A lot of burglars are desperate and opportunistic.  They spot someone leaving a house, they take a risk and smash a window to get in, and they grab whatever looks valuable before running as fast as they can.  However, other burglars in San Francisco, CA are professionals who regularly rob homes and are good at getting away with it.  Part of their success comes from knowing which houses give them the smallest risk of getting caught, and so they tend to look for homes that have the following features.

Piles Of Mail

If the mailbox is full to bursting, it’s a clear sign that no one has been around to empty it in days.  An empty home is an easy home to rob; so vacationing families are popular targets of career burglars.  Newspapers and packages left out are other giveaways.  Fortunately, the post office knows this and can hold your mail for a while, or you can have a friend stop by to housesit and take care of these daily chores.

No Loud Dogs

Loud pets that do a lot of barking make any burglar nervous.  Even if they aren’t worried about aggressive dogs attacking them, barking pups can attract a lot of attention that a burglar would want to avoid.  Because of this, a loud dog can be a surprisingly effective burglar deterrent.

Low Activity

Many burglars will buy vans that look like they belong to utility companies so they don’t look suspicious when they spend all day on a street watching every home on the block for movement.  If they notice that everyone leaves during the day for several hours and the home has no monitoring equipment, they are likely to strike during daylight hours.

Unlocked Doors

The outside doors in your home all have locks for a reason, but not everyone bothers to use them.  It can be a hassle to pull out your keys and remember to lock it behind you every time, after all.  However, a burglar looking for a new target may notice this fact and decide that your home would be easier to rob.

No Added Security

Along with locking your doors, you can also improve your security situation by installing a security alarm, surveillance cameras, and electronic locks.  You can integrate all these systems by getting them through a single security company, and thanks to modern technology you can even control your system remotely using a secure smartphone app.  Sometimes burglars know how to get around security system, but even they will usually look for easier targets.

Burglars in San Francisco, CA may break the law regularly, but they’ll still avoid taking risks when they don’t have to.  This means they look for homes with less security and fewer people and dogs around.  Of course, this also means that smart homeowners can keep burglars from targeting them by taking the right steps and adding the right features to their homes.  It’s not foolproof, but a security system can go a long way towards convincing professional burglars to skip over your house.