Top Security Measures that Help Protect Your Home

According to the FBI, approximately 11.5 out of 10,000 people fall prey to property crime per year. In addition, there is a burglary that occurs every 13 seconds, with 2.3 to 2.6 million robberies taking place every year. What’s even more shocking than these numbers is how much of an increased risk you take simply by not owning an alarm system in your home. In fact, your chances of being robbed go up by 300% if you don’t have a home security system! Furthermore, 83% of burglars say they look to see if a home has an alarm system before attempting a break-in! Despite a home security system seeming like the obvious solution to prevent property crime, the sad reality is that only 17% of US residents have a working alarm system installed in their home. This opens up an even greater amount of people to become victims of property crime, despite their best efforts to secure their home.

Even if these statistics paint a bleak future for home safety, fortunately there are easy and affordable ways to help secure your home. This article will break down the top 12 security measures that will help protect your home and how to invest in such measures without breaking the bank.

Top Security Measures that Protect Your Home from Invasion

There are many precautions you can take in order to ensure your home and family are well-protected from an invasion. They include:

• Invest in a home security system: This one seems the most obvious but is sometimes still overlooked. Since having a working home security system is one of the single most important deterrents when it comes to safely securing one’s home, installing a good quality alarm system is one of the best options when it comes to home safety. Although you may be eager to get any alarm system to protect yourself, make sure you take the time to ensure the home security system you are looking at contains encryption. An unencrypted connection between your security device and network connection opens you up to a data breach, which can lead to a home invasion. Since a home security system is meant to protect you and your family, not doing due diligence to ensure your security system is well protected can do your family more harm than good and makes owning a security device worthless. Do yourself a favor and make sure your network and device are well equipped to protect you from invasions. 
• Have a household meeting: Get the whole family in the habit to lock the doors and shut the garage door upon leaving the house. Make sure to tell your kids the dangers of opening the door for someone they don’t know and to alert you if they notice anything suspicious or out of the ordinary when playing outside, such as a new car parked by the house or someone watching the house from a distance.
• Call local police: Oftentimes municipal police departments will offer a complimentary walk-through of your house and suggest simple and affordable ways to help protect your home.
• Don’t trust your hidden house key: A lot of people think their hidden house key outside is kept secret and no one knows about it but unfortunately this may not be the case. All it takes is one time of you fetching your hidden key and someone else seeing it that can set you up for a home invasion. In this case, having a home security system that can lock and unlock doors for you, in case you forget your key, is extremely beneficial and worth the investment.  
• Make sure your keys and car remotes aren’t exposed from outside the house: This means, if you regularly place them by the door and someone from the outside could look inside and see them, it’s time to start storing them away in a drawer or another safe place.
• Lock away your ladder: Don’t keep ladders stored outside. Someone could easily pose as a contractor but instead is trying to invade your home.
• Add foreboding signs to your yard: Signs like “No Trespassing” or “Beware of Dog”  are useful to get a burglar’s attention and possibly deter them from trying to invade your home. Furthermore, one of the most alarming signs for an intruder to see is one posted from your home security company that shows your home is being monitored 24/7. Make sure these signs are highly visible so that the burglar knows the risk they take by trying to illegally enter your home.

• Keep the outdoor lights on: If you don’t already have outdoor lighting, this is definitely worth the investment. Keeping the lights on may signify to the attacker that someone is home or may make them leery of approaching a house where they could be seen by someone and have authorities called on them. 
• Create timers on your devices: If you will be out of your home for a while or vacationing, there are many smart devices on the market that can turn on and off lights and even turn on your tv to give the illusion that people are home. Once again, when a burglar assumes someone is home, the chances of a break-in are significantly decreased. 
• Eliminate any potential hiding spots: Keep trees and bushes near the house trimmed so that the robber has less spots to hide.
• Make sure you have good locks: Locks are the easiest way for a burglar to enter a home. Make sure your lock is a grade 1 or grade 2 dead-bolt that is transfixed on the door frame. There are many door lock buying guides out there that can ensure you have a lock that will keep your belongings and family safe. 
• Make sure you have good quality doors: Assess your front, side, and back doors and replace hollow doors with solid-core (wood or metal) or metal-clad doors. There are also many entry door buying guides that will help you determine if it’s time for a door upgrade around your house.

Investing in the Top Security Measures that Protect Your Home

While the list of the top security measures to protect your home may seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. First things first, ANY work to help improve your home will do wonders in protecting it. There is no need to fret over going around your home and replacing every door and lock to your home overnight, just taking small steps will help provide you with a better peace of mind. Furthermore, rest assured knowing that there are inexpensive home security devices that not only protect your home but also lead the industry in top-level security measures. This way, you don’t have to worry about taking all security measures into your own hands and instead can reserve your energy and time into other things that matter to you. 

If you are unsure how to go about finding an industry-leading home security company, please reach out to Smith Thompson Home Security and we would be happy to answer any home security questions you may have. We understand that you and your family’s safety and security is your top priority and we treat it as such.

Don’t delay in protecting your home. Reach out today and we will ensure your home is well protected from any possible threats in no time.