5 Things You Absolutely Have To Do To Protect Your Home in 2026

If you own a home, especially in San Diego, it is not enough to just lock the front door and pay your mortgage.

In 2026, real risk for homeowners looks like:

• Title fraud you never see coming

• Insurance that does not actually rebuild after a major loss

• No clear plan if something happens to you

• Increasing wildfire and disaster exposure

• Weak or unused home security

The good news is you do not need to overhaul your entire life to reduce these risks. There are five practical steps you can take this year that will make a huge difference for your home, your equity, and your peace of mind.

Let’s walk through them.

1. Put Your Home in a Living Trust

For most families, this is the least urgent feeling task and the most important one.

A living trust is a legal document that lets you decide:

• Who is in charge of your assets if something happens to you

• Who receives what, and on what terms

• How your property is handled without going through a long, public, expensive court process called probate

When you put your home into your living trust, you are basically saying:

“If I am gone or I cannot make decisions, here is exactly who steps in, and here is what happens to this property.”

That can save your family months or even years of delay, thousands of dollars in costs, and a lot of emotional stress. It also reduces the chaos that scammers sometimes try to exploit in real estate when an owner passes away or becomes incapacitated.

Important note: I am not an attorney or a CPA.
This is a conversation to have with:

• A good estate planning attorney

• Your tax professional

Tell them you own a home in California and ask if putting your house in a living trust makes sense as part of your overall estate plan.

If you tackle only one “non-urgent” item this year that really matters for your family, this is the one.

2. Guard Your Title From Fraud

Home title fraud happens when someone records a fake loan or even a fake deed against your property. It is still rare, but when it happens it is a nightmare to unwind.

You do not need to panic, but you should put a few simple protections in place.

Practical steps:

• Turn on county recording alerts
  Many counties offer free alerts when something is recorded against your name or parcel number. If your county has this, sign up. You will get an email if someone records a document on your property.

• Consider a title monitoring service
  These services watch your property’s public record and alert you to changes. Think of it as credit monitoring for your home. You do not need the fanciest or most aggressive plan. Just choose something straightforward that you will actually read.

• Protect your identity
  A lot of real estate scams start with stolen identity, not the property itself. Freezing your credit and using basic identity monitoring makes it much harder for someone to open loans or lines of credit in your name.

You might not be bulletproof, but with these steps you are no longer the easiest target.

3. Fix the Gaps in Your Homeowners Insurance

Many homeowners assume, “I have insurance, so I am covered.”
The reality is often more complicated, especially in California.

Recent years have brought:

• Carriers pulling back or tightening their guidelines

• More nonrenewals in higher risk areas

• More people being pushed to the California FAIR Plan

• Rising construction costs, which means more underinsured homes

You want to know before something happens where you stand, not after.

Here is a simple insurance checkup:

1. Dwelling coverage amount
   Ask your agent,

   “Is my dwelling coverage based on estimated rebuild cost, or just my home’s price?”
   You want coverage that gets you close to rebuilding, not just paying off a portion of the loss.

2. Wildfire, smoke, and wind
   Confirm what is covered and what is excluded.
   If you are on the California FAIR Plan, make sure you also have the companion policy that covers other risks. The FAIR Plan by itself is limited.

3. Earthquake insurance
   We live in Southern California. Earthquakes are part of the deal.
   Whether you buy a policy or not should be a conscious decision. Ask for:

   • A quote

   • Deductible options

   • Pros and cons for your situation

4. Deductible and cash on hand
   Find the actual dollar amount of your deductible. Then ask,

   “If something happened tonight, do I have this amount in savings?”
   If not, that number becomes a great target for your emergency fund.

Get these four pieces right and you are ahead of most homeowners.

4. Use Smart Home Security You Will Actually Turn On

Most break-ins are not elaborate heists. They are crimes of opportunity.
Your job is to make your home a bad option.

A big mistake people make is chasing the “perfect” home security setup and then never using it. The best system is the one you actually arm.

Think of security in three layers:

1. Deterrence

   • Good lighting around doors and windows

   • Trimmed landscaping so there are not many hiding spots

   • Visible security cameras or signs

   People looking to do something shady usually want easy and invisible. Make your home neither.

2. Control points

   • Smart locks on your main doors

   • Smart control for your garage

   • An alarm system that you turn on when you leave and when you go to bed

   It does not need to be fancy. It just needs to fit into your daily routine.

3. Awareness

   • A video doorbell

   • One or two cameras in key locations you can check from your phone

   Being able to see what is going on at your front door when you are not home is a big stress reducer.

All of this runs on your WiFi, so tighten that up too:

• Use a strong, unique router password

• Change the default login credentials

• Turn on two factor authentication where you can

No one wants a “smart home” that is easy to hack.

5. Do Basic Wildfire and Disaster Prep

Even if you live closer to the coast, what happens with wildfires and storms across California affects all of us through insurance, risk, and resilience.

The goal is not to scare you. It is to give you a few simple steps that cut risk and stress.

Look at your home through this lens:

• Where would embers or debris land and catch?
  Clear dry leaves and debris from:

  • Roofs

  • Gutters

  • Around fences and decks

• Do you back up to a canyon or open space?
  If so, create defensible space by thinning and spacing out dry vegetation. Many San Diego homes sit near canyons and open areas, so this is a big one.

• Are there weak spots for embers to get inside?
  Check vents, eaves, and decks. There are ember resistant vent covers and small upgrades that make it harder for fire to get inside your structure.

• Do you have a basic plan if something happens?

  • A simple go bag with essentials and some cash

  • Copies of key documents or digital backups

  • A plan for where you would go and who you would call

A little planning now goes a long way if the worst ever happens.

Quick Recap

Here are the five things you absolutely should do to protect your home in 2026:

1. Put your home in a living trust and work with an estate planning attorney and CPA to get your plan right.

2. Guard your title and your identity with county alerts, title monitoring, and credit protection.

3. Fix your homeowners insurance gaps so you understand rebuild costs, wildfire and wind coverage, earthquake options, and your deductible.

4. Upgrade to smart security you actually use and think in layers: deterrence, control points, and awareness.

5. Do basic wildfire and disaster prep around your home and have a simple plan in place.

If you want this broken down in a simple checklist you can work through step by step, reach out and I will be happy to email it to you.

And if you own or are thinking about buying anywhere in San Diego and want a second set of eyes on your plan to protect your home, I am here to help.

John Collins
Collins Coastal with Coldwell Banker Realty
Agent/Broker CalRE # 01948188/00616212