Below are tips and steps to help you feel secure in your new home :

• Before you move, take your family to visit your new home and familiarize yourselves with the neighborhood.
• Replace all locks in your new home as soon as possible, arming all entry doors with maximum-security (Grade 1) deadbolts. Schlage mechanical deadbolts, Schlage Sense^TM, and Schlage Connect^TM are all excellent choices and meet the highest industry rating for security and durability.
• If the house has an alarm system, change its access codes and notify the alarm service provider of your new ownership.
• Install window coverings (such as curtains and blinds) promptly to limit visibility into your home and belongings.
• Tour your new property with a critical eye, looking for missing deadbolts on exterior doors, flimsy door and window locks, and assessing the quality of your outdoor lighting.
• Walk around your yard at different times of the day to judge lighting and shadows, thinking about how you will enter and exit the home from different doorways to spot vulnerabilities.
• Trim hedges and shrubs (particularly those near windows) so you have a clear view of everything on your property, and so there’s no place for would-be trespassers to hide.
• Note the phone numbers and locations of emergency services in your area.
• When you move in, join your local Neighborhood Watch.