7 Common Home Security Mistakes To Avoid
Each and every day, burglars are scouring homes around the country to find easy security targets. Don’t let it happen to you. If home security is high on your priority list, then take care not to make these common home security mistakes.
1. Leave the doors and windows open
It is easy to assume that all of your doors and windows are locked. However, it is important to get into the habit of checking the locks before you leave home. It only takes one open door or window to make your property vulnerable to theft. Security should especially be enforced when there are attached garages involved which enable easy access to the home.
2. Forget to turn on the alarm when you leave
While this might sound straightforward, choosing not to put the alarm on because you are just popping out for a moment or have to do a quick errand is a common error. Always arm your alarm before you walk out the door and if you are prone to forgetting, leave a note on the front door to remind yourself as you are heading out.
3. Maintain an overgrown garden
You might like the sound of a wild country garden however if the shrubbery or flower bushes are providing hiding places for those looking to break in, then you might want to rethink. Tall trees offer easy access to second-storey windows and shrubs ideally situated beneath the windows provide detection protection from those passing by.
4. Don’t upgrade your locks
If you have had the same locks on your home since you moved in, then it might be time to rethink a few things. Standard door locks, particularly older style homes, are light work for thieves looking to break in and steal your valuables. Upgrade your door and window locks to the heavy duty variety to make it as hard as you possibly can.
5. Make it easy to spot that no one is home
If the car is absent from view and the lights are off well into the evening then it is safe to assume that no one is home. You need to create the air that someone is present at all times. Use light timers and have someone pop by regularly to water the plants and collect those newspapers and letters. Silence speaks volumes for wannabe thieves.
6. You still have your key in the stone by the front door
Locking your key inside is an error that we all make but keeping a spare in the artificial stone by the front door, under the welcome mat, in the bird house or above the door frame is the equivalent of extending a personal invitation to your neighbourhood criminals. Don’t do it. We repeat just don’t do it. If you need to have a neighbour keep a spare in the event of trouble, then do so. At the very least if you are going to hide the key then make it somewhere a little less obvious.
7. You decided it was a great idea to purchase fake surveillance equipment
Admittedly fake surveillance or security equipment is better than doing nothing but it is possible that career criminals can tell the difference between a fake and a real system. They can safely assume that if you have bothered to install a fake system, then you obviously have something of value to protect at the same time. Home security systems have come a long way since the 1990s, and it is worth investing in the real deal for your home and personal safety.
Even if you have never been robbed and you feel that it will never happen to you in a month of Sundays, taking some simple precautions to increase your home safety and security is worth it.
