As a homeowner, you can deter burglars by protecting your home in the right fashion and avoiding a few simple habits. Homeowners need to look for the weaknesses in their homes, take care of their landscaping, get to know their neighbors, set up lighting, and other essential easy precautions to protect their homes.
Most burglars look for easily predictable homeowners that do not take simple precautions. Make your life easier by using some of the suggestions in this article.
What can you do to deter burglars? Install a smart lock, set up lawn and patio lighting, install smart cameras with alerts, set up a doorbell camera, use safes, and coordinate with your neighbors when you are out of town. In this article, we will discuss what you can do to deter burglars and things that actually attract burglars to your home.
What You Want to Do to Deter Burglars
There are a number of things you can do to protect your home and family from burglars from simplistic items such as keeping a pet(s) in the house to more complex items such as installing smart light with timers. The important thing to remember is that you want to protect your home from the outside in while you are home and while you are away. Take the necessary precautions.
Address Any Weaknesses
The first thing you need to do is take a walk around the outside of your house and look for any weaknesses. This means you are looking for any potential means of access that are simple and quick. You are also looking for vulnerable electronics, jewelry, and memorabilia that are out in the open and easy for a burglar to spot making your home a prime location to hit.
Possible weaknesses can be:
- Weak/inexpensive locks on doors
- Inadequate support of door frames
- Unlatched or broken window frames
- Unprotected glass in windows
- Garage door that does not lock
- Basement door that does not lock
- Unset alarm system
- Trees that allow access to the second story
- No list of valuable assets in the home
From there you can make necessary changes and adjustments to ensure your home is protected against the possibility of being burglarized. Ensure your windows are latched, doors are locked, and garages are closed.
Install a Smart Lock
Installing a smart lock would be an excellent idea for all doors on your home. Smart locks allow you to capture and log all entries into and out of your home as well as provide guest access. The locks also auto-lock ensuring no one leaves the home unlocked at any time.
What is the value of a smart lock?
- Never forget your keys again
- Never forget to lock the door again
- Never have to use a physical key again
- Allow guests a guest code and change it at any time
There are various versions of smart locks, but typically an access code is used to gain entry into the doors. Amazon Alexa and Google Home are integrated so that voice controls are available. Schedules can be created via the app as well as monitoring.
Set Up Lawn and Patio Lighting
Smart integration can go even further with lawn and patio lighting. Smart LED lights have been created for driveways, garages, lawns, and patios. Most can be synced with your smart home devices so that motion activation and schedules can be created as well. With that being said you can set up a time for your lights to come on every evening or when someone approaches your front door.
What is the added value of installing lawn and patio smart lights?
- Motion integration so that your porch light comes on upon motion
- Routine scheduling so that your lights come on at night as scheduled
- Holiday lighting made easy
- Your lights can be on even while you are away on business or vacation
This type of light installation makes it highly likely that burglars will be deterred from showing up at your house.
Install Smart Cameras with Alerts
The installation of smart cameras allows you to set up alerts for just about anything in the field of view of your camera as well as sound. You can set up alerts for dogs barking, someone talking, if something walks into your cameras field of view, etc. You can even set up familiar faces on some cameras so that you eliminate some alerts.
What are the benefits of installing a smart camera(s)?
- Peace of mind knowing that you get alerts if someone comes into your cameras view
- Notifications if your dog barks
- Notifications if someone is talking around your camera
- The ability to watch what is going on in your house, in your front yard, and/or backyard
Setting up smart cameras in the front of your house, in the backyard, and even in the family areas of your home is worthwhile. Cameras are one of the top deterrents for burglars.
Install a Doorbell Camera with Alerts
Doorbell cameras have become extremely popular because you can set up alerts and notifications when someone arrives at your door. You have the ability to see who it is and even speak to them without even opening the door. The value in this is priceless.
What are the benefits of installing a smart doorbell?
- Most burglars will notice the doorbell camera at first approach and leave
- Excellent video footage if your house does get broke into
- You have the value of seeing who is at your door prior to opening the door
Most burglars knock on the front door before they decide to burglarize the home, so you are already one step ahead of them because they are now on camera. Hopefully, they see the camera and make the decision to leave, but if they do not you have them on camera!
Dogs Are Good Security
More often than not a dog is an excellent addition to a home for added protection against burglars. Most burglars do not want to spend time worrying about a loud barking dog when they can go to another house that does not have pets.
So, having a dog in the backyard or in the house is an added bonus for you and your family, especially larger breeds.
Bolt Down the Safe
It is highly important that you do not leave your most expensive and cherished possessions out in the open or in your bedroom. Most burglars will hit the master bedroom first, so do not leave your most expensive jewelry sitting on your nightstand.
I recommend buying a safe that you can bolt to the ground somewhere, maybe even the kid’s playroom closet. Burglars hate toys and hate playrooms because toys are loud and slow them down. Lock all of your essential possessions in the safe bolted to the ground.
Coordinate with Neighbors
One of the most essential things you can do is get to know all of your neighbors really well. Develop friendships and close relationships so that when you are out of town for business or vacation you can keep an eye on each other’s houses. Make an arrangement where you can pick up each other’s mail and newspapers.
You never want to leave old mail and newspapers on your doorstep. This makes it all too obvious that you are not home and your house is available for a break-in. Keeping an eye on each other’s homes while you are away is what a neighbor should do. Develop those relationships so that you can help each other out.
Maintain Your Yard
Last and just as important you should maintain your yard so that you do not develop places for burglars to hide in wait. High shrubs and bushes make perfect places for a burglar to hide out and wait for the right opportunity to burglarize your home. I also recommend removing toys, bikes, chairs, etc. These are all free advertisements of what might be in your home.
Things Homeowners Should Avoid
There are some things you should avoid doing as a homeowner. The following list will actually attract burglars, unfortunately, so keep these in mind as you are preparing your home for protection against burglars.
Owning Guns as a Deterrent
Although owning a gun may make you feel safe, it does not actually deter burglars. They do not know you have a gun so there is nothing keeping them from trying to break into your home. You are better off being more proactive such as setting up a security system. Feeling safe is great, but being safe is far better.
Very Large Fences
Having a large fence for privacy is a wonderful thing. You can keep people from spying on you and your family, but you are setting yourself up for failure. Large nine- and twelve-foot fences are great for outdoor barbeques and playing with the kids, but they also provide adequate protection for burglars looking for a safe space while scanning your backyard for entry into your home. You are far better off with a shorter fence that allows your neighbors to see who might be trying to access your backdoor.
Letting Your Mail Pile Up
Burglars are excellent at looking for homes that have excess mail in the mailbox and newspapers on the front porch. They are looking for homes that have been empty for a day or two with families on vacation. It is in your best interest to have someone come check your mail and pick up the newspapers while you are out of town. This will help keep burglars away while you are out having fun.
Poor Landscaping
Poor landscaping with built up bushes and overgrown trees make it easy for burglars to blend in while looking for unlatched windows and open doors. It is essential you keep your yard in decent condition so that there are no free hidden places for burglars to hide.
Installation of Alarm Near Glass Door
Do not let your alarm company put your control panel near a glass door where burglars can see if it is set or not. That is the most convent location for a burglar to see if they can walk right into your home or not. Even if the glass is etched a burglar can tell if you forgot to set the alarm.
