Simple Steps Towards a Good Home Security Attitude

While it may be surprising for many homeowners, the first step towards excellent home security is attitude! Having the right attitude is what gets the ball rolling on truly protecting a home, instead of leaving its safety and security up to fate, chance or consequence. Most people who are not proactive in their own home protection scheme sit around thinking that "it won't happen to them," or that "whatever happens, happens." These attitudes mean the home is unlikely to have the features and amenities that would protect it from suffering such a fate. While feeling complacent or fatalistic might be okay on their own free time, it's simply not okay when there is an entire family to think about protecting. Keeping a home safe is not just about keeping the objects and belongings inside safe from robbery or harm, but keeping danger away from the people that live inside too. It's about creating a safe haven where there's no need to worry about things like burglars, thieves and other intruders barging in during the night. Ready to start taking responsibility for your own home security? Good! Start with this simple checklist.

Check the locks. Take a spin around the house and check the locks on all the doors and windows. Are they all functioning properly? Is there any indication that someone has attempted forced entry? Are any doors or windows missing locks entirely, or equipped with outdated systems? Take good notes and go straight to the phone after to call a locksmith and get the problem solved for once and for all! Don't forget to focus on areas like the garage, sliding glass doors, the gate to the home, and even the gate to the swimming pool.

Retrieve the spare key. If you have a key hidden somewhere outside your home, you have basically invited any intruder with a few spare minutes to watch you arrive home from work and retrieve it, right into your home. Even the best home alarm system won't do much good to protect a family if they hand a dangerous criminal the key to the front door! Instead of hiding a key, try leaving it with a trusted neighbor, or installing a keypad or fingerprint lock on at least one door to the home so you've always got an alternative.

Other exterior locks. Many people concentrate so hard on making sure the main doors and windows to the home are locked that they forget some important details. If there are any outbuildings on the property like barns or sheds, they can severely increase the chance someone will attempt a break in. When left unlocked these buildings are treasure chests of useful tools that a burglar could use to break into your home, or even your neighbor's homes. Other easily missed areas to lock are basement doors and windows, and even external fuse boxes and power sources which could be shorted making a break in all the easier.

Set an alarm. Just the signage saying that a home is protected by a home alarm system can severely decrease the chances that it will be broken into. Even those homes that are still broken into report far, far less loss and damage due to the intruder being 'rushed.' The most important feature is the early warning you and your family get so there's time to protect yourselves.