5 Common Home Security Mistakes

If you’re a home­own­er, you know how impor­tant it is to keep your invest­ment in a great shape, and you prob­a­bly take plen­ty of mea­sures to ensure the peo­ple and belong­ings inside it are kept safe at all times. How­ev­er, if you’re like most peo­ple, you could be unin­ten­tion­al­ly putting your­self in harm’s way.

The car­di­nal rule for home secu­ri­ty, like many areas of life, is to nev­er assume any­thing. Nev­er think that a bur­glary couldn’t hap­pen to you; always stay proac­tive in your efforts to keep unwant­ed intrud­ers out. By doing so, you’ll have the peace of mind know­ing your fam­i­ly is always safe and sound. And who bet­ter to give advice on home secu­ri­ty than a for­mer, pro­fes­sion­al bur­glar? Exten­sive research con­duct­ed by a com­pa­ny called BrightNest along­side for­mer career crim­i­nals uncov­ered a wealth of valu­able infor­ma­tion that home­own­ers can use to assess the cur­rent con­di­tion of their home secu­ri­ty, as well as to amp it up if need be.

Do You Make These Home Secu­ri­ty Mis­takes?

1. 1. Leav­ing sec­ond-sto­ry win­dows unlocked

You might think it sil­ly to lock the win­dows on the upper floor, since most break-ins occur at ground lev­el, right?

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, this isn’t the case.

If a bur­glar has access to a lad­der, which they often do because peo­ple leave them out in the open for quick access, they will waste no time going up if your front door is locked. They know most sec­ond-sto­ry win­dows are vul­ner­a­ble entry points; don’t fall vic­tim to their skill.

1. 1. Telling the world what you keep inside those walls

Most peo­ple don’t think twice about toss­ing that new TV or com­put­er box to the curb for trash col­lec­tion, but they should. In the world of thieves, this is the best adver­tis­ing there is. If an intrud­er is less like­ly to know what they might find inside, the less like­ly they’ll be to break-in.

1. 1. Offer­ing per­fect con­ceal­ment

Bush­es need to be trimmed and motion detec­tors need to be installed if you want to boost your home’s anti-intru­sion mea­sures. You want to get rid of any pos­si­ble hid­ing spot a poten­tial bur­glar could take advan­tage of.

1. 1. Social media boast­ing gets peo­ple in trou­ble

If your Face­book or Twit­ter pro­file is open for the world to see, be very care­ful about what you post. Announc­ing your 2‑week sum­mer vaca­tion online could attract unwant­ed atten­tion. Think about it; you are lit­er­al­ly telling would-be intrud­ers they have an easy tar­get.

1. 1. Keep­ing the lights off all the time

Sim­ply leav­ing the porch light on is enough to deter bur­glars, espe­cial­ly if there are no cars in the dri­ve­way. You want to make peo­ple think you’re at home, since the vast num­ber of break-ins hap­pens dur­ing broad day­light.

Stop putting your family’s safe­ty on the line and mak­ing your home a dead give­away for intrud­ers. Get smart and keep them off your prop­er­ty with these insid­er tips, and con­tact PROTECTION PLUS ® for more infor­ma­tion.