The security of your home should be a major priority. No matter where you live or in what circumstances, you could be the victim of a burglary.
Anyone can. Not to be too dramatic, but no home is entirely safe. The best case scenario is to have several well-thought out and reputable security measures in place.
Firstly, there are some obvious things that you can do to enhance security. Alarm systems are a must-have.
There’s some great home cameras you can get and there are technological advancements such as smart doorbells and smart locks available these days too.
Before you do anything else, you should look into getting a good security system that’s within your budget. You could get some ideas from this rundown of the best home security systems.
It’s better to be safe than sorry too though, and there are some more lesser-know measures you can take too.
Here’s 5 security tips that you may not have thought of before:
- Keep Your Property Tidy
A garden that’s strewn with discarded objects, tools and just general untidiness is a pretty inviting sight for burglars.
In a lot of cases, they aren’t actually coming prepared for a well-planned, careful break-in, and they probably won’t have a lot of equipment at their disposal.
If you don’t keep for driveway and your backyard free of clutter, you are actually offering a potential burglar things that could help them break into your house.
Many people will keep certain things handy down the side passage of their house such as garden tools and children’s outdoor toys, and these could be used to break windows or locks.
The biggest offense would be to leave a ladder in your back garden. This would make it very easy for a burglar to get through an upstairs window, which people don’t prioritize.
A house with less stuff abandoned on the property is going to be less of a target for a burglar, so keep the place clean, lock up anything that they could use.
- Remove Potential Hiding Places
Examine your property and take note of anywhere that someone might be able to hide. Someone could sneak onto the property and wait around until the house is empty.
There’s various places that are easy hiding places for people. Your bushes should be the first priority. Always keep them trimmed back so that they’re too small for people to keep cover in.
And if you like having bigger bushes in your garden, you could always just make sure that they’re thorn bushes.
Try and find anywhere on your property that is darker. It’s good to have lights around your house that will activate at night and you should take extra precautions for concealed areas.
A good idea is to get some motion sensors. Space them around the garden so that any movement will be detected. Even darker areas won’t be safe for lurking.
And on the subject of hiding places, you should find places in your home to hide your valuables in case a burglar actually does manage to get in.
This will also work to ensure that your valuables aren’t in plain view through the windows which would also make your house appealing to a thief.
- Decoy Security
Here’s the thing about high quality security. It does tend to be pretty costly. Especially the best stuff on the market right now. That’s not gonna come cheap.
And while I think you should make security a monetary priority, it’s just not realistic to expect everyone to be able to shell out for the big stuff.
But you can trick people into thinking that you have it. You may have noticed that some home protected with advanced security will have signs or stickers to indicate said protection.
You could just get your hands on these stickers. Ask around from your more well-off neighbours and see if they have any spare ones.
You could also get yourself a dummy CCTV camera. They come pretty cheap because they’re not actually cameras, they just look like cameras.
But a burglar won’t be able to tell the difference. Stick one of these on the front of your house and they’ll just assume that the place is monitored.
- Use Interior Door Hinges
If the hinges of your door are visible and accessible from the outside, they can be tampered with or removed.
Breaking windows is always going to cause some noise and probably result in a reaction from somewhere.
A burglar doesn’t want to have to break a window, and if it’s possible for them to get in through the front door then they will take that option.
They could try and break or pick the lock, but they may also have practiced removing hinges so that they can pull the door straight out of it’s frame.
I would suggest switching any exterior hinges on any door that leads outside for interior ones. It’s just another potential entry point that you can eliminate.
- Keep Your Mailbox Empty
This is a much lower maintenance tip but it is an effective method of deterring people. A mailbox that’s packed indicates an extended period where no one is home.
Now chances are that you will empty your mailbox pretty much every day anyway, but you should take measures to make sure that it stays empty even when you’re not home.
If you are going away for longer than a couple of days, ask a neighbour or a family member to empty the mailbox for you.
People generally remember to keep lights on to try and trick burglars into believing that they’re home when they’re not, but the mailbox often goes unattended.
It will probably be the first place that a burglar looks when they’re scoping out potential targets so make sure you keep on top of this one.
Conclusion
Home security is of paramount importance for you and your family. If you plan ahead and are aware of the common mistakes people make, you can stay a few steps ahead of burglars.
