How to Protect Your House from a Thief

Here are some tips on how you can make your house safe, protected, and keep a thief away.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• time
• patience
• money (optional)

1. 

   Pretend you're the thief. Thief-proofing your house should begin with a walk around the outside of your home. Ask yourself where you'd break-in at. Look at vulnerable areas such as windows, doors, garages, etc. Are they sturdy? Do the locks work? Can you see inside the home? If you can see valuables inside your house, so can a burglar. Put expensive items in a safe or a lockbox. Sliding glass doors and pet doors are prime spots for a criminal to "attack".

2. 

   If you have the financial means, install a home security system or at least a door alarm. Thieves usually will run away if there's a loud alarm going off. Have a loud dog that barks when people come over? That's another great way to prevent theft!
   
   Be sure to cut back any bushes or hedges that may be overgrown and give a potential robber a place to hide. If you're thinking of planting bushes, try cactus or rose bushes. A thief would have to be pretty desperate to climb over those to break-in to a house!
   
   Make sure outside doors have more than one lock on them because a criminal can sometimes break through one lock very quickly.

3. 

   Let your neighbors know when you'll be out of town so they can keep an eye on your home. Set up a community watch so everyone knows to watch for criminal activity and alert the police to anything suspicious. Make sure to close all of your curtains if you'll be out of town and stop the mail and newspaper delivery.

[Veesites]

on 10/7/2008 Good advice. Another good idea is to keep an outside light on at night.