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Some property owners do not feel that it is necessary to take measures to prevent losses from theft, feeling that their insurance coverage will take care of them should a loss occur. As anyone that has had to deal with an insurance company knows, deductibles and the costs of rising coverage will still cost you should you suffer a loss due to theft. It makes sense then to spend a little money and time before a loss occurs to try and prevent a loss due to theft.
While a home monitoring system makes sense for some, others find it too costly of an investment, or live in too rural of an area to benefit. The following are some steps that we have taken as homeowners to lower our risk of losses due to theft without installing a home monitoring system.
Improve Visibility
Thieves prefer to break in to homes that have obscured views of doors, windows and other access points. Where it is possible, trim branches, limbs and shrubbery back so that access points of your home are visible to those passing by your home from the road. Install lighting that is activated by motion to eliminate dark or shadowy areas near the access points of your home. This will deter thieves.
Install Deadbolts and Solid Core Doors for Entrances
Make certain that your exterior doors have solid cores and are secured by deadbolts to prevent a thief from forcing their way into your home. Special fasteners can usually be purchased for under $20 for sliding glass doors as well.
Secure Windows
Special fasteners can be purchased for your windows that will prevent them from being opened should a thief smash the glass and try to raise the sash. When my children were younger and my husband and I were still in college, we couldn't afford even this modest outlay to secure the 11 windows in our home. My husband instead used a drill and installed a screw into the interior side of the sills of where our double hung windows met to prevent the sash from being raised from the outside. The total cost was under $2 and a few short years after this procedure, the investment more than paid off one afternoon when two would be thieves broke out the glass and tried to raise the window in the back bedroom occupied by my children. My children laughed as the thief kept launching himself against the sash trying to raise it, and he ran off when I entered the room to see what my children had found so funny. I don't think any of us would have been laughing if the window had not been secured.
Plant Thorny Vegetation Beneath Lower Level Windows
While the screws in the window "did the trick" at stopping our would be robber, we later planted rose bushes with prominent thorns beneath all of our low hanging, first story windows, and along the back side of our house, to further deter thieves.
Make Friends with Your Neighbors
One of the lowest cost ways to deter theft is to make friends with your neighbors. When you make friends with your neighbors, they are more likely to look after your property and pick up things like your mail and newspaper should you need to be away for a period of time. Nothing is as inviting to a would be robber as a home that appears abandoned or unoccupied, friendly neighbors can go a long way at little to no cost to you in helping you maintain an occupied look to your home while you are away.
hen we purchased our home, we were lucky that it came with solid doors and sturdy deadbolts already installed. We spent less than $30 on rose bushes and screws to secure the entryways to our home. We spent another $30 to purchase and install motion detecting solar light kits. It really doesn't cost anything but time to build relationships with your neighbors and prune back vegetation that blocks the view of your home from the road.
When I recently checked prices to have a home security system installed with home monitoring I found a "special" online deal where the security company would install $850 worth of equipment for "free" if I would pay a $99 installation fee and agree to pay just under $36 a month for two years for its cheapest monthly monitoring service. There were also early termination fees if I cancelled the service early. I think a one time fee of less than $60 and the cost of a little of my time is better than their "free" deal that would have cost me over $532 for the installation and first year's worth of monitoring. Sadly, other security companies offers were even more expensive than this one.
Suffering a loss due to theft, or even installing a home monitoring system to prevent theft, can be expensive. It is still possible, with a little time, effort and a small amount of cash to take some steps to help deter thieves and prevent larger losses to theft.
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