Top 10 Security Mistakes Homeowners Make (And How to Avoid Them)

Even the most dili­gent home­own­ers can over­look secu­ri­ty basics. A door left unlocked, a spare key hid­den out­side, or out­dat­ed equip­ment can all leave your home vul­ner­a­ble. With bur­glary rates still a con­cern across many parts of Ontario, avoid­ing these minor mis­steps is key to main­tain­ing strong home pro­tec­tion. These secu­ri­ty tips will help close the gaps and give you the peace of mind that comes with a well-defend­ed home.

Avoid These Home Security Mistakes with Expert Security Tips

Hiding Spare Keys Outside

Leav­ing a spare key out­side is a mis­take bur­glars count on. From under the door­mat to inside a flow­er­pot, these hid­ing spots are often the first places an intrud­er will check. Even fake rocks are well known and eas­i­ly spot­ted.

Instead of risk­ing your home’s safe­ty, con­sid­er alter­na­tives. Smart locks allow you to pro­vide guests with tem­po­rary access via a dig­i­tal code. Anoth­er option is to leave a spare with a trust­ed neigh­bour or fam­i­ly mem­ber. The con­ve­nience of hid­ing a key out­side isn’t worth the risk to your home pro­tec­tion.

Leaving Doors and Windows Unlocked

Unlocked entry points are a lead­ing cause of res­i­den­tial break-ins. It only takes a few sec­onds for some­one to walk in through an open side door or win­dow.

Make a habit of lock­ing every door and win­dow, even when step­ping out for a quick errand or spend­ing time in the back­yard. Rein­forc­ing this habit is one of the sim­plest and most effec­tive bur­glary pre­ven­tion mea­sures you can take.

Ignoring the Garage

Many peo­ple for­get that the garage is a com­mon tar­get for intrud­ers. It often con­tains expen­sive tools, bikes, and access to the main house through a con­nect­ing door.

To pro­tect this weak spot, secure the garage door with a smart open­er or man­u­al dead­bolt. Also, install a sen­sor on the door that leads into your home. Treat this area with the same care as your front door.

Not Arming the Alarm System Consistently

Hav­ing a secu­ri­ty sys­tem only works if you use it. Many home­own­ers for­get to arm their alarms, espe­cial­ly when rush­ing out or head­ing to bed.

Use sys­tems with automa­tion fea­tures or app-based reminders that prompt you to arm your sys­tem. Some setups can auto­mat­i­cal­ly arm at cer­tain times or when your phone leaves the prop­er­ty. Sim­ple automa­tion can dra­mat­i­cal­ly improve your over­all home pro­tec­tion.

Poor Outdoor Lighting

Dark­ness is a burglar’s ally. Poor­ly lit exte­ri­ors give intrud­ers the cov­er they need to approach unno­ticed.

Install motion-acti­vat­ed light­ing around entry points, walk­ways, and dri­ve­ways. Keep porch lights on after dark or use timers to main­tain a con­sis­tent light­ing rou­tine. Prop­er light­ing alone can sig­nif­i­cant­ly improve bur­glary pre­ven­tion.

Posting Vacation Plans on Social Media

Announc­ing your trip online may seem harm­less, but it tells every­one that your house is emp­ty. Pub­lic social media posts are eas­i­ly acces­si­ble, and savvy crim­i­nals often use them to plan break-ins.

Hold off on post­ing vaca­tion updates until after you return. You can still share your adven­tures, just do it when you’re safe­ly home.

Using Outdated Security Technology

Old­er sys­tems often lack mod­ern fea­tures like remote access, real-time alerts, or high-def­i­n­i­tion video. This can leave gaps in your home’s defence and lim­it your abil­i­ty to respond to threats.

If your sys­tem is more than a few years old, it may be time to upgrade. Today’s secu­ri­ty tech­nol­o­gy offers smart cam­eras, app con­trol, and bet­ter inte­gra­tion with oth­er smart home devices. These upgrades pro­vide more com­pre­hen­sive pro­tec­tion and more con­ve­nience.

No Visible Security Deterrents

A vis­i­ble cam­era or alarm sign can be enough to make a thief think twice. Homes with­out any obvi­ous secu­ri­ty pres­ence are much more like­ly to be tar­get­ed.

Make sure your secu­ri­ty cam­eras are notice­able from the street, and place alarm sys­tem sig­nage in front and back yards. These vis­i­ble deter­rents send a strong mes­sage: this home is pro­tect­ed.

Not Regularly Checking or Maintaining Equipment

Even the best sys­tems need occa­sion­al main­te­nance. Dead bat­ter­ies, sen­sor mis­align­ment, or soft­ware issues can cre­ate blind spots you may not notice until it’s too late.

Con­duct reg­u­lar check­ups on your sys­tem. Test alarms, replace bat­ter­ies, and clean cam­era lens­es. An annu­al review or sea­son­al inspec­tion can help keep every­thing work­ing as it should.

Assuming “It Won’t Happen to Me”

Com­pla­cen­cy is one of the biggest secu­ri­ty threats. Think­ing your neigh­bour­hood is safe or that break-ins only hap­pen to oth­er peo­ple can lead to lax habits.

Home pro­tec­tion isn’t about fear; it’s about being pre­pared. Tak­ing a proac­tive approach with basic secu­ri­ty tips can help you avoid becom­ing an easy tar­get.

Why Home Security is About Habits as Much as Hardware

A sophis­ti­cat­ed secu­ri­ty sys­tem is only as strong as the peo­ple using it. Good habits like lock­ing doors, check­ing alarms, and reg­u­lar­ly updat­ing equip­ment make a dif­fer­ence. Aware­ness and con­sis­ten­cy turn tech­nol­o­gy into pro­tec­tion.

Fol­low­ing these secu­ri­ty tips won’t just pro­tect your home; they’ll help build the kind of rou­tines that keep your prop­er­ty safe in the long term. From check­ing locks before bed to stay­ing qui­et online about trav­el plans, small habits build strong defences.

Don’t Let Small Mistakes Lead to Big Consequences

Secu­ri­ty tips are most effec­tive when they’re built into your every­day habits. Tak­ing small steps now, like updat­ing your equip­ment, check­ing your locks, and using your alarm sys­tem, can go a long way toward long-term home pro­tec­tion.

Start your home pro­tec­tion plan with expert help from Pro­tec­tion Plus. Call 1–855-365‑7587 or click here to get start­ed today.