You must have worked really hard to save up for your home and it will probably be filled with nice things. The last thing you need is someone coming along and thinking they can waltz right in and steal from you. One of the easiest ways to stop this from happening is to deter the would-be thieves in the first place. We’re going to take a look at some ways you can accomplish that.

Don’t show off

Even if you’re not struggling for money you must see how hard it can be for some people to have a comfortable life. That doesn’t make stealing right and thieves’ nice people, but it helps to understand when trying to deter someone from breaking into your home. If they walk past and see expensive things lying around it might start putting ideas in their head. Sometimes it’s as simple as not showboating because the majority of people won’t think your home is worth breaking into.

Tricking people

How many people do you know that would attempt to break into a home when there were people sitting inside watching TV? It might occur a tiny percentage of the time, but this is usually because they think everyone is out and they get the shock of their life when they discover it’s not the case. These are usually the times when someone can get hurt, so by closing your blinds and leaving your lights on you will leave no doubt in a thief’s mind that someone is home.

Do you have sliding doors?

It’s pointless having a sturdy door with a huge steel deadbolt if someone can simply walk up to your home and lift your sliding door off the rails. This is usually only a problem for older ones, but you are best making sure because it’s better being safe than sorry. If you’re not in any position by buy a new door you might need to take a two-by-four and slide it into the grove at the back because it will stop someone from sliding it back.

Forget the spare key

Do you know anyone who keeps their spare key somewhere in the garden? If you do this yourself you are really playing with fire because thieves are not stupid and if they want to break into an empty home they will know to look around for a key. You might as well leave the front door lying wide open for them with a big sign pointing inside. If you must leave one lying around you should ask a neighbor if they can keep it for you. Try to choose an older neighbor that doesn’t go out much.

Lock everything

Nearly half of break-ins happen without any force being used which means a huge amount of thieves are just walking up to someone’s home and walking inside. This is a crazy way to lose all your possessions and the only way to stop it from happening is by making sure you leave everything locked whenever you are out or in bed. If this is something you think might easily slip your mind then write it down to remind yourself until it becomes a habit.

Go with technology

If you don’t already have an alarm system you might want to think about getting one installed. The ones you find nowadays are really sophisticated and work much better than a dog ever could. Unless you have some specially trained professional thieves wanting to break into your home there is no way an alarm won’t alert you to a robbery. It’s usually enough to scare away some drug addict looking to steal a TV to pay for his next fix.

Attached Images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Ian Wilson is a home security expert with many years of experience in the industry. He works with Crown Integrated Systems, a company providing solutions for both commercial and residential clients.