Holiday Security Tips to Keep Your Home Safe

The holidays are a time for happiness and cheer. While most people are spending time with loved ones or enjoying a family vacation, thieves and burglars are plotting their next attempt to steal from easy targets.
This time of year is especially critical to be vigilant about home security since it’s when your home will likely have expensive gifts or cash lying around. It’s also the time when most of us are out and about, traveling and not guarding those possessions.
Here are some tips to keep your home safe this holiday season.
Lock Up It can be easy with all of the holiday frenzy happening as you rush out the door to make it to mom’s dinner engagement on time, to forget to lock your doors. This leaves you as an easy target for burglary. Many thefts occur when people simply forget to use their locks. Always check and triple check that all doors, windows, cars and entry ways are locked to discourage burglars when you’re home, before bed, and as you’re heading out.
Rekeying If you’re worried about who may have a copy of your keys (strangers or people you know) gaining unauthorized access to your home while you’re away, consider having the locks rekeyed. A locksmith can come out and change the cylinder and pins inside the current lock so that only a new key will fit and work with it. Alternatively, you can have high security or pick resistant locks installed.
Fake It An age old trick to shy away burglars is to leave a light on, make your home look occupied even if it’s not. If you’re going away from a trip don’t announce it to social media and alert would-be crooks about your absence. Also you’ll want to plan out how to deal with your mail and news delivery so it isn’t obvious no one has been home to collect it.
Invest in Video Monitoring Today the cost for many of these technologies is declining so monitoring your premises isn’t a far-fetched or expensive idea to consider. From service provider offerings to cloud-based self-installs, it’s easier than ever now to view what’s happening at your home from your mobile device.