Have you ever considered buying a home alarm system? Many people purchase one without stopping first to consider if they truly need one. Simple things, like keeping your doors and windows locked, can make a bigger difference than the system.

Your home should looked occupied all the time. You could purchase timers and have your TVs, lights, radios and other types of electronics to go on at various times. It’ll make it seem like someone is home. This is great for keeping a home safer from burglaries.

Why not give your trusted dog the job of holding onto your spare key? Really this works only if you have a pet door or if your dog is an outdoor dog. Place the alternative key on your dog’s collar in case of an emergency.

Keep your most precious belongings inside a safe. 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.

Change all of your locks when you move in. There is no telling how many key copies were made and given out by a previous owner. To make sure you’re the only person that can get into your home, contact a locksmith. Make sure you do the same thing if you lose your keys sometime.

When looking for a system to secure your home, do comparison shopping. Prices vary significantly, even for similar levels of protection. Look at a number of different companies and get at least three quotes before selecting what you feel is the ideal plan for your home.

It’s important to comparison shop for alarm systems. Prices vary significantly, even for similar levels of protection. You really owe it to yourself to solicit firm quotes from three different providers before you sit down to pick one.

Do not tell anyone that you are going on vacation out of your friend circle. While you may want to shout it from the rooftops, you’re letting everyone know that your home will be vacant and easy to rob.

If there are people you don’t know that have access to your social media sites, then you don’t want to let all of them know you’re on vacation. It’s great to see new places and take a lot of photos, but posting them while still overseas lets thieves know your home is empty.

Never let a stranger inside. This includes a salesperson or people looking for help. This is the first rule of keeping your home secure.

When planning to go away for a holiday, be sure to turn off the ringers on your home phones. If your phone rings and is not being answered, criminals will realize that you’re away.

Don’t allow a complete stranger to come in your home. Nowadays, people invent many stories of why they should come in. For instance, they may say they need to call a mechanic or the police. However, their true intent is to rob you. Create the rule that you just open a door to people that you expect to arrive.

Don’t make a habit of giving strangers access to your home. No matter how innocent a person may seem or how interesting the product he or she may be offering, you must not allow access. Some people want to enter your home just to see if there is a security system in place. They may be scoping the place to come back when you’re gone.

Use your garage for what it was intended: your car. Keeping the car in the garage can keep thieves from vandalizing or stealing it. Hiding your car away from plain view is a good way to keep intruders from knowing when you are at home or not.

Do not forget to secure the garage attached to your home. Lots of people are afraid that burglars will be able to break into their garage, which will result in them breaking into the home. Thankfully, you can prevent this. 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.

You can hide your valuable items inside your walls. You needn’t tear down your walls to do this. You can find pre-cut areas in your walls that can be used. How about unwiring an electricity socket and using it as cover for a place to stash valuable jewelry?

If you have skylights, do not neglect them when making sure your home is secure. Skylights are a great addition to any home, but they are also tempting entryways for crooks. Skylights need to be installed correctly and safely, with hardware that will keep intruders out.

Be cognizant of what others can see when they look in your windows. Large windows let in light and give you a great view outside, but that works both ways. Keep your curtains drawn to keep your valuable items safe.

A wall is a great hiding place. You can hide small valuables inside the walls. Just take advantage of the phone jack, electrical outlet or unused switch plate. If you use all of them, you can always have fake ones installed.

Regardless of how long you think you’ll be gone, make sure to lock your doors. Many burglaries happen because the intruders can just walk right inside. Once a thief is inside, he can steal a lot of valuables in a short amount of time.

Be sure to replace all of the old locks as soon as you move into a new domicile. You really don’t know much about the people who sold you the home, regardless of how competent they may seem. If the previous owners have never changed the locks, there could be people out there who owned the house before them and still have keys to your house.

Purchase flashlights that have good batteries, and keep them in every room in your home in case the power goes out. Power outages are common to all sorts of emergency situations, so having flashlights handy will enable you to maneuver in the dark. Teach everyone in your home to use the flashlights so all family members can see and help each other.

A simple way to increase your home security is to add motion lights around the house. These lights not only give off light at night, but can also offer security around your home. Properly-situated motion detectors will give your home a complete field of protection and make it impossible for a miscreant to approach undetected.

Don’t let any service people into your home without checking their references completely. Be sure to perform a background check and look for any criminal history that might be in evidence. Someone can seem nice and professional on the outside, but they may not be so nice on the inside.

Make sure your home’s exterior is well lit. Darkness allows for all sorts of nefarious activities. Make sure to have lights anywhere an intruder might enter. This extends to doorways, porches, garages and lower windows.

When searching for methods of improving your home’s security, a great, inexpensive method of doing this is purchasing exterior lights with installed motion detectors. During the night hours, these lights help light up the outside of your home, which makes them an excellent addition to your home security strategies. In addition, they are very affordable. When placed appropriately, no one will be able to break in unannounced.

Never enter your house if the door is open or something doesn’t feel right. The burglar may be on the premises. Call the authorities and let them take care of the situation.

When you hire a type of home security company, read the contract’s fine print before signing. There may be some hidden fees, or a need to buy more equipment later. You want to try to avoid these fees whenever possible, so make sure you are aware of them.

Think about having a wireless security system for the home installed. 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. Wireless systems don’t need your home’s power in order to properly work. In addition, they can be usually be installed and maintained easier.

Ask your home security company about coming to your residence and creating a system that is tailored to your personal needs. Every family is different, and so your security needs will be unique. When you don’t want to compromise in any way on the safety and security of your home, a custom-built system is usually the way to go.

It’s a good idea to install a surveillance system in your home. Installing hidden and visible video cameras are great for securing your house. Visible cameras deter the majority of intruders, and if they try to disarm them, a camera that is hidden will keep capturing footage. As an added security bonus, most modern systems will allow you to monitor your cameras remotely (via cell phone) for round-the-clock protection.

The best way to keep a burglar out of your garage is to ensure no one can see inside. Have your windows frosted so they aren’t as easy to see through. Also, don’t leave your door open for long periods of time when you work there.

You might have decided that a security system for your home is the best solution. You may need to begin doing some things differently in your home. Be certain to do your research so that you make the very best choice.

If you use a door lock with a numeric keypad, do not use your birthday as the pass code. Your birthday is readily available for burglars to find. Try making the number one that can be remembered by doing a match equation in order to remember that equation instead.