Although any homeowner can benefit from a well-thought-out security plan, many fail to give their home’s safety adequate consideration. Knowing how to secure your home starts with a good education on the topic. Continue reading to learn all the different ways to help safely secure your home.

Do you have an outside dog? They may provide you with a useful place to hide your key. Stash the key on the pup’s collar to keep it out of sight. If your dog does not like strangers, this can help ensure consistent access to the house.

Hide your spare key in a place where no one would think to look for it. You don’t want to put them in common spots, such as above the frame of the door or under the doormat. Instead, try hiding a key on the collar of an outside dog.

The best home security systems do much more than sound the alarm (literally). Modern systems are often capable of detecting any open door or window and announcing that fact. This isn’t just for burglars; parents with young children can also use it as a valuable tool to know when their child has come inside.

Don’t let people into your house that you don’t know. No matter how innocent a person may seem or how interesting the product he or she may be offering, you must not allow access. Even home security representatives could be intruders who want to check the kind of protection you have.

Your friends may have some great advice for choosing the right company. Your loved ones likely have dealt with this situation before. Therefore, ask everyone you can in order to obtain the most advice. With thorough advice, the best decision can be made.

Secure your garage. It is possible for an intruder to get in the garage and then gain access to the house; however, you can do something about it. If the garage door lifts via a track, you can use a C-clamp to stop your door from opening at the hands of intruders.

Turn the ringers off on all your phones if you will be away for a prolonged period of time. This is because a phone that is ringing and ringing can tip of a burglar that nobody is currently home.

Be sure to keep your car in your garage rather than filling your garage with stored belongings. In this way, your car will be safer. Keeping your car inside will deter thieves from stealing or vandalizing it. Additionally, if your car is put away, burglars will not be able to tell whether or not you are home.

Eliminate dead vegetation and rotting wood from the yard each summer. These can pose a fire hazard due to heat and storms with lightning. Regularly clear away your yard to keep your home in good standing and safe for your family.

Motion sensor lights on the exterior of your home is a great idea. These lights will turn on if anyone walks too closely to your home. These lights will not only let you know when someone gets too close, they will also stop potential burglars from breaking in. After all, burglars don’t want anyone to know they are there. However, make sure to put in fresh bulbs every now and then.

The police department in your area may offer a home protection program. Many police departments offer programs that can include home inspections, home security training and more. Discuss the possibility of this sort of program with your police department.

Alter the combination of the locks in your home. Not everyone who leaves your house will leave happy, and a fresh set of locks will protect you from both former residents and acquaintances of your own looking to cause mischief. It is not expensive and you can do it in less than a day.

When dealing with companies that install home security systems, it’s important to trust your gut. This is especially important when it comes to the company employees who will be installing your system. If you simply are not comfortable with a company’s technician, request for another technician or simply hire another company. Do some background research on the company you select, and look for people who make you feel safe.

Understand certain safety precautions when it comes to having skylights for your home. Skylights are a wonderful addition to any home, but they also tend to be weak spots that intruders take advantage of. Keep them secure with heavy duty hardware that closes them off to potential thieves.

Hide your valuables in the walls. If you need to protect expensive items in your home, put them inside the walls. Any phone jack or electrical outlet that isn’t being used is a great place to hide valuables. If you use all of them, you can always have fake ones installed.

Be cognizant of what others can see when they look in your windows. Open curtains allow people to see inside your home and see exactly what you have. If your windows face a street, be sure they’re always covered and have your valuables safe.

Use your walls as hiding spaces. You don’t have to cut pieces out of the walls. Take a closer look at your walls and note just how many access points there are already. Why not take the guts out of an electrical socket you’re not using? You can convert it into a convenient and covert little wall safe.

Be sure to replace all of the old locks as soon as you move into a new domicile. 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. Keep in mind that other families might have lived with them, too.

Keep your home security system’s wires under cover. Intruders can easily disable your home security system by cutting or unplugging the wires. Never make things easy for them. Ask the person installing it to bury the wires or hide them inside the walls. This makes it much less likely that your system will be compromised.

Home security is crucial and one thing that many people don’t know much about. Everyone should study it to find out how to stay safe. With any luck, the article above has given you some useful information about home security.

If you bought any expensive or large items, don’t throw the boxes out until the day trash is scheduled to be removed. Having these type of boxes hanging around will give robbers a good idea of what type of merchandise you have inside of your home.