4 Tips for Hiding Your Spare Keys

You have probably heard the standard advice that people give about home security … one of the most frequently made points is that hiding a key to your house outside offers a burglar easy access. Actually, this is only true if you hide it in the obvious spots! Fake rocks, garden gnomes, the top of the doorframe and under a pot plant are all bad ideas, because they are the same places that everyone else uses.

Tip 1: Think outside the box

Hiding spots in every home will be unique … go for one that will be exceptionally difficult to find. Do you have a fish pond? Put your key in a watertight container in there. A tree? Tie your key to one of the limbs in a non-obvious spot. Any non-natural object around your front door will be checked out by canny key-thieves.

Tip 2: Change your spot

Keep a roster of three or four different hiding spots and alternate your spare keys between them. Do this on the same day regularly (for example, the first day of every season) to help you remember.

Tip 3: If possible -- don’t tell your kids where they are

Your kids should have their own keys, and YOUR regular set should be their spare keys. The hidden key's location should be known only to you. Don’t even let your kids know it exists, to prevent ill feelings about this issue. Kids just don't have the same natural caution adults do. The benefit of the doubt they give people is endearing … but you shouldn’t have to pay for that characteristic with your home security.

Tip 4: Hide them with a neighbor

This one isn’t always practical -- you may not yet have neighbors you trust, or they may work opposite hours to you and not be home enough to make it practical to keep your keys with them. You could ask to hide your key in their yard though --sneaky home security!

Bonus Tip 1: Get a monitored alarm system. Even if your keys go missing, your ultra-clever hiding spot is accidentally unearthed, or a trusted neighbour turns bad, having a set monitored alarm system will still protect your home.

Bonus Tip 2: Get a biometric door lock. No keys required, or you can use a keyed lock only as a backup for the biometric system.

Five "Don'ts" in Home Security

There are plenty of tips around for increasing your security, as well as plenty of supporting products, like alarm system monitoring, biometric locks, window films, etc. What you hear about less often is the common activities that actually compromise all of your security efforts! Today we are looking at some of the "don't do's" in home security, and tips you can use to correct yourself.

1. Don't leave notes posted by your door

Especially if your home is visible from the street, this is a dead giveaway to opportunistic burglars that the home is unattended. Many will be discouraged by the thought that someone could be sleeping in a back room -- if you leave a note by the door saying "Hello electrician, the key is under the mat and the fridge is in the kitchen -- just do your work," you are liable to have more people coming into your home than your electrician! If you leave a time that you'll return, you'll inspire even more burglar confidence and reduce your home security further.

2. Don’t leave your ladders and tools in an accessible place.

Even if your garage doesn’t open into the house, and even if all your tools are old, junky and not worth stealing, never leave your garage unlocked, for home security's sake. Your own tools might be used to break into your own home, leaving little forensic evidence … and just making you slap your head in the meantime. Use a new style electronic locker to help you do this on the run.

3. Don’t attempt to fight off a burglar

This is more geared towards the prevention of your bodily harm than preventing someone breaking in … it's a little late even for high tech home security tools to help you now. However, if you try to fight off a burglar (or even remain in plain sight while they are doing their work), you might lose more than your belongings. The only exception to the rule is if you have young children -- run to get them, and run to get out of the house. Keep your phone by your bed and call 911 if you hear a burglar.

4. Don’t buzz people into your apartment block you don’t know

Yes, they may be important -- but if so, it is much safer to come down and meet them. This is a matter of personal safety as well as protecting your things.