A sense of security and a good night's sleep is what many are after and this can be achieved with many taking necessary steps to protect ones property.
For many, owning a house would mean years of saving up for the deposit to take a mortgage and this at times especially in Fiji would take up to 15 years to pay off or at times longer. It would also mean saving up for further home renovations and even lawyers fees.
All this will see you invest thousands of dollars into your property. As such, it is only right that you take all the necessary steps to secure your property.
Things for you to do:
Fiji has many insurance houses from which you will be able to insure your house against natural disasters, fires and unforeseen occurrences. This is one way to rest easy at night.
Other steps you can take are:
Install sensor lights. These lights will come on when the sensors detect an object moving across its field of view especially objects that are warm like lights, people and cars. Once it senses this, it will automatically switch all lights on. This will prevent any thief from thinking of targetting your property
Keep expensive things out of sight. When heading out for the evening, it is advisable to keep expensive items out of sight. For example, all your jewellery,expensive paintings and cash are o be kept out of sight.
When you move into a new property, always invest in new lock and keys. This is due to the fact that it is a norm for home owners to give spare keys to family and friends or even hide them outside. This may create an opportunity for thieves or even see an unsuspecting family member of the previous owners letting themselves into the house.
If you have sliding doors, use wooden rods in the track of sliding doors to prevent them from sliding open if someone jimmys or picks the lock open. It is also advisable to close all windows whether or not you live on the 2nd or 3rd floor.
Keep shrubs and trees trimmed. Untrimmed hedges and trees is an ideal hiding place for thieves or even stalkers.
Thing to teach your children
Teach your children not to open the front door to anyone. At times, people with bad intentions will befriend children and get them to open doors or to take them into the house. It is always good to tell the children to only open to specific family members such as sisters, brothers or parents. For other family members and friends, being asked to wait a little longer will not be a problem. It is good to teach them to smile and ask the new faces to wait while mum or dad comes.
Always teach the children the mobile phone numbers, home addresses and full names of each parent and which numbers to dial in emergencies. At times, it is also good to teach your children to trust that little voice inside which tells you that there is something wrong.
Always make your home look occupied at all times by leaving lights on in certain rooms as well as the TV and leave a pair of shoes by the door to give the impression that the house is occupied.
Many people are worried about night time security however daylight robbery has also become a growing trend right around the world.
Most burglary happen when people are at work, school or even running errands and therefore it is important to take precautions whenever you leave home. A burglar will want as much time alone and undisturbed so that he or she can take anything without being caught. The best way to think like a burglar. This way, it is possible to highlight the week areas in your house which need to be fortified, the main entry routes, add plants such as roses near your windows so that it would be difficult to access the windows, invest in a dog as as well as some “Beware of the Dog sign”
These small hints and ideas will assist in ensuring that our dream home is secured and you are able to rest well at night.