Keeping Your Home Safe
Every year hundreds of thousands of homes throughout the United States experience break-ins. Your home should be a place where you feel protected, but a single incident can shatter your safety and peace. Here are tips to improve home security and keep your family and belongings safe.
Use an Alarm System
There are different types of alarm systems to boost security at your house. Some plans require you to pay a monthly fee or have a long-term contract, but others don’t. If you want flexibility, choose an alarm system that can be accessed via your smartphone for easy activation and monitoring while you’re away.
Hide Valuables to Improve Home Security
Keep valuables out of sight to improve home security, particularly at night. Leaving the living room curtains open displays your big-screen television to the neighborhood. This could tempt a thief who is passing by.
Close the curtains in the evenings and make sure jewelry, video game systems, televisions, computers, and collectibles are out of sight from the exterior of your home.
Lock the Shed and Garage
Burglars know that garages and sheds might contain valuable property, like tools and lawn equipment. These storage spaces are an appealing target if your house is otherwise well secured. To improve security, make sure the shed and garage have sturdy locks. Secure these areas whenever you are not actively using them.
Don’t Hide Keys to Improve Home Security
There are different types of hide-a-key devices, and there’s a good chance that if you know of them, so do criminals. Never leave an extra house key hidden in the bushes, under the doormat, or in a fake rock beside the welcome mat.
If you need to place a spare key outside, use a locked container mounted to the house that requires a code to open. Better yet, replace your keyed lock with a smart lock that requires a security code to gain access to your home.
Install Motion-Activated Lights
If you want an affordable way to improve security, install motion-activated lights on the side of your home and in the backyard. Carefully calibrate them to make sure they turn on for humans but don’t flicker on every time a squirrel or bird runs by. These lights help deter criminals from lingering around your home, and sometimes that is all it takes to get them to move on.
360 Home Inspections offers home inspections throughout Northern New Jersey. Contact us to book an appointment.