Having someone break into your home is certainly not a pleasant idea. I live in a lovely area, with great neighbours (I’ve just moved and the community feel is phenomenal). I’d like to think that we are immune in this lovely place from criminal activity however you just never know. Making sure that you secure your home should be at the top of your list of priorities, whether you’ve just moved or not. People forget that house alarms that are present when you move in have the same password or code as the previous owner or tenant. Consider changing this asap or upgrading to something more suited to your needs.
At best, someone breaking into your home is likely to mean that you get cleaned out, and lose a lot of valuable belongings, and are forced to contend with the resulting financial struggle.
At worst, a break-in becomes a home invasion, and you or your loved ones are caught unawares.
Here are just a few basic ideas for how to secure your home, if you’ve recently been thinking about the fact that you need to do it, but aren’t really sure where to start.
Secure Your Home With Smart Tech
In the last few years, “smart technology” has exploded in popularity and sophistication, particularly in regards to the home. Many people, for example, adjust the lighting in their homes and set the thermostat via apps on their phones, now.
Of course, home security wasn’t left out of the smart tech boom. You can now buy outdoor security cameras to protect your property, that are integrated into doorknobs, and that send alerts and video clips to your phone, among other things.
There are plenty of different smart tech devices out there for home security – do a bit of searching online, and try to identify the tools that most appeal to you, and that seem like they’d be most useful. Our secure your home campaign already has this box ticked as we have a swanky security system installed. That doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels though!
Secure Your Home: Be Discreet
Put up net curtains for during the daytime, and thick blackout curtains at night. This is a very basic tip, but a surprising number of people, particularly in small and relatively peaceful communities, don’t observe it.
Here’s a pretty straightforward fact: if someone has it in their mind to rob a home, they are going to be significantly more inclined to rob your home, if they can easily peer through your windows from half a mile away, and identify every valuable possession you have.
As a general rule, you want to make it very difficult for people to effectively “case” your home, and see what you have inside.
For one thing, that means you should put up net curtains to obscure the view into your house during the day, and have thick blackout curtains that you can draw at night, to keep things invisible.
Don’t Advertise an Empty House
When you go away on vacation – or even just for an evening or weekend – you should make it as ambiguous as possible to anyone who might be watching, whether or not you’ve actually left.
If you post on social media that you are on your way out/on your holidays, you’re sending a pretty clear signal to anyone who might be watching that the coast is clear. Post your holiday pics when you get home! If possible, try to be a bit more discreet, and use timers to switch your lights on at regular intervals, so it looks like someone might be home.
In Conclusion
I love our home, despite only living in it for a relatively short time. The idea of someone breaking in horrifies me and so we have taken extra special measure to ensure that we are secure and that we feel safe and secure too. If you don’t feel the same way it might be a good time to review your home security measures and take steps to secure your home to a higher level.
