You should definitely be concerned about your home’s security. You never know when someone is going to attempt to do you harm. Read this article if you want to make your house more secure.

You should only provide a house cleaner your key if you completely trust them. If you plan to give them a key so they can clean in your home while you are away, ensure they are reputable and honest. Read through their references very carefully, and don’t hesitate to follow up on their references to ensure they actually exist. If the person is an employee of a firm, call your local BBB to check their reputation.

Check around for prices, reputation, and reliability when choosing a home security provider. Prices vary quite a bit. Get quotes from several companies so that you can get the best price for your home security system.

Don’t post information about an upcoming vacation anywhere on the web. It’s great to see new places and take a lot of photos, but posting them while still overseas lets thieves know your home is empty.

If you like to have a key hidden in case you lose yours, place it in a safe place. Above doors or under doormats are much too common to hide them and potential criminals will check them first. Try hiding your key somewhere more unique, like your outside dog’s collar.

Store your car in the garage if you have it. Keeping the car in the garage can keep thieves from vandalizing or stealing it. Keeping your car out of sight is also a good way to prevent intruders from determining whether or not you are home.

If you have a stranger at your door, do not open it. People often think of ways to trick others into letting them in so they can steal from them. Enforce a rule within your house that no one opens the door to unexpected people.

Avoid coming across as overly shy. Talk to your neighbors. By knowing the people in your neighborhood, you can rest a little easier knowing that people are looking out for each other. Don’t ignore the gossip. While this is unorthodox, it may clue you into a possible home security threat.

Police Department

Walls can serve as a handy hiding place. You can hide small valuables inside the walls. Just take advantage of the phone jack, electrical outlet or unused switch plate. You can also just put in a false plate to cover a hiding place.

See what your local police department offers in terms of home protection programs. They often offer home inspections, seminars and even the ability to purchase items. Ask your police department to see if these types of programs are available.

You could hide some valuables within your walls. You don’t have to damage the walls to do so. Take a closer look at your walls and note just how many access points there are already. For instance, consider using an electricity socket that is unused, and stash your precious jewelry in there.

You should regularly check your home security system, regardless of how reliable you believe it is. Your security company should send a representative to check your system. Mother Nature and wild animals can also cause issues with your home security system. You might be unaware of problems that arise in some cases.

Do not place your spare keys under your mat or even in plant boxes. While it may seem like a convenient way to give you access to your home, intruders are aware of this practice. Burglars are well aware of such hiding places. Rather, give the key to a neighbor to hold.

Get to know your neighbors. Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Watch out for their homes, and ask them to do the same for you. Don’t discount what sounds like idle gossip. This might provide you with some valuable information, at times related to security, including information about potential strangers who you might not want near your home.

It is important that you do not put expensive valuables in plain sight. If you have big windows near your big entertainment system, it can seem like an invitation to thieves. Always keep your windows covered and do not tempt others by displaying your possessions.

An extremely important tactic for keeping your home safe is changing out the locks. Perhaps you aren’t sure who owned the home before you or maybe an old roommate has a key and never returned it. Regardless, changing the locks will ensure your security. This doesn’t usually cost much, and it can be accomplished in less than a day.

Always lock your home when you leave it, no matter how soon you plan to return. In a lot of cases, home intruders enter through unlocked doors. A burglar can steal a lot of expensive stuff in a short amount of time.

Lock up your house every time you leave. Break-ins are often the result of unlocked windows and doors. Thieves can make off with large amounts of valuable merchandise very quickly.

When moving into your new house, change every lock. While the person that previously had the home may seem okay, you don’t know who they actually are. If the previous owners have never changed the locks, there could be people out there who owned the house before them and still have keys to your house.

When in the process of selecting an alarm system, you should select a system that protects more than simply the doors of your home. Burglars can gain entry through your windows as well. Each point of entry for your home should be monitored by the system. This is the pinnacle of safety.

If your home isn’t new, replace the locks. Even though the previous tenant may have turned in their key, you never know if they have a copy. It’s easy to install locks, so you can just purchase them at the home improvement store and swap them out to be sure you have the only keys.

Motion Detectors

Before you let anyone go into your home, look at their references thoroughly. A background check may also be a good idea. You might not know that the maid or contractor entering your home is a crook, and this could be a very bad mistake.

If you wish to boot your home’s security, one cheap way to do this is to buy exterior lights with motion detectors. These lights provide extra light for your home and are very cost efficient. With good positioning and properly set motion detectors, intruders will not be able to sneak up on your home unnoticed.

As you work on your home’s landscape, don’t forget about safety. Make sure that the doors and windows to your home are not covered by trees, fences, shrubs or any other type of thing. If windows and doors can be easily seen from all areas, then burglars cannot hide as well, which will hinder their plans. Put these features at a greater distance from your house; let beauty also complement safety.

Ask the home security company about how long they’ve been running prior to signing up. Companies in business for many years engender great confidence and trust. It can ease your mind when you know you’re not doing business with a company that might not be around tomorrow.

Be sure and keep the outside of your house well lit. Criminals love darkness to help mask their crimes. Add lights to any areas you believe are potential entry points for burglars. Don’t forget that this includes ground-level windows as well as doors, garages, and porches.

Light up your home’s exterior. Criminals love darkness to help mask their crimes. Motion sensor lights can work great because they can also alert you when someone does come onto the property. Over doors, near windows and especially your back yard need to be lit.

What do you need to personally feel safe? Some systems aren’t necessary for some, while others may have a need for them. Some neighborhoods may do better with self-defense classes or having a dog, while others may require the best home security technology you can get. You need to assess risks and choose a system adapted to the kind of situations you are likely to run into.

If you plan to be away and you have another person collecting your mail, have them double check your front door for fliers. Burglars sometimes place fliers as a means to see if anyone is home to remove them. If the flier is not removed, it’s easy for a burglar to suspect that the owner is away.

Arrange for someone to pick up your mail and remove any fliers from your door if you are out of town. This is a way people who are casing out your house can tell whether you are home or not. If the flier stays in place, the burglar knows that the homeowner is out on vacation.

If you purchase a new TV or computer, don’t leave empty boxes from your purchases on the curb. Burglars pay attention to this, and it will make them want to break in and get the items. After removing the contents from these boxes, tear or cut them up.

Make sure the inside of your garage isn’t visible. Use frosted, adhesive backed plastic to cover the windows. You can purchase this at a home improvement store. Also, don’t leave your door open for long periods of time when you work there.

Are the numbers of your home visible from the street? If your house numbers are not easy to see, the police may have difficulty finding you in an emergency. Fortunately, the solution to this is quick, easy and rather cheap once you are aware of the need.

Secure valuables that are truly irreplaceable. Some examples include legal documents, expensive jewelry, financial records, passports and family pictures. You may want to invest in a floor safe for these. If you can, a safety deposit box that is outside your home is even better.

Instead of praying that nothing bad would happen to you, try to look at it in a very realistic sense. You want to be prepared for anything that could happen. Make your family and home safe by applying what you’ve learned.

Go through a company to buy your security system. Middlemen tack on extra charges and offer very little in the way of guarantees. The manufacturer will give you a good deal and ensure your device works as it should.