Home security is vital to many, but too many people don’t understand it well enough. Therefore, the best method of keeping your home safe is by educating yourself on the matter. Continue reading in order to find great stuff on how to assure your safety.

Your dog can keep your spare house key for you. But, this is only effective if your home has a pet door or your dog stays outdoors when you are not home. Just hide a spare house key on the inside of your dog’s collar. Then when you need an extra key, you will be able to access this one.

After you buy your new house, get new locks. The previous owners or tenants might have made several copies of the key. Contact a locksmith to make sure that only you have access to your home. Also, if you lose your keys, change the locks.

Change the locks after buying a new house. There is no telling how many key copies were made and given out by a previous owner. Hire a locksmith so that you can be sure you are the only person who can access your home. This is also the thing to do if you lose the keys.

Do you keep your dog outdoors when you are away from home? If so, you can use your dog to hide your spare key. Put it on your dog’s collar, making sure it is hidden. If your dog doesn’t like strangers, it’s even better.

Does your dog like to play in your yard? He or she is actually a great place to store your spare key. Put it on your dog’s collar, making sure it is hidden. This is especially useful if the dog does not take kindly to strangers.

Secure your garage. Lots of folks are concerned about burglars gaining access to the garage and then the home, but this can be addressed. You can use a C-clamp to secure the door and prevent it from being opened by strangers.

Police Department

If your home has a lot of valuable items inside, then you need to purchase a safe so that all of these items can be kept in a single location. This is vital if you don’t want diamonds, gold or other personal items exposed to a home intruder. The safe should be kept hidden in a basement or attic.

See if your local police department offers any home inspection or other protection programs. Home inspections or engraving identifiers can help protect you. If your police department does not offer these programs, find a private security company.

You can hide certain valuables within your walls. You don’t have to cut pieces out of the walls. Many areas in your house are already accessible for this purpose. Unused electrical sockets can be great for hiding expensive jewelry.

Buy fire resistant roofing, flooring and ceiling materials. This ensures your home won’t be a tinderbox. Fire prevention is paramount.

Always lock your house, even if you are only going to be away for a few minutes. In a lot of cases, home intruders enter through unlocked doors. Once a thief is inside, he can steal a lot of valuables in a short amount of time.

You need flashlights and plenty of batteries in each room just in case your power ever goes out. If the power goes out, you will be able to see everything. Train kids how to use the flashlights so that everyone may contribute.

Social networking sites are great for keeping in touch, but post information sparingly. For example, you might avoid broadcasting when you are going out of town, especially if your friends list contains casual acquaintances. Although you may want to let others in on your excitement, it may inadvertently give burglars a heads up to target your property.

Before you let security company representatives into your home, check their ID. You would be surprised how many thieves will impersonate security representatives to get into your house. This represents a danger to your possessions and your family. Be very careful with who you let into your home.

Don’t let anyone in your house without knowing their work history and checking their references. A background check which includes any criminal history is warranted. You never know if the maid, repairman or contractor you hire is on the up and up, and letting them in or giving them a key could be a fatal mistake.

Get advice from loved ones about home security systems. They probably have both positive and negative things to tell you, and those comments will help you make your own decision. Be sure you seek out advice by asking those people.

Having your house lit up during the night is a good way to scare intruders. Most burglars rely on concealment to approach a home. If you have your home lit up, then you have made it hard for burglars to hide and rob your home. Keep your home lit up all night long.

Always enlist the powers of online research to help you make a smart choice when it comes to home security companies. Check out reviews you find on the web. After narrowing down your top five choices, you can then take the next step by contacting each one.

You should mute your land line phone if you are going on a vacation. A constantly ringing phone can signal to a burglar that the house is vacant, making it an easy target for their criminal activities.

Request that prospective security firms design a system specifically for your home. The needs and wants of each family and the configuration of each home are quite individual. You will get the best home security system possible if you use a service willing to work with you to create a tailored system.

Most people know that home security is vital to the protection of the home and family. Surprisingly, though, very few people are aware of the steps that must be taken to protect their home and valuables. Hopefully, there is some information in the article that will keep your home safe around the clock.

Hide your valuables in the walls. This is a great way to hide jewelry, for example. Simply take advantage of an unused switch plate, electrical outlet, or phone jack. If you have no unused plates, you can easily install false ones.