8 BASICS TO KEEP A HOME SAFE
Keep Doors Locked
As obvious as this one may sound, it’s perhaps the most important. You may be coming from a place where it’s absolutely normal to keep the front door unlocked while you’re home in the daytime, but doing that here can mean your unwanted visitors can come into your home. Whether you’re in the living room with the TV on, can see the front door, only stepping out to check the mail, just going to your neighbor’s for 5 minutes, or whatever excuse you may come up with, lock it.
If you’re in a single-family house or a townhouse that has an attached garage, make sure that the door that connects the garage to your room is always locked as well. Garage doors are notoriously easy to open from the outside, so your unwanted visitors can access your home via the garage if the door leading to your home is left unlocked.
You also want to make sure that your car is locked at all times even when it’s parked in the garage.
Don’t Let People See the Inside
You must be a very generous person if you welcome a solicitor into your living room for a cup of coffee. No, no, and NO! While that may be the etiquette in some countries, do not do that here. In fact, you should not even let these people see the inside of your home. As official as they may look, you really don’t know if they are who they say they are. It could be a thief trying to figure out the layout of your home to plan what “treasures” to take when visiting your home next time. Be confident enough to say “no thanks” without even opening the door no matter how rude you think that is.
When Going on a Vacation…
Burglars are not necessarily complete strangers. They may be your neighbors or “friends” who happen to be going through a financial crisis. If you don’t have a live-in armed guard or the like that will look after your home, don’t advertise that you’ll be away from your home on social media. As excited as you may be going on the well deserved vacation, nobody wants to come back to find a robbed home. Tweet and post on Facebook after you’ve come home.
You may want to think about home automation or at least a device that will automatically control your light. If you leave the lights on 24/7 while you’re away, you’re pretty much giving it away to the public that nobody is in the house.
Also, if you will be away from your home for an extended period, USPS can hold your mail. Don’t let mail pile up if your mailbox is visible from the outside. The same rule applies if you subscribe to printed newspaper.
Avoid “Hiding” the Entrance
It is so much easier for a burglar to sneak into a home through an entrance that’s hidden with high walls or tall bushes without being seen from people passing by. Keep those bushes trimmed.
Simple is Best
Yes, don’t outgrow the bushes, and having clumsy landscaping can also suggest that nobody is in the home. Keep the lawn trimmed no matter how lazy you are. At the same time, you wouldn’t want to stand out among other homes by having a highly sophisticated front yard because if you have good taste (and money) to maintain a fancy landscaping, thieves can assume that you most likely have an excellent taste in the home as well.
Burglar Bars
Homes in urban scenes, especially in high crime zones, often have burglar bars installed on doors and windows. While we highly recommend you against living in a high crime neighborhood, it’s probably a good idea to have burglar bars installed if everyone else around you has them. Do note though that as well as these burglar bars may perform by keeping burglars out, you will have as much difficulty evacuating from a window if you ever need to – say in case of a fire.
You may also want to read some tips to avoid a fire from our article, “Moving to a Dry Climate,” written by our experts who live in the desert – the people who are the most cautious to avoid house fires.
Home Security
We’ll elaborate a bit on this one because a lot of you may be coming to the U.S. from a country where home security is uncommon.
Whether you live in a single-family house or in an apartment building with a concierge, you want to have a home security system. As we’ve mentioned earlier, thieves aren’t necessarily complete strangers from the next city over; they can very well be the people who live in your community and already have access to come up to your door. Having a security guard or living in a gated community could potentially keep a lot of unwanted visitors out, but they wouldn’t automatically make your home a crime-free zone.
Some people place cameras where they are clearly visible, but others suggest installing them in hidden spots such as inside an AC vent so that they will not be destroyed shall an intruder find them. We recommend having a few of each, but at the very least, have one at your front door.
The technology today allows us to remotely monitor our homes live from a smartphone app. We can monitor and communicate with people at the front door without actually opening it whether you’re home or not. Also, with porch pirating being a common problem nationwide, at least having a video footage of the thief will help the authorities make the arrest and potentially retrieve the stolen item.
ADT is the industry giant when it comes to home security. While fairly new, Simplisafe seems to be growing in popularity as well. Ring makes doorbell products that sync with your smartphone, but it is not exactly a home security system. Their products may work well for those living in apartment buildings and the front door is the only point of entry.
Your cable company may also provide home security. Check online reviews and see what others have to say, and shop around for a home security product before moving into your new home.
Home Insurance
If all of the above fails, you want to make sure that you’re covered by insurance.
As a homeowner, you should have a homeowner’s insurance.
As a renter, you should have a renter’s insurance.
Just like you wouldn’t have an auto insurance policy with plans to get involved in a car accident, have an insurance for your home in case the worst happens. Going by common sense, it would be much better to pay the monthly premiums instead of trying to start up a GoFundMe page when you notice that everything in your home is missing.
A homeowner’s or a rental insurance can cover property damage as well, but be sure to go over your policy before signing because some things like flood or damage from construction may not be included.
What precautions do you take to keep your home safe whether in the U.S. or a different country? Let us know in the comments.
If you haven’t found yourself a home yet in the United States, make sure to read our article on choosing a safe neighborhood in the U.S.
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