There are many ways to secure a property. However, for an apartment, not only are the risks lower, but the actions are more limited since it is not a matter of protecting access through all openings. In an apartment, there is usually only one access point: the front door. As a tenant, you cannot replace it with a more secure door against break-ins. However, with the approval of the property owner, you can add a lock and change the main lock. If the keys have been the same for several years, potentially many former tenants may have kept a duplicate and could easily enter your apartment in Lausanne, Geneva, Zurich, Basel, or Bern.
Many burglars do reconnaissance to try to enter apartments that seem empty. You can therefore simulate a presence by leaving a light or the radio on. But in the era of energy conservation, leaving a device running all day is a process to avoid. Therefore, plugging a lamp or radio into an outlet equipped with a timer allows you to program intermittent on/off cycles that are more dissuasive and more economical.
Has your neighborhood been hit by burglaries? Instead of giving in to panic and canceling your lease to find a replacement tenant, install a safe. You can protect all your valuables in it: jewelry, checkbooks, tablets, cash, important papers (passport, registration certificate, family book...), keys, external hard drives containing professional and personal documents (photos).
Several types of security systems can be installed in an apartment. Alarms can be triggered in case of intrusion, but the trend in recent years has been to set up video surveillance. The camera, depending on its location, will have a deterrent effect, and you can check from your smartphone at work, for example, to see if anyone is trying to enter your home.
An overflowing mailbox is a good indicator for a burglar that you are clearly on vacation. By asking a trusted neighbor to collect your mail and water your plants, you make your home more lively and less susceptible to burglaries.
Some influencers show their entire lives on social media to an unknown audience. By multiplying images of yourself in front of your building, with very expensive products, and then at the other end of the world, there is an obvious risk of tempting certain criminals. So be careful about what you share.
And if, despite these tips, you become a victim of burglary, you may want to find a replacement tenant and look for a new apartment in Lausanne, for example. For simple and fast steps, use the SherlockHomes service, the Swiss real estate platform that connects property owners, rental candidates, and outgoing tenants.
This article cannot be exhaustive and does not engage the responsibility of its author.
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