11 Tips To Secure Your House And Property From Burglars

There are many online sources writing about the most common methods burglars use to break into a home.

However, the best advice comes from citizens themselves who are able to write from their own personal experience, as unfortunate as it is.

Today, we have compiled 11 of the best home security tips to prevent home invasions based on what victims of a home invasion now say they do to protect themselves in order to prevent it from happening again.

11 Best Home Security Tips

1. Protect Your Doors

Always lock your doors, even if you step out for "just 5 minutes" to your neighbour's house.

For a burglar, 5 minutes is plenty of time to get in and to cause damage - these are the types of burglars who don't give a f*** and want to get in and out as fast as possible to sell whatever they were able to grab at the local pawn shop for drugs. Do you think these guys are saving up for college??

If you live in a house with a backyard, and you have two entrances - the front (main entrance) and rear (back door), always lock the door where you don't spend as much time and keep it locked. Do this, as opposed to leave it open and forget you left it open when you go to bed or leave the house.

If you are doing some noisy activity in your house, like listening to loud music, vacuuming, or stuff of this nature, lock the front door because you won't be able to hear if someone enter your home and you don't want to be dancing around in your underwear with your eyes closed while some intruder is carrying out your television.

Better yet, get yourself a long range wireless doorbell in case your intruder decides to use it. These devices can come in extreme handy!

2. Invest in High-Quality Locks

With the growing problem of lock bumping, having just any type of lock doesn't mean that you have done your work in burglar-proofing your doors. You should invest in good quality locks, such as heavy duty locks with an ANSI Grade 1 rating. With such a lock, a burglar will have an easier time going through your wall than getting past it.

Another option is to get a keyless electronic or mechanical deadbolt, which requires unique code that is remotely controlled by you rather than a typical key to grant you entrance to the residence.

However, before choosing any lock, make sure you learn everything about it by reading well-researched reviews, such as ours, to prevent buying one that won't meet your criteria. You don't want to learn this after the fact!

3.Protect Your Windows

Make sure you always close all of your windows and balcony doors before you leave your home. When it comes to your blinds, don't lower them completely as it is often a clear sign to burglars that you are absent for longer period. If you live in a house with a yard, remove the garden furniture as thieves can use it to climb up to your upper windows.

Another thing you can do is to install window grills/bars on the windows on the ground floor. The safest thing to do to burglar proof your windows is probably installation of window locks. They are really quite cost effective, but can prevent uninvited guests from entering your home through your windows. You can also use window sensors.

4. Hide Your Keys Well (or go keyless)

Never leave your key on some of the known "secret" places, like under the mat or flowerpot … Take a minute to find an extra good hiding place for your keys. You'd be surprised how many people hide their keys out in the open. It should go with out saying - this is a bad move!

You could always just get a smart keyless deadbolt like a Schlage Touch Camelotand that will solve your whole "where to put the keys" issue in a hurry.

5. Use Lights For Protection

Thieves love to work in dark, that's why you should have proper lightning in your yard. An excellent idea is to mount a motion sensor light right above your entrance door, but more motion sensor lights around your home means more protection.

When you leave your home for a longer period of time, give an extra key to your neighbor (the one you trust, not the one you barely know) to occasionally visit your home and turn the light and television on in the evening hours.

In that way, sinister observers won't know the house has been left alone for a longer period. But, also, don't leave the light on all the time while away, since this is another clear sign that the house owners are on vacation.

6. Use A Safe

Some burglars don't care about your PS3, and are only interested in your true valuables such as your jewelry and other treasures. In homes that contain such riches, it is recommended mounting a safe securely in an inconspicuous and hard to access place, to keep all of the valuables and money well protected.

The best burglar proof safes are biometric smart safeswhich use advanced technology to keep thieves out of valuables' reach.

7. Protection Provided by Neighbors

Keeping good relations with your neighbors is always a plus, especially in terms of home security. Your annoying busybody neighbor who is always attentively watching who comes down your street every waking moment of the day - yep, they can really be a great ally when you're on vacation and want free security.

When you return, they just might be helpful by informing you if s/he has noticed some unknown person entering/leaving your home. Better yet, tell him/her to text you if she notices anything or even call the cops if you think this person is a good judge of what a home invasion actually looks like.

Also, give a spare key to your closest neighbor (someone you can trust), so s/he can ventilate your apartment for the sake of your plants (and water them while they're at it) and occasionally turn the lights and TV on when you are away for a longer period.

You can as well ask them (politely) to regularly empty your mailbox, as this is another indicator that your house is alone. Sometimes that "paperboy" (who is 47 years old) or that guy in the inspector's uniform (bought it at the thrift store) is actually not who they seem to be.

8. Protection Provided by Dogs

Besides neighbors, one of the best guards of your home is none other than man's best friend - the dog.

The smaller ones like Pekingese, Maltese and Bichon will bark as soon as they hear any sound near your yard or home might even be best, because burglars do not want to make a racket. Of course they can be annoying as they won't stop barking until the noise stops, but this can be helpful in alarming you that there might be someone unknown to your dog near your house.

The bigger dogs might not bark at anything they hear, but they are more suitable for training to go for the jugular, and they are surely more capable at preventing burglars entering your home, or even approaching your garden which a well positioned sign.

If you don't like dogs, you can at least get a Beware of the Dog Sign, and that has a fair chance of scaring burglars away, since who would be crazy enough to nail a sign to their fence if they don't actually have a dog.

You can also go the whole nine yards and spring for a pre-recorded barking dog motion sensor that will increase your chances of scaring away anyone who gets too close.

9. Information on Social Media

When you set off a trip or you go to the Azores for a couple of days, don't allow anyone to know your home is empty. This is easy enough to do. Just go on Facebook and say "Hi, we're in the Azores! Wish you were here!"

Most people do this unintentionally by exposing their location on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Don't forget its not just your friends who might see this message, but your son's older drug-dealing friend could see it as well, and decide to take a drive over to your house just to see "what's up".

10. Security Cameras

Nowadays, almost everyone can afford to buy some type of a security camera as there are many which come at a surprisingly cheap price. Many people have found adding a few outdoor cameras to be very useful, especially those viewing their yard and entry porch, but also it pays to have a few quality indoor cameras facing entrance doors and windows as well.

Of course, getting a full-on home security system might be the best option, as it will provide monitoring of your entire property. This can be a budgetary concern, although there are great security systems coming at a reasonable price these days.

11. Photograph Your Valuables

Thieves usually steal money and valuables, as well as jewelry, and electronic devices such as TVs, DVD, stereo, etc., since these goods are the easiest to sell at a local pawn shop or on the black market.

Statistics show that most thieves are usually amateurs, with the majority being drug addicts who need quick money. They aren't careful, and it isn't hard to catch them in the act if you are prepared. On the other hand, professional thieves are more difficult to catch, as they steal only selected and expensive things, and they actually have a system worked out.

This is why it is not a bad idea to take couple of photos of each of your most expensive and valuable devices in your home, in case you need to ever need to identify your own stolen property later. This could also be used for insurance purposes, potentially.

These are some of the best tips to secure your home so we highly recommend them to you as well as any other who want to increase the security of their home and family.