Home maintenance starts with security. Knowing how to secure your home starts with a good education on the topic. Read on to learn more about making a great security plan to use for your own home.

You should always make sure your home looks like its occupied. Buy timers so that lights, radios, TVs and all other electronics turn on and off at various times. This way, it will appear that you are at home. This is great for keeping a home safer from burglaries.

Your dog can keep your spare house key for you. This will only be ideal if you have a dog door or an outdoor dog. Simply attach a spare key to your dog’s collar (in a secure and non-visible place, of course) so that you’ll be able to retrieve it if you need it.

Make sure the ringer on any phones in your home is turned off when you leave for vacation. This is because a phone that is ringing and ringing can tip of a burglar that nobody is currently home.

Changing the locks is a fundamental part of adding security to the home. Perhaps your roommate left town or you have gone through a messy divorce, and you need to feel that the home is safe. This doesn’t usually cost much, and it can be accomplished in less than a day.

Only give your house key to a professional house cleaner if you trust them. When giving your house cleaner the key to your home, you need to be sure that they are reputable and honest. Ask for references and check them thoroughly. If your cleaning person comes from a company, check with the BBB.

If you reside in a small town or rural area, then you might not be as worried about someone breaking into your home as city dwellers may be. On a different note, some people believe homeowners in more rural areas are more likely to experience robberies because of the lack of nearby neighbors. Still there are those that think that burglars are not as likely to target rural areas.

Don’t ever put your spare key under your doormat or in a planter. A key that is easily found is a convenience for a burglar, not just for you. Burglars are familiar with these hiding spots. A better option is to entrust an honest neighbor with a spare key.

Home security systems are able to do more than just sounding the alarm whenever you have an intruder. Many can be set for sounding their alarm if anyone enters. If you have little ones wandering about the house, this makes it easy for you to know if they have come in or gone out.

Whenever you move to a new dwelling, make certain to get each lock replaced. Regardless of how you feel about the sellers, you never know someone’s true intentions. Keep in mind that other families might have lived with them, too.

Are you aware of the value of your home’s wires? Often homeowners are unaware of this fact until they find that their wiring has been stolen. Experienced criminals can make a decent amount of money quickly by stripping copper wiring off of houses in order to sell it at a scrapyard. This is why the wiring should be hidden or difficult to get to.

Don’t make a habit of giving strangers access to your home. No matter how innocent a person may seem or how interesting the product he or she may be offering, you must not allow access. There are people that just want to go into your home to see if you’ve got a type of home security system, and if they see that you don’t, they’ll return when you’re not home.

Replace rotten wood near door frames. A burglar can easily strip away wood that has rotted. As a result, this will assist them in breaking into your home. Wood that is beginning to rot should always be replaced to make sure your home stays safe.

Your first priority when you move to an apartment or house where others have lived in before is to replace all the locks. The previous owners or tenants might have made some copies of the key. Find a reliable locksmith who can replace the locks or do it yourself.

If you have an attached garage, don’t forget to secure it as well. A lot of garage owners fret over burglars entering this way, but there are answers. Using a C-clamp on the garage door will prevent it from opening by staying on the door’s track.

Security Company Representatives

Before you let security company representatives into your home, check their ID. Thieves often pose as security company representatives in order to enter homes and look for valuables. This is dangerous for your family and your possessions. Be careful to avoid any potential dangers.

Even if you have a great security system, it must be checked annually. Ask the security company to send a technician out to give your system a thorough inspection. A number of factors can cause problems with your security system, including wild animals and mother nature. You may not even know there is a problem if it is not visible.

If you need to make the outside of your home secure, you can achieve this relatively inexpensively by installing lights with motion detectors. At night, the lights will keep things bright round the house, but they are also efficient and cost-effective ways to help your security. When they are positioned correctly, they make it pretty much impossible for intruders to get to your house unnoticed.

If you’re hiring a company for home security, be sure to read any fine print before you sign that contract. There may be hidden expenses involved if you terminate service before the contract term is up, and there may be added equipment fees. You should avoid such expenses if you can, so make yourself aware.

If you’ve got skylights, don’t forget about it when it comes to home security. Though skylights bring light into your home and look nice, it is also a very common way for burglars to get into your home. Be certain that skylights in your home can be locked securely.

If you do not already have a paper shredder, you may want to think about investing in one. You will be astonished at how burglars find important information from loose paper that they could use to break into your house. If a paper shredder is not in your budget, consider tearing your documents into tiny pieces or even burning them.

Anytime you make a new electronics purchase, keep the boxes off the curb until the very last minute. A burglar may see the box and decide to target you as a result. When you have emptied the boxes, make sure you cut them up.

Keep your home security system’s wires under cover. An intruder can cut the wires or disconnect them and avoid the system. This makes it much easier for a thief to get inside your home. Keep the wires protected. Your system will be far more effective this way.

Not everyone understands home security. If you are worried about the security of your home and loved ones, you must be concerned about this topic. The above article should be an excellent starting point for establishing your knowledge on home security.