Home Security Measures to Stop Burglars at the Door

By Len Bonifield

It is a fact that the majority of manufactured homeowners live in communities. There are small, medium-sized and large communities. It matters not whether your community is gated, with or without a security guard or wide open: Burglars love the manufactured home community. Most communities are retirement communities (55+) and these are even more enticing to burglars. The crooks do not find it difficult to gain entry to a community, even if it is gated, to scout for homes that make good targets.

Burglars view the retirement community as their cornucopia of goodies. Retirees are more likely to have expensive jewelry, sterling silver and cash lying around for the picking. If the burglars can get into the community with their vehicles they can load them up with TVs, Tivos, Hi-Fi systems and other electronics that are easy to pawn and hard to trace.

Experienced burglars can break into any home easily and quickly. They find the manufactured home in a community even easier to gain entry as most homeowners there are lax in securing their home.

The weeks prior to snowbirds departing are excellent for burglars to scout a community. They like to drive through and make note of all the homes with a vehicle that has an out-of-state license plate. They know that chances are those occupants will be heading north. Shortly after the middle of April they can again scout communities and look for homes where it is obvious that the home is empty for the season.

There are no foolproof methods to prevent every break-in; however, many household burglaries are preventable. Here are some tips to improve your home security.

Make sure you have a neighbor picking up any newspapers or flyers that might wind up in your driveway.

Have a neighbor check your home frequently for possible break-ins.

Install deadbolt locks with a reinforcing strike plate with 3-inch screws. Note: If you secure your doors with double keyed deadbolt locks, make sure you have ready access to the key from the inside in the event of an emergency when you must get out quickly.

Install motion detector lights on the rear of the home. Burglars do not like to work in bright light.

Buy and use several electronic timers for one or more lights inside the house. Time them to come on and off at different times. This will give the appearance the home is occupied.

Make sure your shrubs are trimmed, particularly near windows and entries. Burglars love to hide behind them. Have a contractor, friend or neighbor keep your yard free of weeds and shrubs trimmed. Poorly maintained yards are a sure sign that no one is at home.

Make sure that all windows are securely locked. You can purchase easy-to-install window locks at any hardware or home supply store.

Secure any sliding doors. Again, locks designed for sliding doors are readily available or you can drill through both doors and place a large nail in the opening. Place a bar or piece of wood in the track to prevent the door being opened outside.

Do not place a chain or barriers across your driveway. It is a sure sign your home is empty. Ask a neighbor to put a car in your driveway occasionally.

You can install an alarm system. There are many do-it-yourself systems available at home supply or electronic stores. These systems can turn on lights or set off an alarm when a burglar enters. You can purchase a professionally installed system that will alert the police department or the security firm in the event of a break-in.

If you are a year-round resident do not leave your shed/garage door open. Burglars love expensive golf clubs and power tools as they are easy to fence.

Nothing is foolproof but taking these steps will go a long way toward making your home as secure as possible.