How to Protect Your Home from Burglars Right Now

Stop burglars cold with these home security tips

If you think you don’t have to worry about home security, consider this: Every 13 seconds, a home burglary takes place in the United States. That adds up to more than 2 million burglaries every year.

Will your home become one of those statistics? If you don’t act, you’re leaving it up to blind luck. But there’s a lot you can do to prevent home burglaries. And since most burglars are looking for an easy mark, the more unattractive you can make your home to them, the more likely that they’ll pass it by without even trying the doorknob.

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Here are some of the actions you can take to protect your home right this instant:
Store Valuables Out of Sight

If burglars can’t see anything valuable when they peek in your windows or doors (including upstairs windows), they’ll be less likely to feel it’s worth the risk of getting caught in the act.

Lock Up
More than one quarter of break-ins happen when someone is at home, and one third of residential assaults are the result of a burglary — so protect yourself and your valuables by locking windows and doors, even when you’re in the house. If you have an attached garage, that also includes the door between the garage and house.

Recover Your Keys
Storing an extra key in a fake rock or your patio planter may be convenient for you, but it’s also convenient for burglars — so go recover any keys you have stashed outdoors right now. You can leave a spare with a trusted neighbor or friend, or installing an electronic keypad for secure, key-less access.

Apply Protective Film
Applying a protective film to doors and windows does two things for you: It makes it harder for criminals to see into your house in the first place, and also makes it much harder for them to break the windows. (The film holds the glass pieces together, even when broken.)

Bar Sliding Doors and Windows
Most sliding doors (and windows) can be easily lifted out of their tracks, giving would-be burglars a convenient entry point to your home. Placing a wooden dowel in the door’s or window’s tracks, cut so it fits perfectly into the gap when the door or window is closed, is an inexpensive but effective deterrent.

Don’t Stop There
Remember, the longer it takes for burglars to get into your home and the more exposed he is in the effort, the less likely he is to even try. So don’t be afraid of investing in more advanced protection measures like a home security system. In fact, doing so cuts your risk of a home burglary by a whopping one third.

By: Ed McFaden

Watch this video for more tips of how to protect your home from burglars: