How to Make it Easier for a Burglar to Steal from Your Home
If you leave the shed door open where you keep your ladder or you leave items with leverage lying around your yard, you gave the burglar one of the main things he needs to get into the house. All a burglar needs to sneak into an upstairs window is a ladder or something else to give him a boost.
Leave windows open, with or without a screen, when you’re not in the room. It’s an open invitation to a burglar. If you’re upstairs and the window is open downstairs, the burglar can cut the screen, push up the window and make his way inside. If you really want to leave a window open, make sure that it is open in the room that you’re in and it is a window that is far enough off the ground from the outside.
Leave doors open or unlocked. It’s so much easier for a burglar to be able to walk right through an unlocked door then to have to climb through a window. Lock the doors, even when you’re home. If someone you know has to come into the house, they can ring the bell if they don’t have a key.
Leave your house alarm off whether you’re out of your house or you’re inside your home. It’s much easier for the burglar to walk in unnoticed if the alarm doesn’t go off. Even if you’re home, set the house alarm to still protect the windows. If you run out or are somewhere in the house, make sure to put the house alarm on even if the door is locked.
Leave a key right where the burglar can find it and it will take him an even shorter time to get into your home. Many people leave a little statue or a fake rock in front or very near their front door and think that a burglar won’t pick it up to see if there’s a key underneath. Another popular place is to leave it under the welcome mat. Don’t bother leaving a spare key anywhere around your home, leave it with someone you know and trust. If you absolutely have to keep a spare key near your home, put it in a well sealed bag and bury it. Just make sure you remember where you put it.
When you go away on vacation, don’t have the mail and newspapers picked up. This gives the burglar a giant sign that someone has been away for a few days. If you’re going away, have someone you trust pick up the mail and newspapers.
Have locks directly where they can be reached if a glass window is broken. When a burglar wants to get into your home, all he has to do is punch the glass in the door, reach his hand inside and unlock the door. If you have doors with glass in them, have multiple locks on them, including a strong lock that cannot be reached if the glass gets broken.
Leave all blinds and curtains open. When you’re not home or in another room it’s much easier for a burglar to see what your inventory is ahead of time. Instead of leaving blinds and curtains open, keep them closed when someone isn’t in the room. Burglars are more tempted to break in if they see something that they absolutely want.
Have no lights set up outside of your house, just leave it pitch black. If a burglar wears dark colors, he can blend right in. Go for motion sensor lights or put the lights on a timer.
If you have a basement that has outside access, such as a window or a door, don’t lock that window, the door or the door that leads into the house. It’s easy for a burglar to hide in your basement until you leave the house or until you go to sleep. If you have an alarm, make sure that it protects all outside access into the basement and also protects the door that leads into the house. Also make sure to have locks on the windows and the doors that cannot easily be broken. The same goes for a garage door. Make sure to protect it with an alarm as well as the door that leads into the house.
Put a tree close to the windows of the house. All a burglar has to do is climb up and right on in. Make sure all of the branches are away from the house if you happen to have a tree on your property.
Keep all of your valuables in your bedroom or in the freezer. The two places that most people hide their valuables are the places that burglars go right to. Instead of having your valuables and piles of cash in the house, keep it in a safe deposit box. If you absolutely do not want to, find a much better hiding spot in your house then the places listed above, preferably in a very hidden, strong and heavy safe.
Keeping your home safe can be quite easy once you get into the habit of doing small preventable measures. Even if you live in a small, quite and uneventful town you never know what can happen. Don’t live in fear that something in happen, just be aware and cautious.
