Best Home Security Tips

The best home security tips –  actually there is no best or worst

Remember, all the tips are good, and implement as many as you can to have the peace of mind of a safe home. My advice to you is to start with the ones that are free. Below I will give you my favorite tips for daytime and nighttime home safety.

 

Daytime Home Security Tips:

1. Pick up your mail

We all know the feeling: “I’ll pick it up tomorrow…” You have other things to deal with, who cares about junk mail anyway?

The bad guys do!

They know when the mailman or the front door advertisers are going around the neighborhood. Rest assured, they will not bother you at that time. Instead, they will come before or come one day later.

But why is that?

It’s simple: if you still have mail or ads you haven’t picked up showing in your mailbox,  somebody will be more interested in your home to break in, because it sends the signal that you are not home.

2. Mow the lawn. It shows that somebody lives there and is taking care of the house

3. Pick up your garbage bins after the garbage was collected or at least in the same day.

Picture this scenario: You pick up the kids from school, go to training/classes, you pick up your wife, go to have a fast food dinner, have a late game with one of the kids, coming home super late… You are thinking  “I will pull in the garbage bins tomorrow morning”. In the morning your kid drops a glass of juice on himself, you clean the table, chair, change the kid…now you’re late to work.. .“everybody in the car, go, go, go”, you leave the house, drop the kids off, drop the wife off…

When you come back home you find out your front door open, lock broken, your heart is starting to beat faster… Somebody broke into your house.

Why?

Because this is one of the best home security tips. Look around the street. You are the only one that left the empty garbage containers out one day after the pick-up day. What message does that send to the burglars? That they are welcome in your home because maybe you are away on vacation.

4. Put out the garbage bins on pick up day.

See the comment above. You don’t want to show that your house is the only one without garbage bins outside. See Vacation tips – coming soon

5. Cut your bushes and trees.

The lawn can be mown by a neighbor kid, but the tree and the bushes generally are cut by the owner or contractor. If they are not cut, may seem that nobody has been living there. Remember: the burglars are watching the houses for a while before they break in. If they think you’re on vacation – you may just be an unlucky person.

6. Try not to have too many bushes and trees with low branches close to your house.

On the main page you can see the tree to the right of the house. This is a perfect hiding spot for burglars. The bushes and trees serve as the perfect camouflage to get in the house.

7. Last but not least: get to know your neighbors.

It’s important to have a good relationship with them and to exchange emails and phone numbers, so that you can notify each other if something seems off.

Nighttime Home Safety Tips

1. Switch the exterior light on. You show that somebody is home and you make more light for the walkways, you contribute to the safety of the neighborhood. Install timer switch for outside lights.

2. Draw your blinds and curtains, nobody should see what is in your home, whether you are alone, or whether you are or you are not at home.

3. Don’t have too many bushes close to your house, as these will be a perfect hiding spot for the burglars, the bushes and shadows will cover their movement to get in the house.

4. Know what is making noise in your house, who is a night owl or what an early bird ‘s schedule is. If you wake up and you are surprised by an unusual noise, it may mean something is wrong, because you don’t recognize the patterns (oh well…let’s face it: it may also be your teenager sneaking in with the boyfriend/girlfriend)

5. Put a night light close to some of the windows, or have a TV running , to show outsiders that somebody is in the house.How about when you’re away from home for a late party? Case study coming soon.

6. The remote control should not be left in the car if you leave your vehicle outside for the night. Somebody may just break in your car to steal small stuff, but if they are able to open the garage door, you may have a bigger problem.

7. Don’t forget the heavy tools outside during the night (shovels, hammers), those tools can be used to break in.

8. See if Neighborhood Watch is set up in your area and get in touch with your Area Coordinator.

 

Case study:  It’s that time of the year when outside it’s getting dark around 7-8PM. Let’s say you don’t have a babysitter and you drop off the kids with a neighbor or a relative, and go to the party with your spouse. People are getting the kids ready for bed and preparing for next day. When it’s getting dark, a car is at the end of the street or somewhere else close by and nobody knows why. You are dressed nice, your partner the same. If you’re out for a movie night you may be out 2-3 hours, 4-6 hours for a birthday party, or 6-8 hours for party night. For the thieves to get in your home and steal most of your valuable belongings it only takes as little as up to 30 minutes max.

There is good news:

You can discourage burglars by leaving the light on, for instance. Better safe than sorry! Don’t give thieves the opportunity and save yourself a lot of headache by following these easy and cheap home security tips.