According to the FBI, the number of burglaries committed in the first half of 2017 decreased by 6.1 percent from the same period of 2016 -- and by 10.6 percent in metropolitan areas specifically.

But despite the decline, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that 3.3 million Americans were victims of household robberies in 2016, the last year for which stats are available. That works out to 24.7 thefts per 1,000 households.

Much has been written about how to protect yourself and your home against break-ins. Whatever precautions you take, if you happen to be victimized, what you do after the fact is just as important -- especially for your mental well-being.

Surprisingly, only half of burglary victims notify police that they’ve been robbed. But you should.

You need to call the cops right away, if only because the perpetrator might still be on the premises: BJS reports that 7 percent of all home burglaries involve violence against household members. So consider calling the authorities from your car.

The police should give you a case number, which you’ll need for your next phone call: to file a claim with your insurance company. A police report and investigation will help bolster your insurance claim, so let the police do their jobs. Don’t touch anything, but do take pictures of the damage and places from which things were stolen, to document the losses.

Next, the experts say, vacate the place until it is no longer a crime scene. Check yourself into a hotel and try to chill. Of course, relaxing is easier said than done. If you have trouble calming yourself down, try talking with friends, family members or a clergy member. Don’t be afraid to lean on others for emotional support and comfort.

If your anxiety persists, consider seeing a professional therapist who can help you move along with your life. Maybe you can find a group of other robbery victims who meet with a social worker to talk through their anxieties and fears.

Once everything settles down, return home and immediately change every lock in the house: windows, doors, even the locks on your garage doors. It might be a good idea to have a different lockset and key for each door, but ask your locksmith or a hardware store specialist for advice.

Now, it’s time to consider how to better protect your home, valuables and family from another theft. Once a burglar has successfully broken into a home, they sometimes return for another shot.

The National Crime Prevention Council has an entire suite of hints to help you review your home security and identify any shortcomings: Visit ncpc.org/resources/home-neighborhood-safety. Also, check the websites of the numerous outfits that peddle alarm systems and other security measures. For example, ADT has a five-step home-security guide, while SimpliSafe recommends always setting your alarm system, even when you’re home.

You will probably find that a whole-house security system with cameras and motion-activated flashing lights is an expensive deterrent. But the cost may well be worth it for your peace of mind. And, of course, by installing such a system, you should be able to wrangle a big discount on your homeowner’s insurance -- maybe even 20 percent or so.

Finally, let’s all be a little more vigilant: Keep your doors and windows locked at all times, don’t allow package delivery services to leave stuff at your front door, and don’t allow mail and newspapers to pile up if you are away -- even just for a day or two.

Keep your curtains and garage doors closed so thieves can’t check out your goodies in advance of their next strike. Keep watches, keys, jewelry and cash out of sight, and store them in hard-to-find places -- ideally a safe. If you don’t have one, consider buying one. A safe can protect expensive items like jewelry and guns from theft, while also keeping important paperwork out of a criminal’s hands.

Also, to minimize the chances of your vehicle being used for a quick getaway, find another place for your car keys. Don’t keep them near an exterior doorway.

By the way, even if it was your neighbor’s house that was hit, you should consider the steps outlined here. Otherwise, you could be next.

It often takes 10 weeks for wannabe homebuyers to find the right house -- sometimes much longer, if they’re in a part of the country with low inventory.

According to the National Association of Realtors’ latest Profile of Buyers and Sellers, that’s a little shorter than the 12 weeks it typically took five years ago. Still, buyers said that finding the right house was the “most difficult step” in the buying process.

Indeed, in the new home market, half the would-be buyers have been actively searching for at least three months, the National Association of Home Builders reports. And the vast majority of them say they are going to continue house-hunting until they find what has so far been elusive. Only 16 percent said they were ready to give up the chase.

The NAHB survey doesn’t say how many houses or communities these house-hunters have visited so far. But in the resale sector, NAR says people tend to look at 10 houses before pulling the trigger.

There are outliers, though, according to a recent post on the ActiveRain real estate site. Some buyers want to view that many houses -- in a single day!

Sybil Campbell of Long and Foster Real Estate in Williamsburg, Virginia, recently took a call from another agent wanting to set up an appointment for her young clients, who were in town to look at houses before moving to the area. The agent told her they were planning to see four houses on one day and 18 more the next day.

Campbell’s policy is to show no more than eight houses in one day. “I have found that most buyers start to forget specific details about the houses after they have seen six or seven,” she posted.

Most other agents who responded to the post agreed, and several echoed Campbell’s sentiment that viewing too many houses in a single day doesn’t do anyone any good.

William Feela of Whispering Pines Realty in North Branch, Minnesota, said he has shown out-of-town buyers up to a dozen in a day, but finds that “few buyers can process more than four.”

Abby Stiller with Premier Realty Homes in Cape Coral, Florida, said her top number was 10, but that she’s only shown that many a few times. “It is not recommended,” she said. “It will be hard to remember all the houses, and it will be difficult to make a decision.”

Added Erika Rae Albert of eXp Realty in Austin, Texas: “Anything more than six, and they all start to blend together.”

Of course, there are exceptions. For Georgie Hunter of Hawaii Life Real Estate on Maui, the exceptions are condominium apartments. If there are many units for sale in a single building or complex, she wrote, “it can be easy to knock out three or four at once and then move on to the next place.” In such cases, she said, it’s more about location and amenities than the individual units, which all tend to be very similar.

No matter how many homes you see in a single day -- whether it’s five or 18 -- it’s a good idea to have a game plan, advises Kelly Dixon of RE/MAX in Clearwater, Florida. She said she allows her buyers, many of whom are from out of town and have to pack a lot into a short time frame, to determine how many houses they think they can see.

But Dixon has a game plan, too: As they tour, she asks them to compare House 1 to House 2, then House 2 to House 3, and so on -- just like at the eye doctor’s office. She also plans a midday break for lunch to regroup and refocus.

Margaret Mitchell of Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty in York, Maine, also sees a lot of out-of-towners. She copped to showing 12 houses in a single day “when necessary,” but not without a game plan of her own: “I keep a verbal running tally with buyers of what is on their short list and what is off their list as we go.”

Mitchell also discusses the homes on the master list before agreeing to a marathon day of showings. “My expectation is that they will pick one,” she said. To facilitate that, she takes the clients back for second showings at those homes that make the short list.

Jeff Dowler of Solutions Real Estate in Carlsbad, California, recommends taking photos and notes as you move through multiple showings.

Tim Maitski of the Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage, who has shown as many as 22 houses in a single day, says it doesn’t take long for prospects to eliminate a house -- “usually in the first minute.” He said that once buyers have a couple top contenders in mind, “the rest is easy. ... Every home after that, just ask yourself if this one beats out either of the top two.”

The decision to buy a home instead of renting may be in your kids’ DNA -- their housing DNA, so to speak.

According to new research from the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, if Mom and Dad are homeowners instead of renters, the likelihood of their children becoming owners increases 8.4 percentage points.

Parents’ net worth is also a factor. Of millennials whose parents’ net worth is below $10,000, only 14 percent are homeowners, versus 36 percent of those whose parents have $300,000 or more in net worth.

Wherever you and your children stand in this equation, it’s entirely likely that, should one or all of your kids want to buy a house, you are going to have to dip into your pocketbook to help. Research says coming up with even 3 percent down is a true burden for many young buyers.

Fortunately, there are several ways you can grease the skids for the kids. Here are a few:

-- Loan. If they are short on cash, a loan from you can be a big help. At the same time, though, your loan will be held against them when they apply for financing.

In other words, the monthly payments to you will be counted as debt, which will impact their all-important debt-to-income ratio (DTI). If they carry too much debt -- maybe a couple of car loans, one or more credit card balances, student loans, child support -- they won’t make the cut.

Actually, lenders consider two different DTIs. One is the front-end, which is your housing expense-to-income. The other is the back-end: your total monthly obligations-to-income ratio. The former is your proposed mortgage payment, which includes principle, interest, taxes, mortgage insurance and homeowners insurance, divided by your gross monthly income. The latter is your gross monthly payments, including the mortgage payment, divided by your gross monthly income.

Loan programs differ. The Federal Housing Administration allows a back-end DTI of up to 54.99 percent on loans it insures. But most lenders limit it to 50 percent, with some capping it at 45 percent.

-- Gift. Most loan programs today allow family members, employers and even friends to give young homebuyers some or all of the money needed for a down payment. But if you decide to go this route, realize that it is a true gift, not a wink-wink “loan,” and it need not be paid back. You will be required by the kids’ lenders to write a letter stating just that.

Don’t try getting around this, either. Most lenders today want applicants to trace the history of any large deposits into their accounts so they can see where the money really came from.

How large a gift is allowed? It depends on the lender’s rules. For government-backed loans, the entire down payment can come from a gift if your kid’s credit score is above 620. A score lower than that requires 3.5 percent of the loan amount to come from the borrower’s own funds. For conventional loans, the down payment in its entirety can be gifted if the borrower is putting at least 20 percent down. A smaller down payment means the borrower will need some cash of his own.

If your child ends up picking a loan that doesn’t allow monetary gifts, perhaps you can donate it in another way: help defray moving costs, for example, or pay for any needed repairs or the first few mortgage payments.

-- Co-sign. This is considered one of the least favorable steps parents can take, because it puts their own financial futures in harm’s way. Co-signing means you are a co-borrower. So if your child fails to make the house payment for one reason or another, you’re on the hook for it. And if the house goes into foreclosure, that goes into your credit record, as well as Junior’s.

If your child is responsible and has the means to make the payments, but just needs help with the down payment, co-signing can work. But any mistakes will impact your ability to obtain credit of almost any sort in the future: a loan for your own new house, car or even a credit card.

-- Roth IRA. Setting up a Roth IRA in your child’s name could be a useful approach, but it takes some planning. It needs to be set up long before the homebuying process even begins.

Roth IRAs can be funded with up to $5,500 annually, as long as the amount you deposit doesn’t exceed your offspring’s earnings for that year. The money you put into your own Roth IRA will grow tax-deferred until you make a withdrawal. But your daughter or son can take a distribution of up to $10,000 for a first-ever home purchase, without penalty or taxes, as long as the account is at least five years old. Check with your accountant for further information.

-- Start a fund. Money placed in a Roth IRA is tax-free. But you also can open your own investment account on your kids’ behalf to help them later in life. Start while they are young, and you’ll be surprised how much money you’ll have put away by the time they want to settle down in a place of their own.

-- Education. One of the best things you can do for your children now doesn’t involve money at all: Teach them all about the costs and rigors of homeownership. Talk about how to build and maintain good credit, and explain why it’s important. They may not know that credit impacts almost everything they will do financially -- from getting their own cellphone account to obtaining affordable car insurance.

Explain to them -- even better, show them -- exactly what it costs to pay for your own house, including principle, interest, taxes, insurance, home association dues, utilities, maintenance and upgrades. And be sure to tell them what happens if an owner gets behind in their house payments: that they could end up losing their home.

The younger they learn these financial lessons, the better.