As a homeowner, keeping your family and property safe from intruders is one of your highest priorities. The FBI reports that a burglary happens in this country every 20 seconds. Keep your family safe by following these five easy ways to improve home security.

1. Properly Secure All Doors, Gates, and Windows

You might be surprised to learn that 30% of burglaries could have been prevented by locking doors and windows. Securing your entryways is one of the most important ways to protect your home. You can improve home security simply by installing deadbolts, kick plates, and reinforced hinges on all of your entry points.

Any gates around your property should also be secured with heavy-duty locks, and they should be tall enough to prevent intruders from easily climbing over them while carrying stolen goods. Secure your windows by using window locks and shutters.

2. Install Walls and Fencing Around Perimeter

Many new properties sold on the market today do not include walls or fencing around the perimeter. This is a common way of keeping the sale price down to attract buyers, but it also leaves new homeowners vulnerable to intruders and thieves.

It is best to secure your perimeter with some kind of tall fence or wall. Otherwise, you are making your property look more accessible to thieves who can pull their vehicles right up to your front or back door while you are away.

3. Add Security Lighting

Security lighting is another excellent way to improve home security. Your driveway, garage, front and back doors, and exterior gates should all be well-lit at night.

You can use motion sensor lights to attract attention when they are triggered and surprise anyone who is trying to stay unnoticed. Just make sure that you are using high-powered flood lights with bright LED bulbs to shine a lot of light on your property.

4. Install Cameras and Alarms

You should also have HD security cameras installed around both the interior and exterior of your home. Many homeowners will go so far as to include cameras in every single room of the house, and this is not a bad idea.

If you are burglarized, these cameras will help you identify all of the items that are stolen. This can be a huge time and money saver when it comes to filing your insurance claim or getting assistance from police to recover your possessions and catch the perpetrators.

5. Improve Home Security with a Security System

Many homeowners use a security system that ties together cameras, alarms, and lights with a smartphone app. This way, you can view live footage of your home remotely and control aspects such as locks and lights from your phone.

You may have seen signs in yards that say a home is protected by a certain security system. These signs are deterrents to let would-be burglars know that the house is under surveillance and these homeowners take their security seriously.

Protecting your home from burglars and intruders is a top priority and you have many options to help you improve home security. Some of them can even be installed on your own or with minimal professional assistance.

Thieves look for easy targets, but by following these five home security tips you’ll show them that your house is one that they will want to skip over when searching for their next victims.

Exceptional Engineering Home Inspections serves Maricopa County with home inspection services. Contact us to book your appointment.