8 Items Thieves Won't Steal In A Home Break-In, From Kitchen Appliances To Massive TVs

Hopefully, you'll never experience someone breaking into your home. Knowing what robbers are looking for, though, can help you minimize your losses in the unfortunateevent of a break-in. When a thief plans a robbery, they generally want to get in and out with valuable, lightweight, and easy-to-sell items. Understanding which items in your home are likely to be targeted by thieves and which aren't will help you protect your belongings. When a burglar breaks into your house, time is of the essence. Most are over in 15 minutes or less. As a result, no matter how valuable something is, if it isn't quickly accessible and easy to move, thieves aren't likely to steal it. Once you know the types of items thieves won't steal, you can put your focus on protecting your home from intruders.

One of the best ways to protect valuable items that thieves are likely to steal is by disguising them as items they aren't likely to want. For example, you can hide your jewelry in an empty oatmeal canister, since burglars aren't going to be interested in taking your breakfast cereal.

It's going to be hard for a thief to carry that gigantic television that turned your basement into a home movie theater. As a result, they're probably going to pass it up no matter how new it is or how great its features are. Smaller TVs may be an easier target, though, because they're easier to unplug and carry. However, they typically aren't worth a lot since new, larger ones have become so cheap. On the whole, you don't need to spend a lot of time worrying about your televisions.

If you've invested in building an entertainment room from scratch that's tailor made for your den, it probably set you back a pretty penny. But your average thieves won't understand how to use it or what it's worth. People who are looking to make a quick buck want items that are in high demand and that they can sell quickly. Anything that's overly customized will be hard to sell.

Despite the fact that you may have spent a lot of money outfitting your home with trustworthy and reliable appliance brands, common thieves won't bother them. Appliances are unwieldy and often require two or more people to move. Unless the thieves brought a moving truck, they won't be able to load up heavy appliances. It will also take a while to uninstall and move a major appliance. This will leave the burglars exposed and vulnerable for far longer than they're comfortable with. After all, they have no idea when you're coming home or when a suspicious neighbor might call the police.

You probably have several musical instruments lying around that you spent a lot of money purchasing before your kid decided to quit band after one semester. Unfortunately, most instruments don't hold their value very well. Almost everyone has an old piano or clarinet. They're also abundant in pawn shops and for sale groups. The only exception to this is very rare or unique instruments. However, these instruments typically have a provenance, allowing them to be traced back to their makers and owners. So the market for them is small and specialized, outside a common burglar's wheelhouse.

Obviously, thieves aren't likely to target your Ikea platform bed since these are typically very affordable when new and extremely cheap second-hand. However, even if you have very expensive furniture, you probably won't come home to find it cleared out like you see in the movies. This is for the same reason they won't target large appliances. Expensive furniture is made of premium materials such as solid wood, making it heavy and difficult to move.

Even though the cost of groceries keeps going up, the contents of your pantry and refrigerator are usually safe from theft. Even the most costly groceries are cheap compared to jewelry or the latest model phones. Additionally, groceries are often perishable and will go bad quickly. If you keep cash in your house for emergencies, you can take advantage of this by hiding it in a frozen food box in your freezer. Just make sure your family knows it's there so they don't accidentally toss it when they're cleaning.

Although alcohol is more expensive than muffins or crackers, its resale value is still very low, particularly if the bottles have been opened. Unless your burglars are teenage partiers, your liquor cabinet won't be a primary target. They'll be looking for cash or items that can be quickly converted into cash, such as small, expensive electronics.

All of the household items you rely on to keep your family fed, clothed, and organized add up over time. However, like your groceries, they don't retain their value. A thief would have to sell a lot of household items to make any money, so it's not worth the hassle of stealing them. So there's no need to bolt down your high-speed blender or fancy new air fryer. Expensive headphones, new-model laptops, and high-end speakers are more attractive targets because they're highly desirable and sell quickly on platforms such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace. They're also easier to move, since a single laptop is worth more than a box of household items.