As you may know, we recently had a little scare in our household. Someone attempted to break in through one of our bedroom windows while I was home. After he saw me inside, the would be thief left, fortunately.
The police came out to investigate multiple times and even dusted for fingerprints. In each instance we were very glad to have had a great interaction with all of the officers and each of them offered us a crash course in home safety. We had many in-depth disscussions about how to prevent this from happening again and how to stay safe.
One of the biggest things that stuck with us that the officers said is that a for sale sign could make your house a target for thieves.
We were surprised to learn this but apparently because a lot of homes for sale are vacant, so thieves will try to break into the home and take what’s left. They also strip the copper piping from the home.
In a very large percentage of these break ins, they scope the house, then call a buddy to come help and they are in and out in a couple of minutes and do not want any confrontation or and have no intent to be violent. This is what they believed happened in our case. Since our house has a for sale sign in the yard, the “scout” parked across the street to check out our house. In the end, he was the guy I caught trying to climb in our window. They believe he had a friend down the street who would have pulled into the driveway as soon as he gave the signal.
Knowing this now, we are implementing their tips as well as others we learned online about how to keep your home safe especially when it’s for sale. I thought they were important enough to share:
- Never open the door if you are not 100% comfortable
- Make your presence known – either yell from inside saying you are not interested, play music or make some noise
- Keep windows and doors locked at all times even if it’s a nice day
- Keep windows clean as dirt and dust on window and windowpane/sill act as a glove for fingers and make it impossible to pull fingerprints
- Have alarms on doors and windows and have them on even when home
- Do not have items under windows which could help an intruder gain access; such as (like we had) a large container for birdfeed, air conditioner units, heck the officereven said a neighbor a couple of streets over has a ladder on the side of his house leading right up to a second floor window
We also learned a couple of interesting tidbits from our Facebook friends:
- Buy a large dog food bowl and write “Killer” on it leave it by the door
- Buy the biggest pair of men’s boots you can find, dirty them up and leave them by the back door
All of these things will help make your home less of a target, in addition, we have done a couple of things as well including:
- We make sure to park a car closer to the street, so it is a little more obvious that someone is home.
- Buying pepper gel (which works better than pepper spray, more accurate, no blow back) being sure to mount it to the wall out of the reach of kids
- Being more aware that because our house is for sale we are more of a target
- Buying a killer watch dog and and naming her Yoshi which is both the name of the cute little dragon in Super Mario Bros. and it also means good luck in Japanese.
I hope all of these tips help and that you stay safe no matter what you do.
What about you? How do you keep your home and online life safe?
I personally enjoy, bring about I came across what exactly I was seeking. You’ve concluded this Several evening lengthy search for! Lord Thank you man. Possess a wonderful morning. L8rs
I never thought of having pepper gel in the house, good idea. I do not open the door unless I know who it is. I also have a big (very family friendly) dog, that barks like he is going to tear someone apart anytime someone is near or around the house!
My son just recently put is house up for sale. I am going to pass this on to him. Lots of great tips Tesa! Thank you!
Great advice, but Yoshi looks like a lover, not a fighter.
Great advice – so glad your would-be thief thought better of it and split. My husband is a bit of a safety nut and sometimes I rib him for it, but I know he is right to be cautious. Thank you for the reminder.
This post is full of great safety tips for home sellers. My almost in-laws are putting their home up for sale and I’ll be sure to pass along what I read here.
Our former home owner had dogs and he had Beware Of Dog signs posted to both entrances of our land; they’re still up. No dogs, but my cats, Fred and Ginger let me know if someone is outside.
Wow – I never realized how a for sale sign would impact the safety of a household. I have heard that foreclosures are sometimes ripped apart and they take everything…glad that you were safe.
OMG ~ I am so glad that you and your family are safe! I can only imagine how scary that would be. I never thought about it before but it makes perfect sense about a For Sale sign being an advertisement to thieves. Sad that we live in such times but at least with some knowledge like you have shared perhaps we can be a little safer. I need to be more diligent about doors and such when I am at home alone. Thanks for the reminders.
Good Tips, I don’t ever answer the door unless it’s someone I know. We keep the lights on when we are gone so it gives the illusion that someone is home.
Love the dog bowl idea to make others think you have a big dog.
Glad you are ok!
Oh my gosh – that is so scary! Thank goodness you’re ok. This is a great list to have.
great tips!!! Adding the “killer” dog bowl and boots are great wouldve never thought of that.
Wow, I really learned a lot after reading this post. I love the idea of the BIG dog bowl with Killer written on it. It makes me so sick that we live in a world where we have to live like this. I love those signs that say …”This Home is protected by Smith and Wesson six days a week you guess which six!!”
good tips – we have a beware of dog sign on the front door
Oh my gosh how scary, glad nothing happened to you, what a scary world we live in, thank you for all the great tips, I will always remember this and pass it along to family and friends.
I read your story and my heart was beating a million miles a minute just thinking of the panic you must have been feeling! I will be keeping this post handy for the future. Lots of great tips here. I will definitely be cleaning the windows and sills more often.Also,Yoshi is awesome!
I never even thought of the for sale sign. Thats really scary that happened to you. I’m glad he left right away!
These are great tips for keeping your home safe!
Great tips! I have also heard that people who have had a death in their family are targets because people read the obituaries looking for when people (family members of the deceased) when not be home. I recently read of a burglary in a house where a local family was away at a funeral so it really does happen.
hmm i never thought of it this way but this post has a lot of good points. i will remember this when we put our house up for sale!
Great Tips, So Happy Your Family Got Yoshi, My Dogs Make Me Feel More Safe Especially When I’m Home Alone.
I once lived in a first floor apartment in the city. I had a big dog, but he would never bark unless threatened.
I came home to find the screen broken off the dining room window and the window partially open. I can only surmise that the dog met him at the window and quietly surprised him because nothing was taken.
Sorry you had to go thru that, but I am glad you and your family are safe.
I feel woefully unprepared for a break-in attempt. I rent so I don’t have a choice about a lot of things like alarm systems, location of shrubbery, a/c unit, etc. I will say that I always keep our doors and windows locked and when we open the windows to air out the house we only do the ones on the 2nd floor. I do feel somewhat more secure about my neighborhood. It is a low-income area, so not exactly high target, and I know all my neighbors fairly well. Not to mention we are all pretty nosy and most of the moms are outside with their kids all the time, so during the day and evening there are a lot of eyes watching the neighborhood. I read your other post about this and I felt such anxiety for you and then gratitude that you were safe.
I can’t imagine how scary it would be to have someone break in! Wonderful review and great tips. Thanks for sharing!
What an unnerving experience~ Thanks for the tips
I really learned so much from your experience. I hope you are feeling better.
Great tips!!! I’m sorry that happened to you. I would be so scared. Thank you for sharing!
i had never thought of this. wow…it is sad to read this. be safe