Hone security tips are important. Why? Because the house you live in is much more than just a building to rest your head. It should also act as a retreat, protecting you from all of the bad that goes on in the rest of the world.

When you move into a new home, you want it to feel just as safe and secure as the old one. This is where home security comes in. Although decorating your house is more fun than defending it, the latter should always come first.

A new burglary occurs every few minutes, after all. To protect your new property and your family, here are ten home security tips to help you feel secure in your home.

1. Change All The Locks

Changing the locks when you move into a new house isn’t something most people usually think to do. However, not doing so could be a recipe for disaster. Unless you built your new house from scratch, you could never be certain how many sets of keys to that house exist.

Any one of the previous owners or renters could have made and kept a copy in their time there. When you change all of the locks in your home, you make it much more difficult for those people to get in. 

2. Put Those Keys Inside

Keeping a set of keys somewhere outside your property is never a good idea. Even if you think that you have hidden your keys well, there is always a chance that a burglar could find them. This means that they would be able to walk through the front door whenever they felt like it. If you tend to misplace your keys, then leave a set with a trusted friend, relative, or neighbour instead. Alternatively, you could install a wall-mounted key safe to store a set of house keys inside. 

3. Add A Security Screen

Although it does make it easier, burglars don’t need keys to gain access to your home. All they have to do is break a window. To protect against this, you should replace the windows with those covered in a security screen. Just make sure that you choose the right window company. If you read the testimonials, you would find that customers at Perth Window and Door Replacement are happy with their service. These screens provide protection, as well as uninterrupted views. 

4. Light Up The Landscape

Most burglaries occur at night. This is because burglars like to operate under cover of darkness. Illuminating the garden, therefore, is an effective way to deter criminal types. It also makes it much safer for you to move around your property at night.

The most effective lighting option is motion-activated floodlights. These can be installed at the front and back of your home, turning on only when someone is near your property. This can shock intruders and save energy. 

5. Eliminate Any Hiding Places

While motion-activated lights work well, they aren’t nearly as effective when your garden is full of hiding places. After all, if the intruders are hidden, the lights won’t see them. Shrubs and trees may give your house kerb appeal, but they are also a handy place to hide. Because of this, you should trim down greenery so that it’s too small to provide cover. When there are trees near your property, you should consider chopping them down, to eliminate access to the upper windows. 

6. Lock The Valuables Away

Most burglaries aren’t planned. Instead, they occur when an intruder spots something that they want to take, as well as an easy way inside. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to eliminate access to your home completely.

This means that, if there is something in there that a burglar wants hard enough, they will find a way to get it. The only solution for this is to remove such temptations. By storing your valuables in a safe, you give criminals much less of a reason to try breaking in. 

7. Install An Alarm System

An alarm system won’t keep burglars out of your home, but it might deter them from trying to break in. After all, no criminal wants to announce their presence inside your property. The trouble is, many alarms systems are quite pricey.

If you can’t afford to pay for a real one, then fix a fake box to an exterior wall instead. Professional criminals might be able to tell the difference, but a random chancer definitely won’t, making it nearly as effective as the real thing. 

8. Turn On A Timer

Burglaries tend to occur when no one is home. Because of this, you should do all that you can to make it look like your house is always occupied. You can schedule lights and the television to turn on at different times throughout the day and use a smart doorbell to scare away porch pirates. Home automation also gives you access to the locks, smoke alarms, and security cameras. All of this control makes it easy to scare away and thwart potential thieves. 

9. Lock Down The Network

The internet is not nearly as safe as most people assume. While hackers and identity thieves might seem a problem for spy movies, they are real and can affect regular people.

For this reason, you must lock down your wifi network. This is a doorway to all of your personal and financial information. If you use home automation, it also makes your house vulnerable to break-ins. Using strong passwords, firewalls, and antivirus software go along way in keeping you safe.

10. Talk To The Neighbours

Even when you’re not at home, your neighbours might be. This means that they could keep an eye on your property for you and call help if someone seems to be breaking in.

Rather than assume that they will do this, you should ask them to, especially if you’re going away for a while. Just make sure that you explain to them who will be going into your house and when. You don’t want a helpful friend or relative having the police called on them for watering the plants, after all. 

You deserve a safe home, so secure your property with the advice above.

Header image courtesy of Corinthian Doors.