How to protect your home from a holiday burglary

Most of us make it much too easy for a thief to enter our homes but especially in December. Think about it, many of us have a big bright tree marking where all of the expensive gadgets and valuable gift cards are. It can be quite simple for a burglar to make their own holiday wonderful (stealing your presents and valuables) while making yours miserable.

If a thief really wants to get into your home, you should try your hardest to make his job difficult. The easiest and cheapest way to protect your home from a burglary is to make your entry way nice and bright and to make it challenging for a burglar to get in your door.

The longer a thief is standing in front of your home trying to break in, under good lighting, the better the chance they will be caught. That’s not what the burglar wants so if your home is bright, that might be enough to deter him.

But it’s better to be safe than sorry so here are some other tips to help make your home unattractive to a thief:

• Never, ever leave doors and windows unlocked
• Install motion lights around your house to light up those dark areas
• Please do not leave a key in an obvious place like under the doormat or the planter
• Ensure all of your exterior doors have deadbolts
• Trim bushes and trees around doors and windows so burglars can’t work without fear of being seen
• Always rekey your locks when moving into a new home or apartment because you never know who has a key to get into your home

During the holiday season take these additional precautions:

• Don’t leave valuables or small, portable gifts where they can be spotted from a window
• Keep your Christmas tree away from a window
• Be cautious of strangers. A thief will often pose as a delivery man with gifts in order to gain access to your home so ask for identification. Also, if a stranger comes to your door asking to use the phone, don’t let them in. Make the call yourself.

It doesn’t take too much effort to protect your home from a burglary over the holiday season, but the peace of mind you’ll have is well worth the monetary and time investment you make.

Happy Holidays!