Top Tips for Home Owners

23 November 2011

Top Tips for Home Owners

Home owners who are planning to go away on holiday this summer can adopt some simple measures to help protect their properties from burglars.

ADT Armourguard General Manager, Ian Anderson, said trends for his organisation show that summer months, in particular December and January, are the busiest times for home alarm call outs.

"Many thieves see the summer as an opportune time for illegal behaviour," he said.

"End of year celebrations and summer gatherings mean that a lot of people find themselves away from home more often than usual. This unfortunately provides opportunities for unwelcome visitors, so it's important that home owners remain vigilant and take time to carefully evaluate home security measures.

"Nobody wants to return home from a relaxing break to find their house has been damaged or broken into."

Ian said the best defence against burglary is prevention and planning, and generally making a home unappealing to burglars.

The following tips can help keep home owners keep property safe over the coming months:

• Beware of who may be listening. Never announce travel plans in public areas close to home where others can overhear your conversation, or in online chat rooms and websites such as Facebook.

• Don't leave notes for family or friends outside your home as potential burglars can and will read them.

• Notify a trusted neighbour of your travel dates and discuss a reciprocal arrangement involving:

• Putting out your rubbish on collection day or putting their bin in front of your house.
• Clearing flyers, mail and packages left in front entrances and mailboxes.
• Occasionally parking their car in your driveway or in front of your home.

• Make sure all windows and doors are properly closed and locked. Use quality deadbolt or door locks as it is surprisingly easy to open a lock without one.

• Never hide spare keys in mailboxes, under doormats, above doorways or anywhere visible from the entry. Burglars know most of the hiding places.

• Don't leave tools lying around outside as this can invite impulse burglars to use them to break into your home.

• Do not let valuables be seen from the outside of your home. If you buy a new appliance make sure that you crush and conceal the boxes in your rubbish.

• Leave curtains slightly parted so your home doesn't look empty.

• Put mail on hold and suspend any daily newspapers.

• Install automatic timers for lights, radio and TVs; preferably at random or programmed intervals to create visual and audio deceptions.

• Install motion-sensor outdoor lights around your home and mount them high enough to prevent intruders from disabling them.

• Never leave an answer machine message indicating you are out or away. Instead, just say: "...you can't come to the phone." Also, lower the telephone ringing volume so that it cannot be heard from outside your home.

ENDS

© Scoop Media