All homeowners want a safe and secure home, but it is often hard to know how to attain that goal. All it takes to secure one’s home is a certain amount of knowledge. Keep reading to gain the insight necessary to establish a winning security plan for your home.

Provide the house key to your professional house cleaner, but only if you fully 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 references thoroughly. If it is a known company, check with your local BBB.

Only provide your house cleaner with a key if you trust him or her implicitly. If you plan on giving them the key so that they can work in your home for over an hour, make sure that they’re reputable, hardworking, and honest. Go over their references and do some background research on the company they work for. If you hire a cleaner from a company, then you should check the company with the BBB.

Do you allow your dog to stay in your yard while you are away? Using Fido to hide your spare key can be a clever trick. Put the key on the dog’s collar. Your dog is an especially good key hiding spot if he doesn’t react well to strangers, since they won’t approach him, but the key will be there if you need it.

Get rid of all of the dead wood and vegetation in your yard during the summer months. These are vulnerable to fires and put your home in danger. Keeping your plants and bushes trimmed will benefit your family’s safety as well as the appearance of your home.

Buy a safe to contain everything of great value. This is important, since you don’t want your valuables exposed to a potential intruder. Keep your safe in your basement or attic to make it hard to find.

Request information from your local law enforcement agencies about home protection packages. There are many that offer programs that include items, such as home inspection, how to use engraving tools to mark code numbers to identify valuables if yours are stolen, and protective measures advice. A quick call to the non-emergency number at the police station in your town will tell you all you need to know.

If you want to have a spare key close to your house in order to prevent lockouts, make sure you give its hiding place some careful thought. People will check your doormat and frame first. Instead, try hiding a key on the collar of an outside dog.

If you’ve got a garage, boost home security just by using it for only a car instead of storage. Keeping your car secured will prevent people from vandalizing it. Keeping your car out of sight is also good for thwarting burglars’ attempts to determine when you are likely to be away from home.

Don’t talk about your vacations on social media. 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.

Don’t be shy. Talk to your neighbors. Keep your eye on their houses, and ask for help to keep yours safe too. Listen to gossip also. 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.

When summer comes around, eliminate all vegetation and dead wood from your yard. These are vulnerable to fires and put your home in danger. Regularly clear away your yard to keep your home in good standing and safe for your family.

When dealing with a company installing your home security system, it is important that you trust your gut. If the installers give you the heebie-jeebies, it’s not a good sign. There is nothing wrong with asking for a different technician if you’re uneasy. The purpose of using the company is to calm your uneasiness, not worsen it.

Get to know your neighbors. Meet your neighbors. Keep an eye out for their houses, and request that they return the favor. Don’t ignore the gossip. You may stumble across valuable security information, like if someone has noticed a stranger lurking around the neighborhood.

Don’t put your extra key under you doormat, in a planter, or in a cleverly disguised false rock. You may believe you are making life easier for yourself, but you may just be giving thieves simple access to your house. Thieves are aware of the best hiding spots. Try having your trustworthy neighbors hold spare keys.

Those living in rural areas often don’t worry as much about intruders compared to city dwellers. Some people think that country folk are mainly targeted since they don’t have nearby neighbors. However, understand that regardless of where you live, a theft can occur anywhere. Therefore, you need to be prepared.

Be cognizant of what others can see when they look in your windows. Although large windows in your home can provide your home with a lot of light, they can also provide burglars with an excellent view of the inside of your home. If you have windows that face the street, always keep them covered and keep your valuables safe.

Walls are excellent hiding spots. If you need to protect expensive items in your home, put them inside the walls. You could utilize an electrical outlet, phone jack, or unused switch plate. If you do not have any unused plates, it is easy to install a false one.

Be sure to replace all locks on a home you have bought. Regardless of how you feel about the sellers, you never know someone’s true intentions. There are other people who have lived in the home as well.

Get some professional assistance by asking a home security company to come to your house and work up a plan for a customized security system. You need some features which other families may wish to do without. If you find a company that will tailor the plan you choose to your needs, you can get the highest level of security that makes you feel comfortable.

Shred any documents and junk mail that contains identifying information. Thieves can often be found looking through garbage cans in search of personal information found on bills and credit card slips. If you don’t want a shredder, rip the papers up manually.

A great protection against burglars is owning a dog. Dogs are protective of turf and generally make noise when something is wrong. Your dog doesn’t have to be a big, burly attack dog. As long as he is noisy when strangers approach, he’s a great addition to the security of your home.

If you’re planning to be out of your home for a period of time, have a neighbor remove any fliers placed on your door. Burglars sometimes tack these up and watch to see whether or not they are removed. If the flier is not removed, they will know you are not home.

If you have kids or roommates that you don’t want in certain household areas, it’s not necessary to lock multiple doors and tote around tons of keys. Get key-less locks that need a code. Install them yourself or get a local home security company to do that.

Home security is very important, however not many people know too much about it. Those worried about the security of their home and possessions should take studying the topic seriously. Hopefully, you’ve learned what you need to know from this article and can now put the information to use.

Spring latch locks are not a good option. These type of locks can actually be opened by using a credit card. They can put the credit card in between the latch and door to open the lock. Add a deadbolt to existing spring latch locks for maximum security.