To make educated decisions regarding the security of your home, you need to have a grasp on all the information available. Decisions in this area are too important to be taken lightly. You should instead educate yourself on how to provide the maximum security to your home. Continue reading to learn more.

Make sure your home appears occupied. You can purchase timers that can control your household electronics such as lights, TVs and radios. This will give the appearance that someone is at your house at all times. This helps you keep your house burglar-free.

Protect your spare key by using your dog. This will come in handy if your dog is outdoors most of the time or if it can go outside through a pet door. Place the alternative key on your dog’s collar in case of an emergency.

Do you allow your dog to stay in your yard while you are away? Use him or her to help hide your spare key! Put it on their collar. If you have a pet that does not trust strangers, this can help you get into your house if needed.

It is crucial that you change the locks as soon as you move into a new residence. There is no way to ascertain how many keys the previous owner handed out. Have a locksmith install a brand new lock. You should also have your locks changed if you lose your keys.

It’s important to comparison shop for alarm systems. Prices can be very different from one product to another. Be certain to obtain multiple quotes prior to making your choice.

You should only provide a house cleaner your key if you completely trust them. You should not let cleaners have your keys if you feel like you cannot trust them, or if they will be working in your home while you are away. Check the housekeeper’s references very carefully. If the cleaner has been sent by a company, call the Better Business Bureau to check on the company’s reputation.

If you want to have a spare key hidden outside of your home, hide it carefully. People will check your doormat and frame first. One idea is to hide your key inside the collar of your outdoor dog.

During the summer, remove all vegetation and dead wood from your yard. Due to the heat, these items in your yard are more likely to catch on fire. As a result, your home could be caught on fire. Clear yard regularly to maintain your house safe.

Don’t post online when you’ll be away from your home. Although your first instinct is to share the news about an upcoming trip that excites you, the info may well fall into the hands of people who’d be interested in burglarizing your home while you’re away.

Make your home safer by storing your car inside the garage. If your car is locked up inside, it cannot be stolen or vandalized. This can also keep people from knowing your schedule.

Turn off ringers on land line phones while you are on vacation. When burglars hear phones ringing for an extended period of time in a home, they know that there is no one there to answer.

Be more proactive when you are determining the safety of your neighborhood. Speak with your neighbors and friends in the area. Ask them to keep an eye on your home, and do the same thing for them. Do not ignore gossip either. You never know what sort of security issues you might become privy to.

Remove all of the vegetation outside in the hotter months. 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. When a person approaches your home, the lights will blaze. They help notify you of any movement around your house and deter burglars too. Be sure to keep these lights working, though.

Home protection program details may be available at your police station. Home inspections or engraving identifiers can help protect you. Discuss these programs with a local police officer to see if they’re available in your area.

Trust your instincts when it comes to hiring a home security company. If the men who come to your home to do the installation seem untrustworthy, you can change your mind. Do not hesitate to ask for a different person to install the system or even consider hiring a different company. Security is supposed to give you peace of mind after all!

Keep your car in your garage if you have one. Keeping the car in the garage can keep thieves from vandalizing or stealing it. This can also keep people from knowing your schedule.

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. However, there is the belief that rural dwellers are more susceptible to break ins simply because there are no nearby neighbors. Other people believe rural areas are less likely to be targeted by burglars.

It doesn’t matter how much money you spent, you should have an annual test. This is a job for professionals; get a security firm to inspect your equipment. There are any number of problems that can cause malfunctions in your security system, from weather damage to animal activity. You may not even know there is a problem if it is not visible.

Conceal valuable spaces within your walls. It’s not necessary to cut out parts of your wall to do this. Most homes are pre-equipped with these handy spaces. How about unwiring your electric socket and using that as an area to stash your jewelry?

Be bold. Meet your neighbors. Look out for their property, and see if they will look out for yours. Listen for gossip too. You can learn of important security information, including if strangers have been lurking.

Your first priority when you move to an apartment or house where others have lived in before is to replace all the locks. While you may trust those who lived there before you, you have no idea who lived there before them. You might even purchase and install your own locks so that you are assured of having the only keys.

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 don’t feel comfortable, go with someone else. You want the system to make you feel like you’re more comfortable.

As the company that is doing your home security how long they’ve been providing this service. You can be sure that an established company has a good track record of providing solid and reliable service. You can feel confident when you choose a well established, reputable home security company.

Walls are a great hiding spot for your valuables. If you have valuables that are small in size, you may want to hide them within your walls. You could use a phone jack, electrical outlet or a switch plate. You put in a fake plate if there aren’t any unused in your home.

Keep the outside areas of your home well lit. Nothing is as attractive to a burglar as a dark, deeply-shadowed house. Be sure and have a light next to any entry point in your home. This includes porches and doorways, the garage, as well as ground floor windows, which can invite an intruder.

Plug a rechargeable flashlight into an outlet in each room of your house in the event of power outage. Flashlights are essential since they let you move around in an emergency. If you have kids, teach them how to properly use the flashlights so everyone in the family can help out during a power outage.

Ideally, you’ve got a few new ideas to consider about making your home safer after reading this article. Do not make home security decisions without knowledge. The safety of your family is important enough for you to take the time to consider it from every possible angle. Keep the tips that have been discussed here in mind as you move forward.

Before you let a security company representative enter your home, make sure they are in uniform, and don’t hesitate to ask them for identification. It is simple for a thief to pose as a representative of your home security company as a means of gaining access to your house. This leads to danger. Take care to steer clear of danger.