You’ve worked hard for everything you’ve built, so it’s important to take the safety measures needed to protect it. There are a lot of things you can do to protect your San Francisco home, but often it is the simple steps that can offer the most protection. Here are five simple safety measures any homeowner can take to help protect their home:

1. Trim Back Landscaping

Criminals are smart, they know they need to stay out of sight if they are going to case and burglarize your home. Often burglars will hide in the bushes in order to look into the windows of your home. Then they will sneak around, using your landscaping as cover when they break-in. Trimming back your landscaping can help get rid of these hiding spots. With no easy hiding spots, burglars may opt to move on to target a different home.

2. Lock Your Doors

Locking your doors is one of the best ways to prevent crime. This may seem like a no-brainer, but we don’t always lock our doors. Often when we run a quick errand, go to the mailbox, or even go to the backyard to do some lawn care, we don’t lock our doors. It only takes minutes for a criminal to break in and grab your valuables. So lock your doors, even if you are going to be outside of your home for a short time.

3. Keep Your Valuables Out Of Sight

If you have valuable items, it’s a good idea to keep them out of sight. For example, if you have a large home theater setup, make sure that you can’t see it from your living room window. Burglars target homes with high-value items, so they are less likely to target you if they don’t think you have anything. Further, consider storing your most expensive valuables like jewelry, cash, and guns in unusual places. Burglars will always check a bedroom for your jewelry, but they won’t check your kitchen.

4. Light The Way

In the same vein that burglars use bushes to hide, they also use the cover of darkness. Adding lights around your home can help reduce the areas they can hide. In fact, a recent study found that adding lighting can reduce your risk of crime by 39%. Lights with motion sensors are great for large areas like your yard. While small solar-powered lights are ideal for narrow pathways or small nooks and crannies. 

All of these simple tips will help keep your home protected. However, the best way to keep your San Francisco home safe is with a home security system. Home security systems deter criminals and help alert you of any suspicious activity. Further, if your San Francisco home is targeted for a crime, you will have evidence to present to law enforcement to help catch the criminal. So if you are looking to protect your home, call a professional security company. They’ll not only design and install the perfect home security solution for you, but they’ll also offer other simple tips to help you protect your home.