It is up to you to keep your home safe and secure and you should do everything you can to protect it. While you might think that getting an alarm is all you need, think again. There are many things you can do to make your house secure. Read on to find out how to secure your house.

After you purchase a new home, change the locks. You don’t know how many keys have been handed out previously. You want to be sure that you’re the only one with a key. Give a key to someone you trust in case you get locked out.

Make your home look occupied at all times. You can buy timers to have radios, TVs, lights and other electronics go off and on at different times. This will make your home look like someone is in it. This is a simple way to give people up to no good think that you are home.

You should mute your land line phone if you are going on a vacation. A constantly ringing phone lets thieves know that you are not home and could increase the chances of you getting robbed.

When looking for a system to secure your home, do comparison shopping. Prices can be very different from one product to another. Get three quotes or more before making a choice.

Make sure to clear your yard of brush and dead wood in the summertime. When summer heats up, such debris can catch fire. Keeping your plants and bushes trimmed will benefit your family’s safety as well as the appearance of your home.

Your flooring and roofing should be fire resistant. This will help you protect your home under all circumstances. Fire prevention is always a good idea, and sometimes it can be a lifesaving idea!

Put up motion activated lighting. The lights will be triggered when someone gets too close to the house. They help notify you of any movement around your house and deter burglars too. Don’t forget to replace the bulbs when they burn out.

Don’t talk about your vacations on social media. This can indicate that your home will be free and vulnerable during the time.

Change your locks if someone you don’t trust moves out of your home. Changing the locks will ensure that you are the only one who knows the combination. Changing locks is not very expensive and should be done within a few hours.

It’s a good idea to have motion sensor lights installed. These lights will come on if someone walks near your home. This is a good way of knowing who comes near your home and keeps you safe if you ever come home late. Make sure you regularly change the light bulbs to ensure they continue to work properly.

Skylights need to be secure, too. Skylights are nice to bring extra light into your house, but they are also easy ways for burglars to enter your home. Any skylights in your home should be secured with strong hardware.

Always change the locks if you have someone move out of your home. If you have boarders, former live-in partners, or others who once had access to your home, this is especially important. Changing the locks can typically be done very cheaply and quickly.

Your valuables should not be easily seen from outside your home. It is wise to invest in coverings for large windows that can give criminals a large view of your home. Windows facing the street need to be covered to keep inside possessions safe.

Be sure to secure the skylights to your home. Skylights are nice to bring extra light into your house, but they are also easy ways for burglars to enter your home. Skylights need to be installed correctly and safely, with hardware that will keep intruders out.

When you pick an alarm system, it’s a good idea to get one that provides protection for both doors and windows. It should protect the windows too. You want a security system that monitors all your windows and doors. This can keep your family much safer.

Walls can be a great hiding spot. If you have small valuables you want to protect, consider hiding them inside your walls. Just take advantage of the phone jack, electrical outlet or unused switch plate. If there are no unused plates, you can easily install fake ones.

Make sure the wires of your home security system are completely hidden. You do not want the wires exposed for easy manipulation. Make it hard for intruders and bury the wires or hide them inside your walls, if possible. This will make you much safer.

Always lock your home, even if you plan on coming back within a few minutes. It might shock you to learn that most break-ins occur due to unlocked doors. Once a thief is inside, he can steal a lot of valuables in a short amount of time.

When moving into a house, ensure that each lock has been replaced. You don’t really know the people you purchased the house from or all the folks they shared keys with, so don’t place too much trust in the old locks. Aside from that, other people lived in the home even before the ones from whom you purchased the home.

Are you aware of the value contained in your home’s wiring? People don’t realize this until it is stolen. The copper in the wiring is valuable and can be stripped off of the outside of the home in a relevantly short period of time. Make sure your wiring is hidden or hard to access to keep this valuable property safe.

Replace rotted wood around any door frames. It is simple for a robber to pry away rotting wood and enter your home. Wood that is beginning to rot should always be replaced to make sure your home stays safe.

Screen the references of anyone who would have access to your house. Run a criminal background check on them, as well. You can’t always be sure that maids, service workers or contractors are honest, and therefore giving out keys can be a big error.

Moving into an apartment or home that you’ve lived in should involve changing the locks first to maker them safer. Even if the tenants turned their keys in, they may have made copies. You might even purchase and install your own locks so that you are assured of having the only keys.

Always go over the small print on contracts offered by your home security company. Look out for hidden charges and surprises, especially if you need to cancel the contract early. Avoid nasty charges or fees regarding early termination, contract expiration and additional features or equipment.

Before you let anyone into your house, thoroughly check their references. It wouldn’t hurt to also perform a background check. You need to be very careful with the contractors, repairmen or maids you trust with being alone in your home.

In the event you find your door open upon arriving home, you should never enter and investigate yourself. This is very dangerous due to the fact that the thief can still be inside your property. It is best to call the police right away and go to a safe place until the police check your home.

Find out how long a company has been in operation before signing a home security contract. Companies that have been around for years have shown that they know the industry and that their services are reliable and great enough for recommendations. It will make you feel better knowing that the company you choose is not fly by night.

You should think about getting a home security system that is wireless. While the wired systems are less expensive, they usually mean rather intrusive wiring for your house, which can also go out during power outages. Wireless options are easy to install, need less maintenance and are not dependent on the home’s power source.

A wireless home security system could be just the option you are looking for. While wired systems may seem cheaper, they need your home to be rewired and they can fail due to a power outage. Wireless systems don’t need your home’s power in order to properly work. In addition, they can be usually be installed and maintained easier.

Are you able to see the numbers on your house from the street? The police will find it difficult to locate your home quickly if your address numbers are difficult to see. Just replace them if you need to.

Don’t use locks of the spring latch variety. These locks are easy to pick, and it can be done with an ordinary credit card. They can put the credit card in between the latch and door to open the lock. If you have already installed spring latch locks, consider adding a deadbolt for even more security.

After having read these tips, you should now feel much safer. While it may seem like this is all complicated and a bit of a hassle, it is absolutely necessary if you want to keep your family safe from harm. The excellent advice you have just read will help you in achieving this.

If you must hide your key outside, do not put it someplace obvious. It is easy to find fake rocks. Anyone looking for your key will look under your doormat. It’s best to ask a trusted friend or even a neighbor to hold the extra key. If you cannot do that, at least find an unusual place to hide the key.