If you can't monitor the home you're selling because you live in another city or state, take steps to protect it from burglary and theft. Simply having neighbors look out for your property isn't enough. Some thieves take note of how many times your neighbor picks up your newspapers, checks your mail or parks in your driveway. Other criminals watch and take note of how often someone mows your lawn. Instead of using these common methods to protect your home, try these tips below.
Ask the Community Police to Monitor Your Home
Asking your neighbors to watch your home is great, but requesting the area's community police department to monitor your home is better. Police officers often patrol their communities in order to catch crimes or check on suspicious actions in the street. But they may not pay close attention to your home during their patrols, especially during the night.
When you call the community's police department, they may ask you for your name and contact number, so have this information ready.
If the police department doesn't offer the service to you, hire a security company to monitor your home at different times of the day or night. Although this may seem extreme and costly right now, the expenses you face from burglary, property destruction and vandalism will cost more to repair in the long run.
The final thing you can do is contact the neighborhood watchers in the community and let them know that you plan to sell your home. The watchers may ask you for a contact number just in case they do see or report suspicious behavior around the home.
Also, give the watchers the contact information to your real estate agent as backup when they can't reach you. Your real estate agent may work directly with the neighborhood watchers on other homes they sell in the area, which makes it easy to obtain the security you need right away.
Reinforce Your Doors With Keyless Locks and Steel
The home's doors are the first places thieves enter during burglaries, especially if the entrances lack the proper security systems and locks. Rather than install just deadbolts on your home's entrances, reinforce them with keyless locking systems and steel doors.
Persistent thieves can pick a deadbolt with bobby pins and other creative tools when they want to break into your house. Thieves learn how to get past deadbolts by simply searching the Internet for DIY tips.
Keyless locking systems make it harder for criminals to enter your home and can be added protection against burglaries because the systems lack key holes and other parts that criminals can easily manipulate with tools.
Reinforced steel frames also make it hard for criminals to break, kick or knock down door. The strong, durable material also resists rust and water damage, which weakens traditional wooden doors.
During the door installations, have contractors reinforce the frames, jambs and foundation around the doors with steel plates and other features that won't break easily from physical abuse or weather damage.
In addition, be sure to replace your current windows with products that only lift half way. If thieves can climb through your windows easily, they may go somewhere else. If possible, have your real estate agent hire an alarm security company to install a system for your windows. The system alerts the company if burglars break or crack the glass of the windows.
Click here for more information on selling real estate and properties safely and successfully. If you need more tips and advice on how to protect your home against crime when it's on the market in another area, contact a real estate agent for help.
