Protecting Your Home, Family And Property (NAPSA)—In many cases, the best way to protect your homeis through caution and common sense. Kwikset has teamed up with nationally syndicated colum- nists and radio talk show hosts The Carey Brothers to offer up these tips for keeping yourself, your family and your property safe. 1. Going out of town? Give your neighbor your house key to check on your home. Anotheridea: Install a Kwikset Powerbolt and provide a temporary code for your neighbors to use. Powerbolt pro- vides the convenience of keyless access, operates on just four AA batteries and permits access with a personalized code or a key. 2. Parking your car outside? Make sure your car is locked. And take the garage door opener with you instead of leaving it in the vehicle. 3. Valeting your car? Don’t keep your home address on anything found within yourcar. Also, never give your house keys to a valet service, just your ignition key. 4, Been living in the same house for over five years? “You might consider changing the locks,” says Morris Carey. “After this long, you begin to forget about the numberof different peo- ple that have had access to your home.” Closely inspect deadbolts every six months for tampering and excess wear. Replace outdoor locks with Grade-One deadbolts— or brand-new locks—to ensure your homehas the best security possible. 5. Traveling? Don’t put your home address on your luggage tags. Put your office address or just list a cell phone number. 6. Coming home late? Have your keys ready so you won't fumble for them once you are at the door. Another solution is to install a Kwikset Powerbolt so you don’t have to worry about keysatall. A keyless lock can bea terrific way to prevent unauthorized accessto your home. 7. Taking a trip? Leave a car parked in the driveway. Better yet, ask a neighbor to park in your driveway to give the appearance that someone is coming and going regularly at your residence. 8. Hectic schedule? Don’t give specific information about your schedule on your outgoing voicemail or on automated “out-ofoffice” e-mail replies. Offer a cell or alternate number on your message instead. 9. Is every door secure? Keep the door from the garage into the house locked even if the main garage dooris closed. It can be helpful to install and use deadbolt locks on exterior doors leading into the garage as well as entry doors leading into the house. 10. Have an easily accessi- ble backyard? Install a secure fence to prevent someone getting access to your home through your back door. James Carey suggests planting hearty and fast-growing bushes. “This will give your home an extra barrier of protection around the perimeter of the property.” For a detailed home security analysis, contact a bonded lock- smith. Visit www.kwikset.com for additional safety tips. Note To Editor: October is National Crime Prevention Month.
