Whether you are a homeowner or a renter, securing a single family home can present some unique challenges. If you live in a high-rise or apartment building, you may have a doorman to check visitors and keep your property safe. When you live in a single family home, you have to rely on yourself and your proactive approach to security to prevent burglaries and avoid theft.
The good news is that there are simple things you can do to secure your single family home and make yourself a less tempting target for the bad guys out there. You may not be able to stop the bad guys from being bad, but you can protect your own home and reduce your chances of a break-in or burglary. Here are some simple and inexpensive ways to secure your single family home and keep your family safer.
Invest in a Quality Security System
Simply having a security system is one of the most effective ways to protect your home and your family. If you own your own home, you can purchase a traditional wired security system, complete with alarms at the doors, windows and other entry points. You can also add hard-wired security cameras that are remotely monitored by the company doing the installation.
If your single family home is a rental, you can take advantage of the new style wireless security systems, which use a variety of techniques to keep your home safe and your family protected. From easy to install door and window alarms to wireless security cameras, these systems can be very effective at keeping the bad guys at bay.
Burglars are savvy, and they have learned to look for the telltale signs of a security system when casing a neighbourhood. Simply having a security sign in the yard can be a good deterrent, and placing visible security cameras at the doors and windows could help even more.
Keep Your Garage Door Secure
Your garage door is the largest door in your home, and for many single family homes it is also the least secure. Many homeowners painstakingly lock their front doors when they return home, but they leave their garage doors open to facilitate easy entrances and exits for family members.
That same ease of entry can be an open invitation to a burglar, giving them a chance to score some very valuable items without your even knowing it. Just think about the valuables you probably keep in your garage - from your toolbox and power tools to the lawn mower and leaf blower. Then look at the property with the eyes of a burglar and consider how easy it would be to make off with those valuables while you are at home going about your business.
Keep Your Expensive Purchases to Yourself
If you have just purchased a big-screen TV, you are probably in a hurry to get it mounted and start watching it. Even so, you need to take care and protect that costly purchase from the bad guys.
Many homeowners make the mistake of placing their big-screen TV boxes and other evidence of a recent buying spree out at the curb. While you do need to dispose of those boxes, you should do so in a less obvious manner.
Take a few minutes to break the TV box down, cutting it up and placing it in the trash or recyclable container instead of simply putting it out by the curb. If you are using a wall mount for your new flat-screen TV, invest in a security cable to keep it in place and make it a less tempting target should a burglar manage to access your home.
Get to Know Your Neighbours
There is safety in numbers, and getting to know the neighbours is one of the best ways to keep your home and family secure. Take the time to introduce yourself to the neighbour across the street and the family who lives in the home next door. Once you get to know one another, you and your neighbours can keep tabs on one another's homes and report signs of suspicious activity in the area.
Whether you organize a formal neighbourhood watch or simply maintain a casual lookout for possible intruders, banding together can keep everyone who lives on your street safer and more secure. Neighbours should watch out for one another, and simply getting to know the people who live in the surrounding houses can keep you, and your single family home, a lot safer.
Sometimes it seems like there is little we can do to protect ourselves from crime, but much of your security is within your control. From assessing the security of your single family home and making yourself a less tempting target to getting together with the neighbours, there are proactive steps you can take to keep your home safer and protect the things you own.
Author: Be Conrad