21.
LED lighting is cheap these days. If your house is gonna be vacant for a while, consider investing in one of those smart-lighting systems where you can set different rooms to turn on and off at different points in the day. (Kitchen during dinnertime, bedrooms at night, etc.)
22.
Oh, and thanks for locking drawers. That way I know exactly where the valuables are. I can open that cheap wood drawer as quickly with a crowbar as pulling it open.
23.
DON’T USE KEY RACKS OR BOWLS NEXT TO THE DOOR! The amount of stolen cars where the burglar takes one step into the house, picks up the keys to the family car and leaves immediately is just sad.
24.
On your social media page.
No really.
Dont post photos of expensive stuff you just bought on Facebook. You might think it’s cool to show it off, but to a would be theif, it just becomes a shopping list.
25.
For the college kids that might read this, don’t keep your textbooks in your car. On the day of my finals I had about six textbooks I was gonna sell in my car. Came back to find someone broke my window and stole the textbooks. Cop told me that it’s very common and unlikely they will catch the guy, so I was out ~$700, which was huge as a college student.
26.
Pro tip: Hide your small valuables inside a used/empty fire extinguisher, no one is going to steal a fire extinguisher…
27.
I read somewhere that if a thief sees a home security alarm sign 90% of them walk away. A friend of mine bought a ADT security sign off Ebay for this very reason.
28.
Fire safes only are safe from fires.
29.
You’d be surprised at how often people leave their cars unlocked with nice things inside. A lot of people actually leave them unlocked with the keys inside. It’s how the majority of cars are stolen.
30.
Don’t keep your spare key outside near the front door — under a pot plant, under doormat, top of door frame etc.
