Many security articles focus on obvious steps to protect against home burglars, such as installing alarm systems. But there are also ways to keep your property safe by avoiding specific actions. Here are 10 things you can do to ensure you aren’t inviting the bad actors to your home.
Don’t make it easy for home burglars.
In addition to installing a monitored alarm system, simple prevention goes a long way. There are several practices you can follow that will encourage home burglars to move on.
10 preventative steps to protect your home:
- Don’t hide a house key outside, especially in easy-to-guess places like under the doormat or in the mailbox. Believe it or not, some people think that no burglar would consider looking in those places. Really.
- Keep shrubs cut low enough to reduce cover that burglars could use during a break-in.
- Say no to on-all-night flood lights, and put them on motion detectors instead. These lights deter prowlers while reducing electricity costs.
- Outdoor cameras should be positioned to avoid blind spots near bushes, trees, and outdoor structures.
- Don’t leave window shades and blinds open at night, as they reveal your expensive home theater electronics or other valuables. Thieves could case your home from the street at night, then return during the day when you’re away at work.
- Don’t leave a ladder outside, even in the backyard, where a thief can use it to climb to an upstairs window.
- Lock upstairs windows. Don’t assume a burglar won’t try to access them.
- When you get that new big-screen TV, don’t put the box at the curb beside the trash bin. You may as well say, “Come and get it!” Cut the box into smaller pieces and place them in the bin.
- Wait to post your vacation beach photos on social media until after you return. Or set your page to “private.”
- Eliminate most paper mail by switching to electronic statements. Otherwise, notify the post office to hold your mail while you are gone, or have a neighbor clear your box a couple of times during your week away.
Related – How to Increase Your Home’s Security
