08 June 2020, Johannesburg – With the coronavirus pandemic lockdown easing, South Africans are being warned to expect a spike in crime. “Since the lockdown has eased, petty crime like theft of garden tools, plants and fruit from trees began to increase. This, however, has escalated to more serious crimes such as house break-ins, house robberies, and theft of motor vehicles.” Says Shaun Rademeyer, CEO of MultiNET Home Loans

Protecting your humble abode from unwanted guests is easier than you might think. To help, we’ve put together the following list of protection tips for your new home. Use this list to ensure that your home protection is at its best:

1. Lock your doors — even when you’re at home. While it might seem unnecessary to lock your doors when you’re inside, doing so can help prevent any nasty surprises.
2. Do a little landscaping — Trees and shrubs that surround your windows and doors can make perfect shelters for burglars who are trying to break into your home without being seen. Consider tidying up larger plants windows and doors to minimize the amount of coverage they could provide to thieves (and enhance your curb appeal while you’re at it!).
3. Make sure your home always looks lived-in —Any time you’re headed out of town — even just for a few days — take some simple steps to make your home look lived-in: Set timers to turn on your indoor and outdoor lights at the same time you’d normally turn them on each evening.
4. Get to know your neighbours — A great way to protect your home from a break-in and ward off potential burglars is to simply have more eyes watching over your house. Get to know your neighbours so you can watch each other’s houses, which can be especially important when you go away for an extended period of time.
5. Secure your doors — One of the very best things you can do to protect your home from burglary is making sure your doors are secure. This means ensuring all of your exterior doors have strong frames, protected hinges and a mail slot thin enough to prevent anyone from reaching inside. You can also add security measures to your door, such as a deadbolt, strike plate or even update it to a smart lock or a video doorbell. These smart home security features will allow you to secure and monitor your home from wherever you are!
6. Lock your windows — Windows should at minimum be working properly, which means their latch should be able to close. Unfortunately, flimsy latches aren’t effective measures against break-ins, so if you find that yours are lacking then it’s time to update or replace these latches.
7. Lighting — Well-placed lights outside of your home can sometimes be enough to discourage burglars. Working under the cover of darkness is a must for burglars, and when you take this cover away, they will move to easier targets. You can also install motion-activated lighting that switches on when someone walks near the light.
8. Install a home security system — Invest in a quality home security system. Both self-monitored and company-monitored security systems will enhance your home security efforts and help deter or catch unwelcome guests.

Rademeyer adds, “Home ownership is a great investment opportunity, so you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to protect it.”