I once had a few beers with a convicted (and therefore not very successful) burglar. He gave me several hints about how not to be burgled. Things I recall were:
Put up security stuff at the front of your house (barred windows, alarms - real or fake) they will encourage the burglar to rob your neighbours. They don’t go around the back unless you are their target
Get a dog - this will encourage the burglar to rob your neighbours.
Never put your bins out if you are not at home.
Never leave your bins out after the rubbish is collected.
Never leave a radio or TV on while you are out. If the burglar hears one going and knocks on the door and no-one answers he knows you are gone for a loooong while.
A friend of mine used to be a cop and then became a surveillance operative for insurance companies. He told me that being not noticed is all about getting people to make assumptions about what they see. For instance, if you have to sit in a parked car to watch someone/somewhere you sit in the passenger seat and pretend to read. Because you aren’t “the driver” people assume that you are waiting for someone who is visiting someone nearby.
So possibly an old, dirty pair of shoes and a gardening implement left “casually” out the front may convince someone you are taking a break from gardening.
I think I have been burgled 3 times and have had 2 failed attempts. Unfortunately the truth of suburban burglary is more like this (failed attempt number 1):
I am, by chance, at home on a work day. There is a knock on the door. I answer the door and am confronted by someone who, in my experience (former psychiatric nurse), appears to be a drug user with many years before the spike. Through the locked screendoor we have this:
“Is Rob here?” he asks.
“No mate, there’s no-one of that name here. In fact there is no-one called Rob in this street. Would you like me to call the police? Maybe they can help you find him.”
“Oh no that’s OK I must have got the address wrong.”
“What address did he give you? There’s no number out the front here. Are you sure you don’t want some help from the police? Just stay here and I’ll go and call them.”
But when I return with the phone he is gone and so is the parked car out the front with the other guy sitting in it.
If I’m not home I get burgled.
The other time a neighbour spotted 2 guys knocking on my door. She asked them what they were doing and they said, “We’re visiting the guy who lives here.” She asked them what my name was and they had no idea so she told them to fuck off because she was calling the police. They ran away. Funny thing was she wouldn’t have weighed 110 pounds.