The warmer months are here, school will be out soon and people will be taking vacations. Now is a great time to think about keeping your home safe and secure during the summer. Home security is much more than having a security system. That’s a great place to start, and smart home devices like Alexa, Google Home and the HomePod are all helpful, but there’s a lot of low tech stuff you can do around the house to keep your home safe and secure during the summer.

Keeping your home safe and secure take common sense. Many of us become complacent about locking doors and windows. Those are the two biggest entry points for would be burglars and yet many people leave their doors and windows unlocked. That’s just one example, these helpful safety tips will help you keep your home safe and secure all summer long.

Lock the Doors

Unlocked doors and windows are how most thieves gain access to the home. Lock the doors, burglars have said they try the door and move on if it is locked.

Mail

Be sure to bring in your mail, newspapers and any flyers left at your door. Ask a neighbor to bring in your mail if you’re going to be away for more than a day or have the post office hold your mail while you’re out of town.

Store Ladders

Return ladders to the garage or storage shed when you’re finished using them. Don’t give theives a way to enter you home on upper levels.

Motion Detectors

Install motion detectors and light timers to brighten up dark spots in your yard. Many of these products can be synced to a phone or tablet for easy use.

Tidy Yard

Make sure your bushes, hedges and trees are trimmed so burglars can’t hide in the shadows. An unkept yard says to burglars you aren’t paying attention and your home might be a good and easy one to rob. Tell them a different story.

Load your Car in the Garage

Don’t advertise to criminals that you’re going away on a trip by packing the car on the street. Load your car while it’s in the garage so no one knows you’ll be out of the house for a while.

Get a Dog

Dogs are another reason burglars don’t rob a home. If there’s a home with a barking dog inside a burglar will usually skip it and go to a home that doesn’t have a dog.

Neighborhood Crime Watch

Thieves hate neighborhood crime watches so start one up on your block. This is also a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors, another method for lowering the crime rate in your neighborhood.

Keep Exteriors Locked

Lock your fences, gates and garage doors. Don’t leave your garage door open unless you are in the vicinity and can keep an eye on it.

Keys

Don’t label your keys with your name or address. Don’t hide keys under welcome mats or around the house in fake rocks. Burglars use Amazon too. Install a smart lock that uses a passcode or cell phone app for access. Give a trusted neighbor a set of keys and if you just moved into your house, get the locks changed if they haven’t already.