Put yourself in a burglar’s shoes. Preying on other’s prized property is perhaps one of your main sources of income. This is a high risk job, and you have perhaps been arrested before on these very same charges. If you had to pick a house to burgle, which would you rather pick – a house where the owners seem to be rich and careless of property, or a household which seems to be careful of its property and finances and has everything locked up properly?
Of course, you would choose the careless household. This is why all household owners should at least try to maintain an exterior look that is cautious and deterrent to burglars. This is not as hard as it seems, and attention to a few simple details will give any potential burglar just this impression of your household. Here are a few things you should consider:
1. Never leave any property outside, unattended
It is common to leave things such as bicycles, scooters or even cars in the yard or garden. This is a very bad practice, and to a potential burglar it signifies that not only is the household wealthy enough to be burgled, but they are also rather careless about their property, and probably will be very easy to strip of their possessions.
For this reason, you should leave all your possessions inside. Turn in your bicycles and scooters inside the garage, and definitely park your car in its proper place when its use is done for the day. Do not neglect in these tasks, or you may well find yourself the victim of a home invasion.
2. Install curtains in exterior windows
This is something that not only helps increase your overall privacy, but it will also deter burglars as they cannot see what is inside your house.
Burglars often like to see what is inside a household, so that they can formulate a clear plan to strip your house of your precious possessions. If you have curtains installed, it will not be so easy to see inside your house, and a potential burglar will be well deterred from attempting to invade your home.
Additionally, the right curtains can also give your house an elegant, yet simple look that will make your home the envy of the neighborhood.
3. Try not to keep evidence of expensive household items outside the house for too long:
Consider this: you have just bought a great television, the plasma screen makes all those favorite programs come to life. You have had it delivered to your home, but you have the package lying about in your yard.
A potential burglar on the prowl can easily see this as evidence that valuable possessions are in your home, and it will be worth his time to break in to your house.
So avoid these unwitting shows of possession as much as you can.
4. Consider adopting a guard dog:
This is not so much a way to make your house seem like it has no valuable possessions, but it is certainly a great way to deter burglars. Over the years, many burglars have found themselves maimed when trying to burgle a house with a loyal guard dog. Guard dogs make great pets, and you will find yourself growing an amazing bond with the strong animal of your choice, that will give you company, go with you on walks, and injure the Mickey out of any burglar that dares to invade your property.
It is important to remember that you don’t get burgled every day. It may be likely that you have never been burgled in your entire life. But that is no reason to feel that you will never be burgled, or burglars are just not interested in you. Remember that avoidance is the best cure, and give your home an anti-burglar look to deter these pesky criminals from ever considering invading your house.
