You have just moved into your brand new home that you have worked hard for years to save and purchase, and just when you are about to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, you are hit by a burglary. For the people who have had their safety threatened in their own homes, the experience can be jarring, and it never goes away.

In an ideal society, home security should be every home owner’s right, something that is provided by the government and state authorities. However, that never happens most of the time; therefore, it comes down to a homeowner taking matters into their own hands. The following are ways you can secure your home from external threats.

1. Securing the Doors

Securing the door, the old fashioned way has always worked most of the time. In the United States, there is a burglary once every 26 seconds, most of these take place in houses with unsecured doors. Start by installing heavy burglar-proof doors that will be hard to break down even when substantial force is applied. If the house you just moved into had a previous owner, do yourself the favor of changing all the locks.

2. Install Security Lights

When your home is well lit all around, it will give a burglar something to think about before attempting something. Lights make it easy for movement to be detected at night. Security lights are usually very bright and are installed just near the entrance and the porch, as well as the back of the house. You can go a step further by installing motion-activated lights that immediately switch on when someone steps on your property.

3. Secure the Garage

Many people ignore the garage forgetting that it is also another entry point into the house. Securing the rest of the house and forgetting the garage defeats the whole purpose of ramping up your home’s security. Garages are targeted by burglars because of this reason. To ensure that the whole house is secured, you may consider installing a smart garage opener that allows you to control it without the need to get out of the car.

Another smart addition would be to connect your garage to the house with another door to eliminate the need to leave the main door once you have parked the car inside.

4. Set up a Security System

Motion-activated lights work hand in hand with motion sensor alarms that immediately go off when a proximity boundary is breached. There are countless home security options in the market these days that range from security cameras that run 24hrs a day to daily updates that you get on your phone even when you are on another continent. The ones that work best may cost a lot, but in your case, if you are always home most of the time, all you need is a simple one that keeps less serious threats at bay.

5. Reduce Hiding Places

Your home security extends beyond keeping unwanted visitors away; it also involves keeping small animals that may wreak havoc if they access your house. To reduce the risk of having people and animals lurking around your home, get rid of all the potential hiding places that may give them a lair for surveillance. Any unnecessary shrub or shade that is not serving any purpose should be cut down and demolished. These obstacles only serve to block security lights from reaching all corners of your compound.

6. Secure Your Wi-Fi

People downplay how dangerous an unsecured network can be on their privacy. With the internet now considered a basic need in many homes, you must ensure that it is secure from being hacked when you set it up. An unsecured Wi-Fi network comes with many potential risks like sensitive information about your bank account getting accessed very easily.

If your house is running on smart security tech, they are most likely connected to your Wi-Fi. If they are not under heavy encryption, then a good hacker can take down all your secured locks easily, and that would spell doom for you.

7. Surveillance Cameras

Camera technology has greatly improved over the last decade, making the gadgets smaller and cheaper. Now there are surveillance cameras that have the ability to stream whatever is going on in real-time to your smartphone at all times without any lag. This allows you to keep tabs on the activities around your house. Besides installing them outside, you should also add some inside to record anyone who may access the house by chance.

8. Reinforce Your Windows

Many homes have huge windows installed to let in more light into the house. Another big reason for huge windows is the aesthetic appeal they add to a house, but that comes at a very costly price if you live in an area with high burglaries. Windows are the 2nd most popular entry points into the house for burglars. Reinforcing the windows with metal grills on the outside helps a lot, so that even when the glass is shattered, the entry would still be blocked by the metal bars. A window lock is also another excellent addition.

Conclusion

There are a lot of things to consider when building or buying a new house, security is among the top-ranking factors. You may live in a neighborhood with no history of insecurity, but that does not mean you have to have a laid back attitude towards security. All it takes is one incident. The bottom line is that you should go for options that work best for your property; there is no need to blow all your savings on installing overkill systems when a simple one can work just fine.