Surely, you know how important it is to keep your dwelling safe. When you home is damaged or destroyed, you can feel very violated. You make a huge monetary and emotional investment in your home. Keep your most precious investment safe.

Do you have an outdoor dog? This is where you can put your spare key. Secure the key on the inside of the dog’s collar. Especially if your dog is not very friendly, this will help keep your key safe.

Be sure your home appears to always be occupied. Use timers to make electronic devices and lights turn on and off at intervals. This will give your home the appearance of someone being there. This helps you keep your house burglar-free.

Make sure you have a safe to keep valuable items in one place. This ensures during a break in that the most important things are not stolen. Hide your safe in a place that is hard to get to, like a basement closet or an attic.

Ask friend for any advice they have prior to purchasing a security system or service. It is probable that you will hear some great stories about some companies as well as some not so great stories about others. This can save you the hassle of having to research everything on your own. Making a great choice is important, so this advice will come in handy.

Compare different systems when looking into home security. The prices can vary a great deal for the same level of protection from company to company. 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.

If you’re going on a trip for an extended period of time, switch the ringer off on all home phones. If a burglar keeps hearing your phone ring, they’ll know the home is not occupied, making it more likely for a break-in to occur.

Secure your attached garage. There is a way to prevent burglars from entering your home through the garage. You can use a C-clamp to stop the door from being opened.

Don’t just hide your spare key anywhere. Placing a key above a door or under a doormat is quite obvious! You should hide it in your dog’s collar.

Use your garage for your car, not just storage. Keeping your car in your house will deter intruders from vandalizing or stealing it. Keeping your car in your garage also keeps a thief from knowing whether you are at home or not.

Understand certain safety precautions when it comes to having skylights for your home. Skylights are excellent for beauty and light, but it’s easy for burglars to gain access to your home through them. Any skylights in your home should be secured with strong hardware.

Is your ceiling resistant to fire? What about your flooring or roofing? This adds more protection to a house, especially if you’re in a dry area with some power lines. Fire prevention is always a good idea, and sometimes it can be a lifesaving idea!

Possible Entry

Don’t just consider alarming your doors when you’re considering an alarm system. Each window represents a possible entry for your thief. Make sure the alarm is attached to all of them, and that monitoring is offered for all possible entry points. Doing this will help ensure the safety of your home and loved ones.

If your garage is attached to your house, make it secure. Many people are concerned about people entering their garages to gain access to their homes. Simply attach a C-clamp near the roller on the door track.

Buy flashlights with strong batteries and make sure there is one in each room in case of power outages. The flashlights are important because they make you able to get around the house in an emergency. Make sure each member of your family knows where the flashlights are and how to operate them.

Before letting someone from a security company into a house, get some sort of official identification. They might not be who you think they are. This can be extremely dangerous to your home and loved ones. Be very careful with who you let into your home.

No matter how good your security system is, it should be checked annually. Get someone from the security firm to inspect it. Many different things can make problems for your security system. You might not even discover these problems if they aren’t easily sighted.

Before signing up for home security, find out how long they’ve been in business. Find a home security company that has a good reputation and many years of experience to get excellent service. You’ll have a lot more confidence in your choice if you stick with a company that has a proven track record.

Maintain the exterior areas in your house so they are well lit. It will be easier for intruders to keep an eye on you and approach your home if they can hide in the dark. Install lights in areas where intruders might come. Having these outdoor lights installed can really work as a deterrent to criminals who are considering your house.

You should not hide your spare key under your mat or inside a plant box. While you may feel that you are keeping yourself safe by allowing a way in for yourself, you are also allowing everyone else to visit whenever they want. Burglars always know just where to look. If you have a neighbor you can trust, have them hold your extra key.

If you think something looks odd when you get back home, don’t go inside. You have no way of knowing whether the thieves are still inside. Your best bet is to call the cops and wait until they arrive before you do anything else.

Shred any documents and junk mail that contains identifying information. Thieves often dig through garbage to obtain personal data that will help them enter the house. If you can not afford to purchase a paper shredder, just rip the paper into smaller pieces.

Criminals often pick houses where they can see the valuables inside. A big front window gives you a good view; however, it also gives burglars a good view of the interior of your house. You should cover any windows that are facing the street so your valuables will be safe.

Put in a surveillance system. Installing video cameras, both visible and hidden, are a great way to secure your home. Visible cameras deter many intruders, but if they disable the cameras that they can see, your hidden camera can record the action. You can sometimes access security systems using your cell phone, keeping you informed on the go.

As discussed, protecting your home is not that hard. A little learning in the appropriate fields will make you and your home much more secure. To make your home safer, use the advice from this article. Do not neglect even one of these tips, because they all help ensure your home is safe.

If you’ve just gotten a home, replace every lock. Although the person you purchased the house from might seem good, you really have no clue as to who they really are. 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.