Bad things usually happen when they are least expected. Never risk putting you and your family in danger due to neglecting your safety. The advice below will make for a great start.

Make your house look like it’s always occupied. Invest in timers to automatically turn on and off any electronics at various times. This will make your home look like someone is in it. This is an excellent technique that helps avoid robberies while keeping the property safe.

Be sure that your home is always occupied. Buy timers so that lights, radios, TVs and all other electronics turn on and off at various times. This makes it appear that someone is home. It is also another way to secure your home.

Do you allow your dog to stay in your yard while you are away? If so, the dog can be a terrific spot to keep a spare key. Attach your key to your dog’s collar, ensuring that it can’t be seen. This is very effective if your pet is afraid of strangers; therefore, burglars are not very likely to notice the key.

Spare Key

Carefully consider where you hide your outside spare key. Doormats and door frames are predictable places that burglars will always check. Try hiding your key somewhere more unique, like your outside dog’s collar.

Your faithful dog makes a great hiding spot for a spare key. If your dog lives outside or is able to come and go through a dog door, this is a viable idea. Attach the spare key to your dog’s collar. By doing this, you have a handy spare key whenever you need it.

It doesn’t matter how much money you spent, you should have an annual test. Ask the security company to send a technician out to give your system a thorough inspection. The weather and animals are two things that may cause havoc on your home’s security system. If you don’t see the problem, you may remain unaware of it.

You should only provide a house cleaner your key if you completely trust them. Be sure any home cleaner you give your key to is trustworthy and reputable. Carefully check their references. Call the Better Business Bureau to see if their firm is well-reviewed.

Whenever you are selecting a home security company, make sure you go with your gut feelings. This is doubly true when you feel unease about the installers. Ask the company to send a different installer or simply change companies. Your security system is supposed to help you, not cause you more stress.

Purchase ceiling, flooring and roofing that is fire resistant. This ensures your home won’t be a tinderbox. You can enhance home safety with excellent fire precautions.

Do you have skylights? If so, you should keep them in mind when protecting your home. While they are an excellent source of natural light, they are also an easy way for thieves to enter your home. Having heavy duty, reliable hardware is best when it comes to skylights.

Don’t talk about your vacations on social media. Although you may want to let others in on your excitement, it may inadvertently give burglars a heads up to target your property.

Keep valuables hidden within the walls. You do not need to remove segments from your walls. Many areas in your house are already accessible for this purpose. You could removed the wiring from an electric socket that you aren’t using, and stash jewelry inside it.

If you have a stranger at your door, do not open it. Criminals find ways to get people to open doors so they can commit crimes. Make it mandatory that doors in your home are only opened for expected visitors.

Even if you only plan to be gone for a very short time, lock your house. This is often a surprise, but the majority of burglaries are due to someone just waltzing right into an unlocked home. Thieves can steal a lot of valuable stuff in mere minutes.

When in the process of selecting an alarm system, you should select a system that protects more than simply the doors of your home. It should protect the windows too. If you have an alarm attached to each of your windows and doors, you can keep track of all the entry points for your home. With this method, your family will be safer.

If you have just moved into a new home, have every single lock replaced. You have no way of knowing whether the previous homeowner is trustworthy. Besides, other tenants or owners might have copies of the key if the previous owners did not change the locks.

Hide the wires of your home security system. Easily-accessible security wiring is a definite weak point in your home’s protection; the best alarm system in the world is useless if it’s easily disabled. Never make things easy for them. Ask the person installing it to bury the wires or hide them inside the walls. This helps keep you and your family safe.

Your flashlights should always be equipped with good, working batteries. Having a well-charged flashlight on hand is very beneficial in case of emergency. Your kids should know how to work the flashlights so that everyone can help.

Consider home security and safety when you are planning your landscaping. Your doors and windows should not be obstructed by shrubs or fences. If these things can be seen by the naked eye, they won’t offer hiding places to potential criminals. Keeping the areas around your windows free of plants can help to deter criminals from lurking too close to your home, without you noticing.

If you move to a place that was occupied before, you should change the locks right away. Even though the previous tenant may have turned in their key, you never know if they have a copy. You can purchase locks and install them yourself to ascertain that only you have a key.

Maintain the exterior areas in your house so they are well lit. Burglars seek darkness so that they can stay hidden. Install lighting anywhere a possible intruder might break in. This will include doorways, porches, your garage, and ground floor windows that criminals can use.

Take advantage of the Internet while comparing your home security options. Look at various sites and read customer testimonials, along with details on various packages. Then, you can choose a top three to contact and compare details and pricing.

Use a wireless security system. Systems that are wired can be a little cheaper, but may need significant reworking of your home’s electrical wiring and can fail in a power outage. On the other hand, wireless systems use their own power and have easier installations.

Before you go shopping for a home security system, take a moment to think about your specific situation and unique requirements. Generic systems aren’t for everyone. In certain areas, it may be just as useful to learn self defense or buy a dog, whereas other places may require added measures. Make sure you understand your risks so you can make wise purchasing decisions.

If you haven’t bought a paper shredder yet, make it a point to do so. Thieves are likely to steal documents that include your personal information if they can find them. You can tear your documents up by hand before disposing of them if a shredder is out of your price range.

Always request that your house or pet sitter remove fliers from your door. Burglars have been known to put these up, waiting to see if they are removed or not. If the flier isn’t removed, the burglar knows the homeowner isn’t there.

Could burglars see inside your garage? Make sure that they can’t! Cover your windows in frosting, which can be bought at big box hardware stores, so people can’t peek inside. Also, don’t leave your door open for long periods of time when you work there.

Do not use spring latch locks on your doors. They give intruders and easy time breaking in, since they can be unlocked with a credit card. Intruders simply wedge a credit card between the door and latch, triggering the lock to open. A deadbolt can be retrofitted to a door with a spring latch lock if you want to make it more secure.

Keep curtains closed when you aren’t at home. By failing to do so, you are granting a prime view of your house and your belongings. It could be enticing to break in if they notice something that’s nice. At night when you’re asleep, you should close your shades.

Find out if the company you choose will give you the option of buying or leasing home security systems. Buying will save you a ton of money over time. While leasing might be less expensive, it also comes with high monthly fees and contracts. Think about both options before making a decision.

Replace flimsy doors with solid wood or metal versions. These doors will hold. If a thief tried to kick the door, he would not be successful in doing so. The cost of replacing these doors is very minimal if they were to break.

Put in a door that is solid wood or metal. This sort of door will deter intruders. This makes it much harder for a burglar to kick in a door. It shouldn’t be too costly to replace your exterior doors, so go do it.

Criminals can be unpredictable, so it’s difficult to tell whether your residence may be a burglar’s target. Rather than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, be proactive. Use these tips, plus your own research, to give your home protection from burglars.

Women living alone or with just children are targeted more often than others. Try placing big, muddy boots on your front step to create the illusion of a big, active man living there. This will make criminals think again before trying to enter your home.