you can consider getting a home insurance policy that includes the situation of getting robbed. If this happens, at least you are going to get some money and buy again some of the stolen items. Nonetheless, if you lose items with sentimental value, it’s going to be very hard for you, as those can’t be replaced that easily. This is why it makes sense to learn about the best home security tips and apply them as soon as possible.