Christmas Home Security Checklist

Protect your home against holiday burglaries with the ultimate Christmas home security checklist

The weeks leading to Christmas are usually about stocking our homes with great gifts for family and friends. While we buy the latest electronics, jewelry and fashionable clothes to give as presents, others use the holidays for stealing. Burglars view the expensive goods in your home as their way to complete their shopping list. Secure your property for the holidays with Locksmith New York Christmas home security checklist:

1. Glitz and gold attract the intention of unwanted intruders. It is best not to display your adorned Christmas tree and gifts in the front window overlooking the street – this is an open invention for thieves to check out the contents of your house.

2. Do not hide door keys in obvious locations for the burglar to look for such as outside mats, rocks, and flower pots or above door seals. Leave a spare key with a trusted neighbor or a close friend.

3. Don't run an electric extension through a ground window and risk your home's security.

4. Make sure to lock all windows, doors and exterior sliding doors, even if stepping out only for a couple of minutes. An unwanted intruder requires only a few seconds to break into your home.

5. Don't give your whereabouts on your answering machine. "Hi I am away right now and will return next week…" – is a golden ticket sentence to any burglar that your home is "safe" to intrude.

6. If possible, forward all you home calls to your cell for the duration of your absence.

7. Have inexpensive light timers installed, so that when going out they illuminate your property in key areas and give the illusion of occupancy.

8. Try to keep the front door area clean and tidy. A messy front area with a bulging mailbox is a dead giveaway that your home is empty.

9. Don't attract the attention of prowlers by leaving empty gift boxes outside your home for garbage collection. Cut up boxes and throw in opaque, plastic bags for garbage pick-up.

10. Make sure to secure your home with the proper hardware – deadbolts, window gates, door viewers and alarm systems.