As the days get shorter, and the nights get longer, we often feel a sense of unease about our safety coming over us. Perhaps it’s the combination of shorter, colder days and the eeriness of the creepy Halloween season, but whatever it is, there’s nothing worse than thinking about strange man tiptoeing around your home while you’re sleeping. What if someone tried to break into your home? Or what if you came home from work one day only to find your house trashed and many of your belongings stolen? It’s a terrifying thought (especially when you consider that the intruder could still be in your home), but it can happen – even in neighborhoods where crime rates are low. To help keep you safer at home, we’ve compiled some useful tips for making your home a less likely target of theft and intrusions.
Here are our top 5 tips for keeping your home secure:
- Make a habit of keeping your doors and windows closed and locked. If you open a window for fresh air, do not leave it unattended. Do you regularly forget to lock your front door? You may want to consider installing a smart door lock that automatically locks as the door shuts. Many of these advanced door locks also allow you lock or unlock your door from your smartphone. Another good practice to incorporate into your daily life is to keep your garage door closed when it is not in use. These habits will serve you well and keep you safe in the long run.
- Keep your valuables away from windows and doors to ensure they are out of view. If you have windows outlining your front door, you may want to cover them. There are many high quality options for door window decals that give your windows a frosted look. These opaque decals will prevent thieves from peaking in to see what you’ve got! You should also reinforce doors and windows to make them difficult to penetrate. We like to use deadbolts, chain locks and metal sticks that sit securely at the base of our sliding doors. Pay special attention to securing your deck as well. This is a perfect place for burglars to enter your home unnoticed. What makes deck doors prime hotspots for forced entry is that many deck entrances are either made of all glass or with more glass than most other doors. You may want to consider installing a fence around the back of your home or a gate at your deck steps as an additional barrier to entry. These solutions give us additional peace of mind that even if the door isn’t locked properly, an intruder would struggle to gain access to one’s home.
- Get a security system. A security system is one of the best ways to protect your home from break-ins and intrusions. Nowadays you don’t need to have a professional come in and install a system. Most are DIY and easy to install. A major consideration when shopping around for a new security system is if you want to be monitored 24/seven by professionals who will call authorities if they detect anything wrong. If this is important to you, make sure the service provider you choose offers this option. If you’re unsure of which security system to install in your home, you can read more about them here: Choosing the Right Security System for Your Home.
- Use motion detecting lights around the exterior and interior of your home. Flooding your yard with light when an intruder comes near your property serves as a great deterrent. It’s a cheap, easy and effective way to keep you and your loved ones safe. The same applies indoors. If an intruder finds their way into your home, a motion censored light that gives the impression that someone in the house is awake might be all it takes to scare them off.
- Cameras! By now you’ve probably seen a neighbor’s Ring doorbell that begins recording as soon as it detects motion. You can install a video-recording doorbell and external cameras around your home to let intruders know that they are being recorded the second they get near your home. Not only will cameras keep intruders away when they see them obviously placed around your home, but if in the unfortunate event that a stranger enters your home, you’ll have them caught on camera and hopefully caught in real life!
We know that the thought of strangers invading your home is terrifying, but by following these tips, you can keep your home safe from intrusions and other unwanted visitors. A bonus tip to securing your home and privacy is to be mindful of where you are sharing your home address, especially online.
Have any more tips for keeping your home safe? E-mail us at marketing(at)theparrishlawfirm.com!
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About Jim Parrish
Jim Parrish’s vision has always been to bring peace to clients whose lives have been turned upside down by their personal injuries and from dealing with unscrupulous insurance companies. With over 20 years of personal injury experience, as well as prior experience working with the insurance companies, Jim is well versed in the tricky ways that insurance companies try to scheme their way out of paying damages to deserving injured persons.
For the first several years of his career, Jim Parrish worked for, provided advice to and represented insurance companies in claims across the nation. However, after seeing the injustice of good people being deprived of fair and reasonable payment for life-changing injuries and damage, Jim decided to use the skills and knowledge he learned from inside the insurance industry to champion the rights of victims of harm and wrongdoing.
Jim’s practice is exclusively limited to personal injury matters arising from car/motorcycle/trucking accidents, dog attacks, products liability, and more.
If you have been involved in a personal injury, call the Parrish Law Firm for a FREE legal consultation today at (571) 364 – 6307.
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