At the comfort of your own home, it is sometimes easy to disregard the possibility of an intruder breaking in to take some of your costly items. However, it is important to take note that burglars, nowadays, see regular homes as an opportunity to cash in. And it will only take a few minutes for a determined burglar to gain entry to your house, even if it is in broad daylight.
Of course, you do not want to put yourself and your family’s life at risk nor would you want your hard-earned belongings to be taken away. As such, it is well worth doing some upgrades to your home to deter opportunist intruders. The cost and effort may be pricey upfront, but it is relatively small compared with the expense of losing valuable items or having your family harmed.
Light it up
A home that is well lit is less likely to be the target of a break-in. Hence, make sure that the exterior of your home is illuminated properly with motion-detector light fixtures. It will also be wise to outfit your interior lights with timers, so that if you have to go out at night, the lights will leave an impression that somebody is at home.
Avoid leaving your landscape unkempt
Tall trees and dense bushes serve as perfect hiding places for intruders. To avoid the burglars out, always keep the trees and bushes on your lawn trimmed. It would also be wise to keep potted plants off your windows’ view so that you will be able to see if there are people approaching your property.
Secure all possible entry points
Keep in mind that there are numerous points in and around your house where intruders can gain entry. These include but are not limited to front, back and side doors, skylights, and downstairs and upstairs windows. Beef up the security of these entry points by installing new hardware on them such as a high quality entry lockset and deadbolt locks for doors as well as sash locks and security bars on all windows.
For skylights, which are at roof level, make sure that they are properly locked and avoid placing ladders on the outside of your house or garage as these can be used by burglars to access the roof and skylights of your home.
Invest on home security systems
There are numerous inexpensive yet premium quality home security systems available in the market today including motion detectors and easy-to-install break-in sensors, driveway alarms and wireless network cameras just to name a few. Invest on these items to protect your home. If you have pets that could set off false alarms, go for systems that are “pet-immune.”
Keep your keys secured
If you have spare keys, it will be preferable if you carry them with you at all times instead of hiding them in some “covert” areas outside of your home. Likewise, be mindful about issuing keys because you will never know what paths or situations they may encounter, risking the possibility of duplication.