5 Important Tips To Protect Your Home From Burglars When You Are Away

Any family would feel violated after coming home to a ransacked house. Burglars look for specific things when choosing a home to break into, and many homeowners are unknowingly inviting criminals through the front door.

Below are five ways you can avoid drawing the eyes of thieves and deter your home from becoming a target.

Beware Of Selling To Strangers

If you're wanting to sell items on Craigslist or another internet-based classified ad website, attempt conducting your transactions outside of the home.

If you must meet at home, screen the person over the telephone to ensure that they are truly interested in the item you're selling. Thieves have been known to make appointments just to check out your home.

Be Careful If You Tweet About It

Not all of your friends protect their social media information, or may not have the most virtuous acquaintances. If you share your upcoming vacation or big event, then a mischievous friend of a friend will know the perfect time to forcefully check out your home.

Learn how to limit your social media posts to only your trusted contacts.

Mind Your Trash

Be careful when it comes to taking out the garbage, especially around holidays. Criminals will drive around nice neighborhoods and specifically look for empty boxes of high-price items. Then all they have to do is wait for you to leave the house before they force their way in and nab the goods.

Break down boxes and conceal them in garbage bags or trashcans.

Prepare For Your Vacation

Make sure when you leave on vacation that you put a few lights on timers and have someone collect your mail. A home that is obviously vacant is every burglar's dream.

And if you're on an extended holiday, ensure you also hire someone to take care of the lawn - overgrown grass is a no-one-is-home indicator.

Secure The Safe

Just because you put your valuables in a safe doesn't mean they're secure. If the safe isn't installed in a wall or bolted to the floor, then a burglar can just carry it through your front door. They can figure out how to break into it later.

Make the additional time investment to ensure your safe can't walk out the door.

With a little common sense and by following the advice above, you'll reduce the risk of your home being targeted by burglars. If you would like more information about keeping your home secure, please call your trusted real estate professional today.

Going On Vacation? Don't Tell The Burglars!

Want to help keep your home safe from burglars while on vacation? One smart way is to refrain from announcing your plans on various social networks such as Facebook. 

There's other common-sense tips, too, as shared in this 4-minute video from NBC's The Today Show.

Drawing from a series of interview with former convicts, you'll learn that there's more to keeping your home safe than just locking the doors and windows, and setting the alarm system for "away". You'll also want to make sure your home looks "lived in".

And some of these tricks you may have never thought of. 

For example, while on vacation:

• Make sure a neighbor is picking up your mail and newspapers daily
• If it snows, have a friend drive tracks in your driveway, or shovel it clean
• Set inside lights to a timer, giving the appearance someone being home

In addition, if you don't have a safe for valuables, consider moving them to a child's room. It's among the last places a burglar looks.

You can't make your home 100% safe from intruders but you can make your home a tougher target. Just use some common sense and follow the tips in the video.