10 Common Sense Tips to Keep Your Home Safe from Burglars
Make sure you lock and deadbolt all the doors and windows.
This may seem so simple you want to quit reading right there, but still hundreds of people forget to do it on a regular basis. If you have a computer room or a home office that has a lot of technical equipment, you may want to have the actual door to the room locked as well. Make certain the window is barred from the inside. The rule here; the more obstacles they have to circumvent the bigger the chances are they get discovered before they can break in.
If you are out for blood, then add a few razor blades at the window seals.
Please make sure you have no small kids, pets or other unaware people in your house. For such a measure you need to be certain that none of the household members can get hurt. It is nice and nasty surprise for the burglars however. Same works with electrical shockers attached to the window frames. You can shut them on and off from the inside, but not from the outside. The big challenge is not to forget about it your-self.
Put something underneath the window or in front of the window that will make a lot of noise if someone will try to get through uninvited. Wind Chimes, Potted Plants, a pretty collection with sharp upper points work well.
Unplug the automated garage door opener when you know you are not going to use it.
These days you can drive through the neighborhood and one opener will open several doors at the same frequency. If you are not using your garage to park your car in you may want to unplug your garage door.
Leave a light on in one of the rooms.
You can even go a bit further and set up a large adult sized cut out somewhere of in a distance. Make it appear as if the person is sitting and reading. Make sure it is not easily seen and only casts a shadow or the like. This will give the appearance you are home.
Leave the Radio or TV on.
By leaving something on that has noise and sounds as if you are at home, you may persuade the burglar to pick an easier target. Pick a Talk Radio show because of the actual conversational noises. Another thing you can do is let a recording of your voices looped endlessly play.
Never tell anyone when you are planning on leaving on a Vacation or Business Trip.
Only have a trusted friend stop by ever so often to remove advertisements and collect packages and other mail if needed.
Set the sprinkler system.
We all know that sprinklers can be set automatically, but by setting them at different times it appears as if you are doing it from inside the house.
Never get too routine when leaving and coming back.
Most Burglars don’t randomly break into a house. Most of the time they have scooped out a good location ahead of time with regards to quick entry and simple empting of the house. By being more or less unpredictable you will give them an incentive to look elsewhere.
Please don’t leave a spare key under the mat, in the mailbox or over the door frame.
Those locations are classical and are the first place someone will look. If you have to put a key in an open location place it somewhere nobody would think of. The most original place I have ever seen at a friends’ house was inside a hollowed out Garden Dwarf.
If you have a burglar system, don’t make the combination too obvious and don’t forget to set it.
Did you know that most of us always use the same data to set a password or security code? It is usually either a family member’s birthday or an anniversary. A better choice might be the numerical code of your favorite band. The day you got your first pet. A sum you want to save up by a certain date and change it frequently.
Of course there are many more ideas and I bet if you sit down and think about it you will come up with many more.
