Some people think that it has to be annoying or tedious to secure your home. The process doesn’t need to be that inconvenient. Follow the tips presented here for quick and easy ways to secure your home.

Aim to purchase fire-resistant ceilings, roofs and floors. Having your home built with fire resistant materials will help safeguard your home in case it catches fire. Fire prevention is paramount.

Use your dog as the protector of your spare key. Of course, your dog has to be an outdoor dog (or you at least need to have a doggy door) for this to work. Just place your key on your dog’s collar.

Before agreeing to work with a security company, check with your friends and family for recommendations. There are likely people you know that have had either good or bad experiences with these companies. Make sure to ask neighbors for advice too.

When you buy a new house, change the locks. There is no way to ascertain how many keys the previous owner handed out. Contact a locksmith to make sure that only you have access to your home. This is also the thing to do if you lose the keys.

Turn off ringers on land line phones while you are on vacation. A constantly ringing phone can signal to a burglar that the house is vacant, making it an easy target for their criminal activities.

When looking to purchase a good home security system, it is best that you look at many companies. Prices vary greatly in regards to the same protection for each company. Get quotes from several companies before making a decision.

See if your local police department offers any home inspection or other protection programs. Many police departments will offer expert advice, arrange inspections, sponsor neighborhood watches, and help you mark and register your valuables. Get in touch today.

Social networking sites are great for keeping in touch, but post information sparingly. For example, you might avoid broadcasting when you are going out of town, especially if your friends list contains casual acquaintances. While these platforms are there for sharing, this is announcing to the world that your home is an open target.

Try not to have a shy attitude. It is important to communicate with others who also live in your area. Agree to watch each other’s homes while you are away. Pay attention to gossip as well. You might hear helpful information, for instance if strangers have been hanging around.

Don’t let strangers enter your house. 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 just want to know if there is a security system so they can plan on coming back later or not.

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. Thieves are aware of these hiding spots. You should have a trusted neighbor keep a spare key.

Walls are excellent hiding spots. Jewelry and other small items can be protected very well when placed in hiding places in your walls. Use an old switch plate, outlet or phone jack. If you haven’t got any plates that are unused, simply install a false switch plate.

Lock up your house every time you leave. A lot of times, burglaries happen due to carelessness. They can get a ton of stuff quickly and be long gone before you return.

Don’t put extra keys under doormats or in planters. These are the first places criminals will look when they try to enter your home. Thieves know about all these hiding spots. A better solution is to give your key to a neighbor you trust.

If you’ve bought large or pricy items, avoid throwing out boxes until the day the trash is scheduled for pick-up. Empty boxes for expensive new gear serve as advertisements to potentials thieves; don’t make it easy for them to spot such tempting targets.

Make sure you have several flashlights that are charged and ready to go in the event of a power outage. They will help you get around in case your entire home is dark. Show your children how to use them so everyone in the family is involved.

Did you know that the wires on your home are valuable? The majority of people aren’t aware of this fact until a burglar steals these wires. Copper wiring is very valuable and susceptible to being stripped from the outside of your home. To keep the wiring safe, be sure that the wire is hidden from view.

Make sure to ask for identification for any home security company representative. Intruders could disguise themselves to inspect your home. This could be quite dangerous. Act cautiously to avoid potential dangers.

Before you give a security company employee access to your home, make sure they’re in uniform and that they present acceptable identification. Criminals can easily pretend to be from a security firm as a means to gain entry to the house. This means peril for what you own as well as your loved ones. You want to use caution to prevent danger.

Keep your home’s exterior areas illuminated well. Darkness allows for all sorts of nefarious activities. Be sure and have a light next to any entry point in your home. This can include garages, doorways, porches, and even near any windows on the ground floor.

Having your home lit up and bright at night is a great deterrent to crooks. That’s because they want to remain hidden. When you have a well-lit home, crooks won’t be able to hide and it will be hard for them to break in undetected. Thus, you should always keep lights on at nighttime.

Look into wireless security systems. While a wired system is more affordable, it also requires more extreme modifications of your home’s existing wiring. This could be a potential problem in the event that your power goes out. Systems that operate in a wireless environment can be easier to manage and are not as likely to cause extensive rewiring issues.

An important part of vetting any security company before you sign a contract with them is finding out how long they’ve been providing security services in your community. A company that’s been around for a while has proven that their service is reliable. Realizing you at involved with a stable firm will give you a sense of calm that is important.

If you are out of town for awhile, ask a friend to take a look at your door for any fliers. Thieves will drop off flyers to see if home owners are away. If the flier is not removed, they will know you are not home.

Install a surveillance system in your home. Having visible or hidden cameras can help immensely. Visible cameras scare intruders while a hidden camera could capture footage. A lot of surveillance systems are accessible using your cell phone, so you can monitor your home while you are out of town.

Don’t leave the boxes of any high priced electronics on the curb of your house. Don’t advertise that you have expensive new equipment! Break down the box, and take it to the local recycling center.

Make sure the inside of your garage isn’t visible. Frost your windows with film bought at a hardware store. Do not leave doors open for lengthy periods while you are doing work.

Always keep your valuables secure. This can include items like important photos, passports, pricey jewelry, and legal documents. Floor safes are great for keeping items secure in your home. An even better idea is to store them in a safe deposit box outside the home.

If you lose your house keys often, you might want to install a keyless entry system. Get key-less locks that need a code. You could install these locks yourself. Or, you may have a security company to do it for you.

Ask the security company whether or not that have motion sensitive lighting. Many providers can supply this, and it switches exterior lights on whenever anyone comes near a point of entry. This makes your home safer because it warns intruders away.

Don’t fit your exterior doors with locks of the spring latch variety. Defeating a spring latch lock is a trivial endeavor; experienced burglars can get through one using nothing more than a credit card. A thief only needs to skip the credit card in between the lock to make it open. Add a deadbolt if you do not want to replace your spring latch locks.

Women have a greater likelihood of being the targets of home invasion, particularly if they live alone or with children. A pair of recently worn workmen’s boots on the front porch can give an impression of a strong man living at home. This will help keep criminals away.

When you will be away from home, keep the curtains and blinds shut. Intruders can look into your house if the blinds are up. If a burglar sees something that is enticing, they are going to try and get it from your home. These should also be kept down while you’re sleeping.

Although locks sealed inside are okay, they are useless if they can’t be locked from the outside. A deadbolt meets this requirement and is a good burglar deterrent as well.

If you use a door lock with a numeric keypad, do not use your birthday as the pass code. Anyone could get your date of birth from Facebook and could have access into your house. Try using a number that is the solution to a math problem. Then you can just remember the math problem to arrive at the solution.

Get security systems directly through the company. Middlemen tack on extra charges and offer very little in the way of guarantees. Also, the manufacturer will not add on extra fees, and will provide consistent service for their equipment.

Are you worried about the costs of ongoing maintenance? Then, consider using a security system that is hard-wired. A wireless system is handy, but the frequent battery changes can really amount to a large expense. Neglecting this maintenance can cause faults in your security system and leave you improperly protected. In addition, replacing multiple batteries can be expensive.

Choose a company that offers more than just alarm systems. Great home security companies visit homes and make some recommendations that can keep your family much safer. They could suggest better locks, trimming hedges back, or even replacing entire doors and windows. This comprehensive solution will help keep robbers at bay by limiting their access to your home.

A lot of people try avoiding the neighborhood gossip. Try to listen to them when you need to. If there are people lurking around your home that look suspicious, this busybody may be the first to notice. By befriending this person, you will always have updates on the latest neighborhood news and threats.

Lock in your air conditioners near your windows to prevent hazard. An intruder could remove the unit and enter through the window. Window units should be removed entirely in the colder months (when they’re not needed) so that your home stays as secure as possible.

Don’t leave toys lying around your yard children are not at play. This makes burglars believe that females live there. This will make the home a target, as thieves assume women will have valuable jewelry and will be less able to defend themselves.

A gun can make your home more secure. You should consider getting a gun and receiving training. Just knowing that you have guns in your house could make you feel safer.

Be sure to clean your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors regularly. The sensors in the detector can be compromised by an accumulation of dirt and dust. Therefore, your detectors will not be effective in protecting your home from smoke and carbon monoxide.

There is more to security than installing alarms. Purchasing a firearm, building a fence and acquiring additional locks are all options available to you. Keep this advice in mind to boost your home security.

A window air conditioner needs to be secured with a bar or other device. An intruder will be able to slide out the air conditioner and enter your home if it is not secured. In the wintertime, remove the air conditioner from the window to ensure security.