Introduction: Five Ways to Protect Your Home From a Break-in That Won't Break the Bank

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Have you come home to find that someone has gotten in and taken off with your valuables? Or maybe you live in a city where property crimes are on the rise, so each time you come home, you’re worried about what you’ll find. Or maybe you don’t think about a break-in at all, convinced that such a thing can’t happen to you. And likely you’re right.

But better being safe than sorry, and with a few easy-to-implement, low- or no-cost preventive measures, you can easily cut your chances of a break-in, in some cases by more than 67%.

Step 1: Monitored Home Security Systems

According to the 2009 edition of the FBI’s Crime in the United States Report,* about two-thirds of all break-ins occur in homes without a security system in place, so consider having a monitored security system installed.

Monitored home security systems are inexpensive and include sensors on windows and doors; infrared motion detectors in your home; and a 24-hour battery backup in the event of a power failure. You get a keychain remote with panic button, and you control the system from a one-touch LCD panel usually installed near your front door. If unauthorized access is detected, an offsite monitoring center is alerted, and it, in turn, will notify you and necessary emergency services responders.

Step 2: Lawn Maintenance

Along the lines of an inexpensive monitored home security system, other low-cost ways of better protecting your home include regular yard and lawn maintenance, since some burglars will often hide on site, waiting for your home to be empty. Maintaining your yard and lawn will give burglars fewer – if any – places to hide.

Step 3: Motion-Sensitive Lighting

Consider installing motion-sensitive lighting in your yard. No one is likely to try to sneak into your home, if there every move is lighted. When you’re not home, this kind of feature may alert a neighbor or passerby that something is amiss.

Step 4: Neighbors

Neighbors are another valuable – and free – resource for protecting your home. When you go away on vacation, ask neighbors to keep a look out, and when a neighbor goes away, offer to do the same. Nosy neighbors may come in handy, when they’re standing between your home and a potential burglar.

Step 5: Windows and Doors

About 30% of the time, burglars get in through an unlocked window or door.* So be sure to lock your windows and doors when you’re not home, and for first-floor or basement-level windows and doors, consider adding deadbolts, since these types of lock are often more difficult to break than a door lock. If you open a window during the day, be sure to close it when you leave and at night.

Crime doesn’t have to pay, and it certainly doesn’t have to happen to you. Taking a few preventive measures can keep you from coming home to find that someone has been there, rifling through your dressers and closets, taking with them some of your most precious things.
* FBI Crime in the United States Report, 2009 (http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/property_crime/index.html)

William Henderson is a Boston-based writer who has been contributing to local and national newspapers and magazines for nearly 20 years. Pure Slush is publishing Henderson’s first book in 2013.