Most home security advice covers the basics: lock your doors, install an alarm system, add motion lights. You've heard those recommendations dozens of times. But experienced security professionals like those who work at Valley Alarm know additional strategies that significantly reduce your burglary risk—tactics most homeowners never consider.
These lesser-known home security tips address vulnerabilities that 83% of convicted burglars actively exploit when selecting targets. They're not complicated or expensive, but they close security gaps that standard advice misses.
This guide covers four overlooked home security strategies that complement your alarm system and make your Los Angeles area property substantially harder to breach.
Hide Your Security System Keypad From Outside View
Why Keypad Placement Matters for Home Security
Your security system keypad location creates a vulnerability most homeowners never consider. Installing your keypad immediately beside your front door feels convenient—you can arm and disarm your system without taking extra steps. But this placement gives burglars a critical advantage.
Criminals studying your property can watch through windows or from parked cars as you enter your code. They memorize your four-digit combination, then return later when you're away. Once they force entry through your door, they have 30 to 60 seconds to disarm your system before the alarm sounds. With your code already memorized, they disable your protection before police get notified.
Even knowing your keypad's location helps burglars. If they can see exactly where your keypad sits from outside, they know precisely where to look when they break in, saving them precious seconds during that entry delay period.
Where to Install Your Keypad Instead
Position your keypad where you can easily reach it after entering but where it's invisible from outside your home. Around a corner from your front door works well—you take three steps inside, turn left or right, and disarm your system from a location no window reveals. Inside a coat closet near the door provides excellent concealment while remaining convenient.
Avoid these keypad locations that compromise your home security: directly beside your front door where windows expose it, visible through sidelights flanking your door, near large windows that allow exterior viewing, or in rooms with street-facing windows.
Modern smart security systems solve this vulnerability by allowing smartphone disarming. You can unlock and disarm your system before you even reach your door using your phone from your car, eliminating the visible keypad interaction entirely.
Talk with Valley Alarm's installation technicians about optimal keypad placement during your system installation. We evaluate your home's layout and identify positions that balance your convenience with security effectiveness. Our access control systems include smart access options that eliminate visible keypad vulnerabilities.
Eliminate Hiding Spots in Your Yard and Landscaping
How Landscaping Creates Burglar Concealment
Overgrown bushes, dense shrubs near windows, and landscaping that reaches above ground-floor windowsills create perfect hiding spots for criminals studying your property or waiting for you to leave. Most burglaries occur between 10 AM and 3 PM when neighbors are at work, and criminals need concealment to avoid being noticed by those neighbors who are home.
Tall bushes beside your front door allow someone to hide there while manipulating your lock. Dense landscaping below windows provides cover while criminals test whether those windows are locked. Mature trees with branches reaching second-floor windows create natural ladders. Each of these features reduces the risk criminals face when targeting your property.
Strategic Landscaping for Home Security
Trim all bushes and shrubs near your home to maximum height of three feet—short enough that nobody can crouch behind them unseen. Create clear lines of sight from the street and neighboring properties to all your doors and ground-floor windows. Cut tree branches that reach within six feet of your house, eliminating natural climbing access to upper floors.
If you prefer fuller landscaping for privacy or aesthetic reasons, choose plants that deter hiding. Roses, bougainvillea, pyracantha, and barberry provide thorny barriers that criminals avoid. These plants create visual screening while being extremely uncomfortable to hide within or climb through. Position these defensive plants beneath windows and along property perimeters where you want privacy without creating hiding spots.
Motion-activated lighting throughout your yard eliminates the darkness criminals depend on. LED motion lights detect movement and flood areas with bright light, startling anyone approaching your home while alerting you and your neighbors to activity. Solar-powered motion lights cost less than most homeowners expect and require no electrical wiring.
Smart lighting systems integrated with your security system provide even better protection. You can schedule lights to turn on automatically at sunset, create random patterns that simulate occupancy when you're away, or trigger all exterior lights when your alarm detects potential threats. Valley Alarm's systems integrate lighting control with your alarm monitoring for comprehensive protection. This approach to home security makes your entire property hostile to criminals who prefer working in darkness and shadows.
Use Decoy Valuables to Protect Your Real Assets
Understanding Burglar Target Priority
75% of burglars target master bedrooms first because they know that's where most people keep their most valuable possessions. Jewelry boxes sit on dressers, wallets and purses rest on nightstands, and important documents fill desk drawers. Criminals expect to find your valuables in predictable locations, and most burglaries last under 10 minutes—they grab what's obviously valuable and leave quickly.
This predictable behavior creates an opportunity for strategic home security through deception. If you provide burglars with apparently valuable items in the expected locations, they'll take those items and leave without searching for your actual valuables hidden elsewhere.
How to Implement Decoy Strategies
Keep an inexpensive purse or wallet in obvious locations like your dresser, nightstand, or hanging from your closet door. Fill it with expired gift cards, a few dollars in loose change, old membership cards, and other items that look valuable at a glance but cost you nothing. When a burglar finds this "valuable" item in the expected location, they take it and move on rather than spending time searching for better targets.
Apply the same principle to jewelry. Display costume jewelry prominently in a jewelry box on your dresser while hiding your valuable pieces in unexpected locations. Most burglars can't distinguish real from fake jewelry during a rushed grab, so they take what's visible and leave.
Hide your actual valuables in locations burglars rarely search. Better hiding spots include inside kitchen containers in your pantry, inside vacuum cleaner bags in your cleaning closet, in sealed containers inside your refrigerator's vegetable drawer, or in waterproof containers in your toilet tank. These locations work because burglars focus on bedrooms, home offices, and master bathrooms—they rarely search kitchens or utility areas during quick burglaries.
This home security tip doesn't replace your need for a properly installed security system. The goal isn't to make burglary easier—it's to minimize your actual losses in the rare event someone breaches your security. Your monitored security system remains your primary protection by preventing most break-ins entirely and ensuring rapid police response to those that occur.
Prevent Digital Tracking That Reveals Your Location
How Your GPS and Social Media Expose Your Home
Modern technology creates unexpected home security vulnerabilities through the digital traces you leave. Your smartphone's GPS, your car's navigation system, and your social media activity all provide information criminals use to identify targets and track your routines.
If your phone or car gets stolen, criminals can access your GPS history and saved locations. Most people save their home address as "Home" in their GPS—making it trivially easy for thieves to find your empty house after stealing your car from a parking lot. They know you're not home because they just stole your car, and they know exactly where your house is because your GPS tells them.
Your social media posts create similar vulnerabilities. Vacation photos posted in real-time announce that your home sits empty. Check-ins at restaurants tell criminals you're away for at least an hour. Even seemingly innocent posts about your work schedule or regular activities help criminals map your routine and identify optimal times to target your property.
Digital Home Security Practices
Set your GPS home location to a nearby landmark rather than your actual address. Choose a gas station, grocery store, or public park within a few blocks of your home. When you need directions home, navigate to this nearby location and drive the final blocks without GPS guidance. This practice protects your actual address if your phone or car gets stolen.
Keep your car in your garage whenever possible, making it harder for criminals to observe your coming and going patterns. If you don't have a garage, vary your parking spots and arrival times to avoid establishing predictable patterns that criminals can exploit.
Review your social media privacy settings to ensure your posts reach only trusted friends and family rather than public audiences. Never post vacation photos while you're traveling—wait until you return home to share those experiences. Avoid check-ins at locations that reveal you're away from home. Don't post about work schedules, regular commitments, or predictable absences.
Consider implementing smart home technology that creates the appearance you're home even when you're away. Smart lighting systems like those integrated with Valley Alarm's residential security systems can turn lights on and off in random patterns throughout your home, simulate the flickering of television screens, and respond to your security system's status. These systems make your home appear occupied even when you're traveling, counteracting any information criminals might gather from digital sources.
How Valley Alarm Enhances These Home Security Tips
These four lesser-known home security tips work best when combined with professionally monitored security systems that provide comprehensive protection. Valley Alarm's residential security systems include features that complement these strategies:
Smart Access Control eliminates visible keypad vulnerabilities by allowing you to arm and disarm your intrusion detection system from your smartphone before you even reach your door. You never stand in front of windows entering codes that criminals might observe.
Integrated Lighting Control through our video surveillance systems lets you automate exterior and interior lighting that eliminates hiding spots around your property and creates occupancy illusions when you're away. Motion-activated exterior lights work with your security sensors to flood your yard with light when movement occurs.
Video Verification provides monitoring operators with live camera feeds when your alarm triggers, allowing them to see exactly what's happening at your home and provide detailed information to responding police officers. Our professional monitoring services ensure rapid police response to verified threats. This feature works whether criminals breach your doors, windows, or attempt entry through other access points.
Remote Monitoring allows you to check on your home from anywhere using your smartphone. You can verify your system is armed, view camera feeds, and receive instant alerts about any suspicious activity—giving you peace of mind whether you're at work, on vacation, or just running errands.
Since 1981, Valley Alarm has protected Southern California families by combining proven security technology with practical strategies like these four lesser-known home security tips.
Our local technicians serve Los Angeles, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, Orange County, Ventura County, Inland Empire, South Bay, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. We understand Los Angeles area crime patterns and can identify vulnerabilities specific to your property.
Get Your Free Home Security Assessment
Understanding how these lesser-known home security tips apply to your specific property requires evaluating your home's unique layout, landscaping, and vulnerabilities. Valley Alarm provides complimentary security assessments for Los Angeles area homeowners.
During your assessment, we'll identify where criminals might hide on your property, recommend optimal keypad placement for your home's layout, suggest landscaping modifications that improve security, discuss smart home integration that protects against digital tracking, and provide pricing for comprehensive monitoring systems.
Schedule Your Free Security Assessment →
Or call our San Fernando office: (800) 550-2537
Service Areas
Valley Alarm protects homes throughout Southern California including Los Angeles, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, Orange County, Ventura County, and the Inland Empire.
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