Keep Your Home Secure with These Tips
Americans love heading outdoors during the summer months. We spend entire days at family cookouts, lounge for hours on our gulf beaches, and enjoy weeklong vacations to far-flung places. These add up to many hours away from our homes, which is why July is an important time of year to take safety precautions to protect your home before you leave.
General Home Security Tips
Always secure windows, turn off appliances, and lock doors when leaving your home. These are well-known facts for protecting your property, but there are also actual deterrents to make your home less attractive to thieves. In addition to a barking dog or locked gate, you will find security lights and cameras at the top of most expert lists. Having motion-sensor lights or lights on timers can shine a spotlight on any activity around your home. Burglars, obviously, want to go undetected, which is why they often step away from homes with motion-detecting lights. Moreover, in today’s world of smart-technology, we can also control our home’s lighting and electronics from anywhere via our mobile devices or computer. That means you can turn on music, flick on the lights, and make the home appear to be bustling with activity even when nobody is home.
A step up from security lights is a complete home-security system that will alert authorities of any criminal activity, break-ins, or danger in the home. Depending on your budget, you can find an array of security-system installation and service options, including smart-alarm systems with cameras you can use to view a livestream of your home’s activity via the Internet or your mobile device. As real estate professionals, we are happy to assist customers by connecting you with local home-security experts in the Tampa area.
Home Security during Extended Trips
Many Floridians escape during the dreaded summer months. Extensive security measures are especially important for long vacations and for snowbirds leaving for several months’ time.
Start by making your home less of a target. Avoid having piles of newspapers stack up or Amazon delivery boxes towering over your doorway. It takes a simple phone call or e-mail to put a hold on newspaper delivery or mailing services. If you are expecting a delivery, ask a friend to stop by and stow the boxes for you. It would be wise to have your friend also inspect the house while you are away to ensure everything remains secure. He or she might check around the windows and doors to confirm there has been no suspicious activity. The mere presence of your friend’s activity when checking around your house could serve as a deterrent to any potential criminals casing your neighborhood.
As a final tip, we recommend that you be very careful on social media. Broadcasting the fact that you are away from your home could expose you to a world of trouble. Even if you have a trusted network of friends, a simple “like” or “share” could spread the news of your extended vacation to the eyes of strangers. With this in mind, save those vacation “selfies” for posting after your return. By implementing these simple tips, it will help you spend less time worrying about your home and more time enjoying your summer adventures.
Our Tampa-based team specializes in helping Floridians buy and sell homes and assisting seniors in enjoying the snowbird lifestyle. We also enjoy connecting customers of all ages with experts in a variety of home matters from interior design to home security. Call Dick and Karla Nielsen at 813-294-5786 for expert advice on buying, building or selling your home.
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