Home Security Checklist

Tania Kegyes, 2011 President, Lorain County Association of REALTORS®

Tania Kegyes 2011 LoCAR President

The first step toward protecting your home from break-ins is to conduct a home security check that will show where your property is most vulnerable. This step-by-step list of tips from other experts is a good place to start.

Your home's appearance
Burglars want an easy target. Stand on the street outside your house and ask yourself: Does my property look neglected, hidden, or uninhabited? A front door or walkway that's obscured by shrubbery offers crooks the perfect cover they need while they break a door or window.

Consider trimming shrubs away from windows, widening front walks and installing out-door lighting with motion detectors. Simple motion-activated floodlights are fairly inex-pensive, and installing them is an easy job if the wiring is already in place. All sides of your house should be well-lit, not just the front.

Doors: The first line of defense
Are your front and back doors vulnerable? Steel, solid wood, and impact-resistant fiber-glass are all good choices for security. If you must have glass, make sure it is tempered or reinforced for added strength, and that sidelights are positioned where somebody can't easily reach in and turn the lock.

Open all doors and check the strike plates, the metal fittings that catch bolts and latches. Chances are, the strike plates are fastened to the soft wood of the door jamb with two screws only. Not good. Best are four-screw strike plates with 3-inch screws that penetrate the jamb and bite into the hard wood of the stud behind the jamb. All exterior doors should have deadbolts that throw at least a 1-inch bolt. Ask your locksmith to upgrade to Grade 1 or Grade 2 locksets and deadbolts, the most secure options.

According to some home security consultants, back doors and garage doors are more likely to be attacked before the front door. If you have an attached garage, secure the door by disabling the automatic opener and locking the door before you go away on a long trip. The door leading from the garage into the house should be outfitted with the same hardware as all other exterior doors and be kept locked at all times.

Windows
In order of risk, ground-floor and basement windows are more likely to be attacked than second-floor windows. The exception is second-floor windows that can be easily ac-cessed by a deck or other elevated structure outside the home. Make sure all windows can be opened, closed and locked with relative ease--and then remember to lock them. The biggest problem with windows is that homeowners leave the house and leave them wide open.

For added security, consider installing blocking devices on the most easily accessed win-dows so they can't be opened from outside. Wooden dowels laid in the track block win-dows that slide horizontally, and steel locking pins inserted in small holes drilled through the frames prevent windows from sliding vertically. If you install a home security system later, the pros will install glass-break sensors on your most vulnerable windows.

Storage sheds
Don't ignore the doors and windows on your outdoor storage shed, especially if you store tools such as ladders, saws, screwdrivers, and hammers, any of which would be handy to a burglar. As with house doors, the best option is a secure deadbolt. Hasp closures are easily defeated because someone can insert a crowbar behind the hasp and snap it.

Patio doors
It's relatively easy to lift a set of older patio doors off the track, even when they are locked. Don't attempt to do this on your audit, but take time to inspect the doors and hardware. Replace any missing or broken locks, and consider installing and using locking pins to prevent them from sliding.

Consider your family's habits: Do you leave the patio doors open all summer? Locking the screen door isn't good enough; it keeps out bugs, not thieves. Get in the habit of closing and locking patio doors when they're unattended or you're not home.

Safeguard household valuables
Thieves want easy-to-grab electronics, cash, jewelry and other valuables, though some are not above running down the street with your flat-screen TV. Most make a beeline for the master bedroom, because that's where we're likely to hide spare cash, jewelry, even guns.

Tour each room and ask yourself: Is there anything here that I can move to my safe depo-sit box? Consider getting rid of old jewelry you never wear. A home safe, bolted to your basement slab, is a good spot for everything else. Have you made a video inventory of other items of value in your home? Are you properly insured for theft? Understand that high-ticket items in your home office, such as computers, professional camera equipment, or other business essentials, may require an additional rider or a separate policy. And take steps to back up the personal information stored on your home computer.

The Lorain County Association of REALTORS® is one of more than 1,200 local boards and associations of REALTORS® nationwide that comprise the National Association of REALTORS®. The National Association of REALTORS®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than one million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

The Lorain County Association of REALTORS® offers a website that provides a complete listing of REALTOR® real estate brokerages in Lorain County, contact information for REALTOR® members, and industry associates. If you are a first time homebuyer or a repeat buyer consider www.MyNewCommunity.net or www.LoCAR.org as a good source for Lorain County REALTOR® information.

REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate sales agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR along with their State and Local Associations.