There’s no place like home, especially when it comes to safety. You should feel the safest where you are the most vulnerable, but sometimes homeowners leave “Welcome Beacons” for unwanted activity in and around their home.
There are certain steps to take to ensure that your home is safe and secure whether you’re in or out of it.
Don’t Leave Spare Keys Outside
Homeowners often leave spare keys under plants or doormats in case of emergencies. Intruders know this and will often search the area for keys. Instead of leaving a key outside, give keys to people you trust the most. That way they can access your house at any time when you need them to, but you’re not unintentionally giving access to anyone and everyone.
Install a Smart Doorbell.
Installing a smart doorbell complete with camera allows you to instantly see who is at your door via any mobile device. You can “answer” the door from your phone so that visitors will think you’re at home, even when you are miles away. Most intruders want to avoid an occupied house, and will often move on if they think someone is present. Plus, this will let you see who is at the door so you can open it or ignore if you’re not expecting anyone. Here’s a list of some of the market’s top smart doorbells.
Hide Valuables in Unexpected Places
If intruders do break in, they most likely will head straight for the living room for electronics, and for bedrooms to find valuable jewelry. Hide jewelry and valuable keepsakes in places other jewelry boxes or on top of your dresser when you leave. Good and uncommon of places to hide valuables can be in socks in the back of drawers, in shoeboxes in the closet, and in pantries or laundry rooms. If you have children, hide items in their bedroom. It’s been shown that thieves often avoid children’s bedrooms, as the more valuable items will most likely be in the master bedroom. In fact, the master bedroom is the first room targeted in most break-ins.
Nix the Social Media
Okay, not forever, just temporarily! The fastest way for people to know you’re not at home for days on end is to post while on vacation. Save the sharing for when you get back home.
Install Cameras In Your House
Aside from installing a camera at the front door, install cameras in your house and make them visible. If a thief knows they are being recorded and potentially identified, they will think twice. The whole point of doing it while you’re out is to not get caught, right?
Although you should feel safest at your house, you need to always keep your guard up. Do you have any safety tips you’d like to add? Share with us in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.