Moving into a new home is exciting.  It’s also a time of transition, however, and it’s important to take a few minutes to pay attention to home security.

Prior to selling, many property owners will remodel, paint, clean or have other maintenance done to a home.  This gives access to a large number of workers to the home.  Most of these workers are honest, but it only takes one bad hire by a contractor or service company to set you up for theft.  These workers are able to see the types of locks on doors and windows, the interior layout of the home and what type of alarm, if any, the home has.  Sometimes, they’re loaned keys that can be copied or given the code to an alarm system.  If one of these individuals happens to be dishonest, they may just be casing the joint for criminal friends.

As you prepare to move into a new home, there are a number of steps you should take, and preferably before you spend your first night in the home.  Have locks to exterior doors or garages rekeyed or, better yet, replace them with new, high quality deadbolt locks.  Some locks are available with key control, which means keys can’t be copied at any old hardware store or key kiosk, but only at an authorized dealerership.  If the home has exterior gate or shed locks, replace those has well.

If the home has a security system, have an alarm company representative come out and review the system with you and make recommendations for improving the system.  Fully reset the alarm to clean out any old entry codes that might still be in the system, and set your own, new codes.

If there is a garage with a remote opener, have the code changed or, better yet, spend the $50 or so it costs to change to a rolling-code model.  These systems change the code at random and are much harder to crack than models with fixed codes.

These steps take very little time and effort, and will give you much greater peace of mind as you enjoy your first nights in your new home.

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Surprising Truths About Home Security

With unemployment as high as it’s been in decades, it’s no surprise that burglary rates are rising fast.  What is surprising are some of the facts about home security.  As people make efforts to make their homes and families safe, they often overlook these critical points.

1) Over 30% of illegal entries are unforced.  That’s right, almost a third.  An “unforced” entry means that the thief needed to do little or nothing to walk in the house.  Unforced entries occur mainly because people simply don’t lock their doors or windows.
This is not only a sure fire way to feel stupid when you discover a lot of valuable property missing, but it endangers you and your family as well.  Another way thieves make an unforced entry is by discovering those cleverly “hidden” keys over the door, under the doormat, in plastic rocks or other places that thieves know to look.  Extra keys are best kept with a trusted neighbor or friend.

2) Laziness is often a factor in break-ins.  Some studies show that over 40% of homes that have alarm systems almost never bother to set them.  An alarm may not stop a thief from breaking in, but it is likely to cut a theft short as thieves aren’t eager to get caught.  An alarm that isn’t turned on is no help at all.  There is no point in spending hard earned money on a decent alarm system (and spending even more to have it monitored) if it’s not even going to be turned on at night or when you’re out of the house.  Fortunately, this problem is easy to correct.  Use your security system!

3) Many folks have a false sense of security.  The truth is that most people don’t think much about home security until they become a victim of crime.  The longer “nothing happens” in the area where they live, the more likely they are to let their guards down, or to put off installing those window locks or anti-theft devices for a sliding glass door.  Once they are victims, in hindsight, they often realize that simple steps might have saved them from crime.  This is bad when valuable property is lost, but it’s absolutely heartbreaking if someone is hurt because folks believed “nothing like that ever happens around here.”

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A solid strategy for home security uses three tactics:

The first tactic is what most people think of when talking about home security, simply make it harder for a thief to break in. Thieves don’t want to work any harder than they have to for a payoff, and they will often look for the easiest targets in a given neighborhood. You make it harder to break into your home by having strong exterior doors (metal or solid hardwood, not hollow), good deadbolt locks on every door. In addition, every window in the house should have a keyed lock. These steps alone go a long way towards preventing burglary.

The second tactic is to make it riskier to break in. Just as thieves will avoid a target that’s too much work, they’ll avoid a target that they think might land them (back) in jail. Alarm systems are one of the best methods to keep the average thief away. The problem with alarms is that most people forget or simply stop setting them after awhile. One of the best things you can do for the security of your home is to 1) have a monitored alarm system and 2) set it every time you leave the house and at night.

Finally, the third way to improve your odds against crime is to make it less rewarding for thieves to break in. The trick here is that you don’t need to throw out everything of value in your home – you only have to make thieves think it’s not a very rewarding place to break in. If you have an expensive car, keep it hidden in the garage. Laptops, flat-screen tv’s and other highly target items for theft shouldn’t be left around where they can be seen through a window when you’re not home. If you have valuables in your home, be careful about who sees them. Most contract help, service workers and such probably aren’t tied in with criminal elements, but it only takes one to wipe you out.

Again, the three most important tactics you can take to secure your home are to make it harder, riskier and less rewarding to break in.

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