It does not matter if you are living in a condominium, apartment or house, the thought of someone breaking in is always a cause of anxiety especially when sleeping at night. This is not even temporary, it can scar you permanently. Statistics show that there is an apartment, house or condo-unit that gets burglarized once in every 15 seconds.



You do not need to worry because burglary can be prevented. You just need to follow simple precautionary measures in order to reduce the risk of having your home become burglarized. However, it is important to remember that every home as well as situation is always different. This means, there are really no guarantees. It pays to be prepared.

First and foremost, you need to determine the kind of threat you need to be protected against. It has been noted that most home burglars are not that organized when it comes to planning their work. It is also hard to assess how they really choose their targets. However, burglars have a pattern of thought when it comes to looking for the perfect target. This would include a house that they know as unoccupied, has low visibility, can be easily accessed and has many valuables inside worth stealing.

Contrary to belief that most burglaries happen at night, it is during the day time that this is prevalent because more homes are vacant during the day, particularly for the large number of people who are working. Here are some useful tips in order to prevent such instances:

Have your home appear like it is always occupied. Sometimes it is good to leave some lights on to confuse robbers if someone is inside or not. When you are going out of the house, make sure you have automatic timers on your lights.

It is advisable to have your blinds or curtains closed to hide your belongings. Park you car inside your garage. Burglars usually see a pattern that closed garage doors or driveways with no cars would mean that the owner is not at home.

Set up your radios with automatic timers. Make sure you raise the volume high enough so that it can be heard from the outside.

It is also recommended to lower the sound of your answering machines, such that it will not be heard from outside. An answering machine signifies that no one is at home to take the call. Sometimes, if a robber is able to get your number, it would call you just to verify if someone is at home or not.

Do not leave notes by your front door. It will be tipping off burglars that you are away. Call your loved ones instead or send a text message. If you must leave a note, keep it away from the prying eyes of strangers.

If you will be away for a while, have your trusted neighbor get your newspaper and mail. It is better if you do not stop the service; this is like giving information to other people that you will be away for some time.

Hire some help when it comes to mowing your grass, shoveling the snow or having your garbage cans put outside and back in. Sometimes, burglars check the garbage cans. If it is empty, they would know that the family is away.

You can set up timers on your window draperies so as to open and close them. If it is constantly opened or closed, burglars will know that no one is around.

Ask a trusted neighbor to check on your house from time to time. If you will be away for a long time, ask the local police to periodically check on your home.

Another suggestion is design your home such that there will be little room for burglars to hide. It is best that your parking area has good lighting.

Instead of leaving the lights on every night, you can set up motion detector lights all over your house. These lights that would go on and off will attract the attention of your neighbors. However, it is best to install these 8 feet or more above the ground. This way, burglars will find it harder to disable.

Your yard should be free from overgrowth. Remove shrubs and bushes around your house, particularly the ones beside your doors and under your windows. If you do have one, it is best to get the ones with thorns. This way, burglars will think twice in hiding there.

It is best to have alarm system installed. Get an alarm system with flash lights and alarm clock. This will attract the attention of your neighbors. Your alarm should have decals displayed. Hence, you should test your alarm system periodically.