Thousands of burglaries happen every day, which deprive homeowners of their valuable possessions. The sheer experience is frightening since it makes you feel unsafe and violated. Worst of all, it can even put your life at risk. 

Is it worth mentioning that many of these burglaries are preventable? Mistakes like keeping the windows open or unlocked, or hiding a key under the mat, or announcing you're not home can make you an easy target. The question is, are you making the common mistakes which could leave your family and possessions at risk?

Below are the eight mistakes that you should avoid at all costs:

1) Hiding Keys Outside 

Most people hide the keys to the house somewhere in their yard in places like under the doormat, a rock, or birdhouse. But these places are predictable for experienced thieves. They make sure to check these spots for keys beforehand to get access. 

People still hide the keys under the welcome mat, which proves to be very risky. Instead, You should try to keep the key as far from the house as possible. Either hide them somewhere safe or take them with you when you go out. 

2) Sharing Plans on Social Media

While social media can be a great place to show your excitement, there is a chance that it might backfire. If you post plans with dates, travel locations, or pictures, a burglar can easily identify an opportunity to break-in. 

Since everyone uses the internet and some kind of social media, you never know who could be a potential intruder. If someone has been watching you, once they see you post an upcoming trip, that is an easy hint that you are out of town, and will be more likely to come for your possessions and breakin to your home. The best thing to do is to keep it to yourself or inform only trusted people. 

3) Leaving Valuables in Sight

Usually before burglars make any breakin attempt, they do their homework. They snoop around your property, check to see if there are any security systems or cameras, or any weak and easy access points. During their investigation, they will also peak through windows to see what valuables just ‘sit around’ and asses if a breakin is worth it.

That is why you must keep valuables like phones, laptops, and safes away from windows and front doors. Easy solutions to scare away intruders are by getting curtains or blinds, home security system stickers, and cameras. Of course, even with these things, we do recommend a safe so you can properly store your valuables without having to worry about theft. Even if an intruder does get in, the average response time for police is 10 min.  

4) Leaving a Ladder in Your Backyard

If you do any work on your property, it is common that people forget to store their ladders back in a garage or shed. Be careful - leaving a ladder out gives a thief ladder access to a second floor, which is usually not as secure as a first floor. 

Securing the ladder is of utmost importance, even if you are home. Failing to do so will only make it more possible for a burglar. 

5) Visible Alarm System

Alarm systems are a great way to defend against burglars, but be careful what you advertise about your system. Depending on the type of system you have, some burglars are familiar with how they notify authorities - if they can easily disconnect that system, you won't have any authorities swarming to your house like you would’ve wanted to. 

Be careful where you store your systems. If the system is visible to an outsider, anyone can peer in and check whether the system is on or not, making it an easy opportunity for an intruder. This is why we always recommend having a safe for your valuables and not only having an alarm system. Sometimes you can forget to activate your alarm system, but with your safe, it is always locked.

6) Forgetting to Lock Windows and Doors

Despite being an obvious mistake, people always forget a window open or unlocked. You might think there is no harm in doing it since you are going out for only a few minutes, however, that is more than enough time for a burglar to do whatever he needs to do. So make sure to lock the doors and windows before you go out.

7) Showing Signs of a Vacant Home

Piles of advertising brochures, newsletters, and magazines, boxes, and mail are indicators that your home is vacant. If any thief sees that, they will automatically assume that the owners are not home and use this to their advantage. We recommend finding someone who will come to your house and collect your mail. If you do not have anyone you can rely on, then get a mailbox, or ask your mailman to deliver to another door. To avoid showing signs of an unoccupied home, make sure to cancel or hold your news subscription.

It is common practice to turn off the light of a room you leave and to turn off all the lights of a house when you leave it. Doing this can help you save money, however, if your home has not been used in days, that is another sign you are not home, and burglars identify it as one of the opportunities for stealing. An easy solution for this is buying timed light bulbs from Geeni that can be set remote from anywhere. 

8) Not Investing in Home Security Systems

Not everyone wants to invest in a home security system. Whether that’s because they don’t want to set their alarm, or the monthly costs are too high, there are other steps to take to ensure your home is secure, and that is where today’s technology helps. 

Exterior cameras allow you to see the perpetrators, which makes for great evidence if you go to the police. Although maybe not your best home movie, you could see minutes before someone breaks into your home and after they leave, which could help you see what you need to improve on in terms of home security so it doesn’t happen again. 

As we briefly discussed above, having all of these measures in place are great, but they aren’t the ultimate solution. What good is it having a video of someone stealing your watch? What good is it if you have a security system, but by the time you get there, your valuables are gone? This is why we highly recommend having a smart safe. Whether it is an expensive top of the line biometric safe or something simple, it helps as an extra layer of protection. Of course it all depends on what you can afford and what you plan to store. We highly recommend The Space Safe smart safe from SPACE. 

There is nothing more important than security and protection, and The Space Safe is no ordinary home safe that does exactly that. It has cameras inside and outside, which the app lets you remotely stream anywhere in the world, tamper and accelerometer sensors to notify you if someone attempts to access or move your safe, and so many other awesome features. The best part is the touchscreen lcd display helps hide your safe in plain sight. 

Get it now at www.TheSpaceSafe.com  

Images used are not the property of space and are used for inspiration to discuss the products

- Emma Carnet