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A Burglar Shares His Trade Secrets

What’s the best way to know what and how a burglar thinks so you can better protect your home? Just ask one!

Easier said than done? Not really. In fact, many burglary professionals have been all too happy to share their trade secrets over the years, and we’re now pleased to share some of them with you.

What Burglars Look For!

A Burglar Shares His Trade Secrets

It’s not just one house that interests them – they scope out entire neighborhoods to get the lay of the land.
Many come wearing work clothes and sometimes even a service uniform to better blend in. If they like the look of your house at first glance, they might even leave a flier or door hanger. That also helps them see if you have a burglar alarm.

Burglars prefer homes with high privacy fences to prevent neighbors and passersby from spotting them.
The more outdoor vegetation you have, the happier they are. Especially when it’s time to break into your home.
Do you have outdoor playground equipment or tend to leave your kids’ toys outside a lot? Guess what? That tells a burglar a mom lives there, and that indicates the presence of jewelry.

How Burglars Break into Your Home.

How else? They knock on your door to see if you’re home. If you are, they’ll make something up and be on their way.
But what if you’re not home! They’ll check the front and back door to see if either is unlocked. If both are, they’ll look in the usual hiding places for a spare key. If that attempt fails, they’ll look for an open window and, when all else fails, they’ll break a window or get through a door with a crowbar.

Once Inside Your Home.

The pros have their routines, which includes starting their search for cash, jewelry, or anything else of value in the master bedroom. They’re not shy about looking inside dresser drawers, under beds, and in closets either.
Your bathroom medicine cabinets are searched for narcotic prescription meds since those can be sold on the streets.
Next comes the kitchen and living room in their quest for electronics, credit cards, car keys, and personal information.
Once the loot has been hauled in, they call their back-up driver for their great escape.

So, just how vulnerable do you feel now? If the answer is “more than I’d like to,”, give us a call. We’re Now Security Systems and we’d be happy to show you easy and affordable it can be to keep burglars out for good. Why not contact us today.

More Ways to Increase Your Home’s Resale Value

If you listened to everyone who said “do this because it will increase your home’s resale value,” you’d never stop spending money on your home. And you wouldn’t come close to recouping your total investment.

That’s why doing something to increase your home’s resale value, while generally a good idea, should rarely if ever be your sole reason for making certain improvements.

Home’s Resale Value

Let’s say, for example, you live in a neighborhood where no one’s heard of tankless water heaters. But you have, and you want one. Is it worth the added expense and/or will it yield a higher resale price for your home? Impossible to say with just that much information to work with. Therefore, go ahead and purchase that tankless water heater if you think it’s the best hot water solution for your family, and its impact on eventual resale value determine itself.

On the other hand, let’s say you are actively planning to sell your house and you have a set budget for making improvements before putting it on the market. According to HGTV, these are the projects that typically deliver the greatest return on investment:

Minor bathroom remodel
Landscape improvement
Minor kitchen remodel
Exterior improvements
Attic bedroom conversion

You know what else adds value to your home? A home security alarm system! It increases the desirability of your home and property and often is a deciding factor when a buyer is faced with a choice of which home to place an offer on.

What’s more, home security systems are considered a valuable addition to your home by insurance companies. In fact, many of them offer up to a 20% discount on your monthly premiums.

Whether you’re selling or staying put, contact Now Security Systems today to learn more about how a carefully installed and monitored security system can add value to your home, and peace of mind for its occupants.

The Benefits of Home Video Monitoring

The first time you considered adding video monitoring to your home security alarm system, it might have struck you as a “nice to have” vs. a “must have”. But have you considered the added peace of mind video monitoring can provide? Let’s have a look:

If your home is burglarized while no one is home, recorded video serves as added evidence of what happened, when, and who the perpetrator(s) might be.

Home Video Monitoring

Your video monitoring service comes with a phone app so you can keep an eye on things while you’re gone. Did your kids arrive home safely and on time? Are they doing their homework or the chores you left for them? There are even video alerts to notify you if something out of the ordinary is taking place.

Check with your homeowners insurance company, because adding video monitoring to your home security system could result in a premium reduction.

If you have a cleaning service, a nanny, or any other full- or part-time home staff, a video monitoring system enables you to hold them accountable for the work they’ve been engaged to perform.

Imagine for a second that a burglar enters your home and you don’t have access to a phone or any other means to contact the authorities and feel safe while doing so. With a video monitoring system, your security alarm provider will contact the authorities for you – after all, it’s part of what you’re paying for.

A video monitoring system allows you and your security monitoring service to keep track of areas you seldom visit, like your garage, a distant hallway at your place of business, even your backyard. The more eyes keeping an eye on things, the better.

At Now Security Systems, we’re in the business of providing you with added peace of mind. Contact us today to learn just how capable we are of achieving that goal on your behalf.

What a Gallery Wall Can Do for Your Home

If you have a wall that’s too small for furniture, or is positioned in a high flow traffic area but makes little if any decorative statement, maybe you’ve just given up trying. After all, you might reason, do you really want to hang up more family photos or “whatever” just because you have a space to fill?

Well, it’s for just such spaces that gallery walls first came into being: a place where you can make an important creative statement about who you, something that means the world to you, some place memorable you’ve visited, and so on. Here are a few tips and suggestions to get you started.

Gallery Wall Can Do for Your Home

Get inspired: Half of the fun of a gallery wall is gathering and locating a collection of items you love! Not quite sure what that might be? Search the internet, Pinterest, magazines, and even your own photo albums. Figure out what strikes your fancy, and then do a little more research on the specifics.

Get personal: Once you’ve picked your theme, don’t just buy all your items at a home décor store – nothing terribly personal about that! Instead, add personal touches, like old family photos, family heirlooms, or have the whole family pick items that represent them and their part of the story.

Get focused: Pick a statement piece, something that is on the larger side that will draw people’s attention, and make the focal point of your gallery wall. Then use other pieces to elaborate on the central theme. And don’t be afraid to think outside the box, as not every focal point has to be dead center. It can be wherever you want it to be.

Get creative: When choosing the items for your wall, try to vary them in size, type, and texture and yet make sure thy complement one another and the overall theme. Also, keep in mind that too many small items will get lost, while several larger items would tend to make the wall feel overwhelming or busy.

Give it life: First lay out the design. You can do this on the floor or a table, or trace the items on paper and move the pieces around until your satisfied it’s just what you want. This will help ensure that once you start adhering things to the wall, you’ll only have to do it once.

If you have valuable items as part of your Gallery Wall, we advise you to not make it viewable from the outside. Otherwise, it could serve as a neon sign to burglars, screaming “look what’s waiting here for you.” Don’t already have a home security system? Then today’s a great day to contact Now Security Systems for the added protection every family needs for true peace of mind.

How to Prevent Home Security System False Alarms

Security system false alarms are a problem for everyone concerned. For the homeowner, they’re highly stressful and can scare the daylights out of you, not just small children or the elderly.

But they also place an added burden on your home security company and your local police and other emergency personnel. In some Connecticut towns, you can even incur a fine for too many false alarms.

Here’s how to prevent future occurrences:

Home Security System False Alarms

Know and remember your codes. Entering the wrong code is the #1 cause of security system false alarms. So, don’t just memorize yours, but know where they’re written down – somewhere not easily discovered, but easily retrieved by you should you forget.

Do you know where your pets are? If you have pets who roam around your household while you’re away and you’ve set the alarm, you’re practically begging for a false alarm. Either keep them away from sensors or upgrade your system to with pet-immune sensors.

Alert house guests. If you have a house guest arriving before you do, be sure to mention that they need to disarm the system upon entering your home.

Keep your doors and windows closed and locked. This is something you should do just before arming your system. Conversely, be sure to disarm it before re-opening windows and doors.

Replace your batteries regularly. If you have a newer security alarm system, it will alert you when the batteries start to weaken. Be sure to heed that call as another away to prevent a false alarm.

Keep an eye on stray objects. Pets aren’t the only non-humans that can accidentally trigger your alarm. Certain inanimate objects can achieve. Take, for example, window treatments that start swaying from the moving air emanating from a heating or cooling vent. You might want to tie those down.

At Now Security Systems, we react as if every alarm registered at our monitoring center is the real thing. So, help us do our job better and more efficiently by eliminating as many false alarms as possible. Have questions on how to better accomplish that goal or on any other residential or commercial security matter? Contact us today – we’ll be glad to help.

How to Adjust to Daylight Savings Time

For all the looking ahead to spring you do, you also have it in your head that the very morning after you turn the clocks ahead, you lose an hour’s worth of sleep. Is that necessarily true? Not if you stay in bed that Sunday morning until you’re no longer tired. Then all you’ve lost is one hour of activity that you’ll get back in early November.

But since perception is nine-tenths of reality, even when it comes to daylight savings tip, here are some tips on how to adjust to the new spring and summer hours.

Get a head start: Instead of waiting for the time change to hit, start adjusting a week or so ahead of time by going to be about 10 minutes earlier each night.

Create a sleep environment: Creating the right environment for sleep is good advice year-round, but it’s especially important when sleep can be disrupted. Start winding down for bed an hour before you’d like to be sleeping. Turn off all the electronics, wash up and change for bed, read or meditate, have a warm cup of tea, and then turn all the lights off for dream time. Getting used to a routine means that your body will be naturally cued on going to sleep when you begin these steps – no matter what time it is.

Stop looking at the clock: For up to two weeks following the time change people are fond of saying “Yes, but it’s really an hour earlier!” The point is, the less attention you pay to the time change, the faster your spring schedule will become the new normal.

Be flexible: Remind yourself that you have no problem staying up late and getting less sleep when going out for the evening, so why should the eve of daylight savings time be different?

Soak in the tub: Taking a hot bath is an excellent way to slow down before bedtime. Not only does it relax you, but raises your body temperature, as well. Once you exit the tub, your body temperature lowers, just as it does when you go to sleep. Now, you’re one step closer to dream time.

With daylight savings time also comes warmer weather, and that means more open windows and doors. Well, it’s also important to keep in mind that crime generally increases in the spring, so please be sure to lock your doors and windows before leaving the house, and to arm your home security system accordingly. Don’t already have one? Then contact Now Security Systems to request a free home security analysis and proposal.

Why You Should Test Your Security Alarm System

Here at Now Security Systems, we advise all our customers – residential and commercial alike – to test their alarm system monthly. The goal, of course, is to make sure your system is properly communicating with our monitoring center; otherwise, there’s no point in having your system in the first place.

Another occasion for testing your system is any time you change or replace your phone or cable service. That’s because, however inadvertently, a phone or cable installer could cause issues with your alarm system connectivity. In that instance, we advise you to test your security system even before the phone or cable installer leaves your premises so if anything needs to be adjusted, it can be taken care of right away.

It may sound like a long shot, but trust us when we say we’ve witnessed countless such incidents.

Testing your system is roughly a 5-minute process, and a simple one at that. Just give us a call at 203-281-1121 and we’ll talk you through it, a step at a time.

At Now Security Systems, delivering added peace of mind is our ultimate goal, and helping you test your security alarm system is one more way we provide it.

How to Make Better Use of Your Basement

Making the basement a place for everyone to enjoy can be an overwhelming and expensive undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many affordable and even inexpensive DIY projects that can help make your basement fun and more productive. Here are a few suggestions:

Designate zones: Most families have different hobbies and interests. Perhaps the children like to play games, teens want to watch TV and play video games, while adults just want a quiet place to relax or do crafts. Whatever your needs are, you can get started by designating areas of your basement for each such purpose.

Indoor play area: Short of creating a permanent play area, how about just bringing in some outside toys during the off-season months so the kids can enjoy their play time without tripping all over you and everything you’re working on upstairs. You can also press an old crib mattress into service for some downstairs jumping, a small trampoline, a 4×4 wood post for a balance beam, and a bin of old costumes for dress-up and play acting.

Furniture: Unless you want to buy a whole new set of furniture for your basement TV zone, you can get very creative with the seating! Using storage cubes helps double the functionality of seating and added space for blankets or toys. Bean bag chairs or inflatables are fun, inexpensive, and much more tolerant of spills and stains.

Nooks: There is one thing that every basement has and that’s space under the stairs. That space can be easily sectioned off for a perfect book nook, study space, or napping zone. You can either frame it out into a formal space, or just add some pillows, strong lights, and hang long curtains to create a privacy zone!

Your basement also should be included in your home security system, especially if there’s any way at all for an intruder to get inside your home. Contact Now Security Systems today for a free and no-obligation proposal on how we can better secure your basement and your entire home so you and your family can live your lives with greater peace of mind.

White House Trivia Your Probably Didn’t Know

As the world gets ready to watch a new president take up residency in the White House, we thought it would be fun to share some surprising facts about this centuries-old, not so humble abode.

All in a Name – Before Theodore Roosevelt dubbed this stately structure the ‘White House’ in 1901, it was also known as the Executive Mansion, the President’s House, and the President’s Palace. Roosevelt was our 26^th president
A Starter Home – During the construction of the nation’s new capital city, George Washington took up residence in a well-appointed brick mansion in Philadelphia – the acting capital at the time. Before that, Washington lived in two other homes in New York City during his presidency. The only place he didn’t call home during his two terms was the White House as it was not completed until 1800, a year after he died.
The First Resident – Washington did, however, oversee construction of the White House and, before that, picked a plot of land on the Potomac River to serve as the nation’s capital. The first official occupants of the White House were president John Adams and his wife, Abigail.
All the Comforts – Running water was piped into the residence in 1833, a central heating system was installed in 1837, and electricity lit up the home beginning in 1891.
Plenty of Room – The White House consists of 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms. It occupies six floors and features 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, 3 elevators, 147 windows, and 412 doors.
Market Value – According to Zillow, the White House is worth about $397 million. It’s a good thing the First Family is allowed to live in the sprawling mansion rent-free.
A Pricey Face Lift – It takes about 20 gallons of paint to coat the exterior of an average 2,000 square foot home. However, if you were to paint the exterior of the White House, you’d need about 570 gallons of paint – and a lot of time.
Pool Party – Believe it or not, what is now known as the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room was once a swimming pool. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned the building of the indoor aquatic arena and swam in the pool regularly to help soothe his polio. In 1970, Richard Nixon pushed to have a larger space for the members of the press corps, and the pool was filled in.
Lawfully Wedded – Seventeen White House weddings have been documented. The first, in 1812, was for the sister of first lady Dolley Madison. The most recent, in 1994, was for the brother of first lady Hillary Clinton. Grover Cleveland became the only president married in the White House when he wed Frances Folsom in the Blue Room in 1886.
What’s with the Elephants? – Some pretty exotic pets have also called the White House home. Take, for instance, the pair of tiger cubs kept briefly by Martin Van Buren, or the tobacco-chewing ram preferred by Woodrow Wilson. And yes, even a herd of elephants once resided there, the prized possessions of James Buchanan.

As for White House Security, we’d need more than blog to provide you with all that information. But here’s just a taste of how its occupants are protected, starting with the iron fence that surrounds it. Alarms are positioned beneath the ground and infrared sensors above the ground to detect intruders, while guard stations control the entrances and bullet-proof windows protect against sniper fire.

Is your home and family as well protected as you’d like it to be? If the answer is “no” or you’re just not sure, we invite you to contact Now Security Systems today for a free in-home security analysis and proposal.

“Do I Really Need a Home Security System?”

Life has a way of rendering family budgets obsolete – for better, or worse.

Someone gets a promotion of a spouse who has been a say-at-home parent goes back to work full time, and suddenly you have more discretionary income. Conversely, your employer cuts back on your hours or, worse yet, your position is eliminated, and now it’s time to tighten your financial belt.

One of the monthly expenses that tends to be among the first to get chopped is home security monitoring, especially among families who live in low crime neighborhoods and have no history of break-ins, attempted or otherwise. But is that really such a good idea? Let’s go by the numbers:

According to the FBI, only 1 in 250 homes with an active security alarm system will be burglarized compared to 1 in 3 for homes without such a system.

According to the Electronic Security Association’s “Home Safety Fast Facts” report, 9 out of 10 burglars said that if they encountered an alarm or home security system, they would not attack the home. (Nice of them to take part in the survey, don’ you think?)

Another FBI study reveals that the average burglary will result in a $1,725 net loss to the homeowner. Compare that to what you may now be paying for monthly security monitoring services, and then decide if the risk is really worth it.

By the time you finish reading this blog, 13 new burglaries will already have been committed in the US.

Here at Now Security Systems, we can’t tell you how to prioritize your expenses. What we can tell you that home security systems with ongoing monitoring services play a valuable role in safeguarding homes in every state, including right here in Connecticut.

For more information or a free in-home security evaluation and new system quote, contact us today.