Most of us have houseguests at one time or another: old college friends who are town for a reunion, relatives visiting for the holidays, or your daughter’s best friend sleeping over on a Friday night. Having friends and family close by can be a lot of fun and allow you to spend valuable time together, but it can also be stressful when they’re staying in your home and aren’t familiar with your home security system and safety precautions. Though you probably trust your friends and family implicitly, you might not feel so confident about friends they might bring along if you don’t know them very well. The irony of having a home security system is that it’s designed to protect you from unwanted intruders, but if you’ve invited somebody into your home, it’s a different matter. No matter whether it’s to make sure your brother doesn’t set off the burglar alarm when he’s been out late partying, or to protect your valuables from guests you don’t know very well, it’s best to take additional security precautions when you have houseguests. First of all, provide houseguests you trust with a key to your front or back door so they can come and go as they please. Explain all your regular home security procedures, such as locking the doors and making sure all windows are closed when they leave the house. If you have a home security system, provide them with the access code and show them how to activate and deactivate the system. Some home security systems allow you to program individual passwords, so you never have to give out your master password. It’s always a good idea to change your password after your houseguests have left, so it never falls into the wrong hands. To protect your personal belongings and information from snooping houseguests, place all your valuables in your safe, well out of sight of prying eyes. Lock your medicine cabinet and any rooms you don’t want houseguests entering. If you own a gun or other firearm, make sure it is locked away in a gun safe. One of the most important things to consider nowadays is who has access to your private information, so if you have a computer at home, make sure to always shut it down when you’re not using it. Protect it with a strong password so nobody can gain access to your personal, financial and professional information.
