Just a little bit of forethought and preparation can go a long way towards protecting your home, your assets and, most important of all, you and your family’s well-being. Here are a few tips from www.Realestate.com.kh.

BEFORE buying or renting any property, consider whether it is a security risk:

“Is your home in a high crime area?” – ask this question before it is too late:

Also question, “Is there construction near your home?” If this is the case, you should be more vigilant of your home security. Construction workers generally receive relatively low wages and are experts at installing or removing doors, windows, etc. They also have plenty of time to survey your movements, and learn when the best time is to strike your home. This is not to say all construction workers are dishonest, but be wary of this potential risk if you home is in a high-construction area.

MONITOR who enters your home or business closely:

Conducting background checks on domestic staff and drivers is essential to maintaining home security. These are the people who you trust to come into your home, so you need to know that they are not a threat. That said, if you choose to hire a security guard, do some homework on that security company, their training programs, policies and directors. There have been some cases of local and expat-managed security companies being established by disreputable operators.

Use TECHNOLOGY to boost your home security:

Relying on guard manpower alone makes you prone to many problems. Ultimately guards are human, and humans can fail!

Electronic systems such as motion sensors, burglary and fire detection alarms linked to high decibel alarms are a good investment. These can be linked into central monitoring stations (CMS) manned by operators 24/7, and supported with armed response teams and close connections with police in the event of a break-in.

Installing strong perimeter lighting is also important for business and home security. High resolution cameras are a great crime deterrent too.

Keep vegetation close to your perimeter cut short: It’s especially important to remove trees that are next to your perimeter fence. Criminals can easily use trees as ladders to trespass.

Be wary of KEYS:

Replace keyed locks to vital entrances of your home or business with fingerprint readers with numerical code passwords. Keys are extremely easily copied and professional thieves can easily defeat most keyed lock devices.

Don’t forget to consider FIRE SAFETY in your home security plan:

Most homes and apartments in Cambodia have barred windows. Make sure that on each floor there is a way to escape via a locked hatch in case of a fire. The keys for this door can be hidden inside the window in a box not visible to thieves.

While you are at it, keep an updated list of your family, relatives, hospitals, fire department and the local police precinct contact numbers posted at several places in your home.

Checkout more great real estate insights today, on www.Realestate.com.kh/news, Cambodia’s home of Real Estate.