11 Home Lessons We Learned at the Movies

Motel owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) lives in a run-down old house (a mansard-roofed Second Empire) with his overbearing "mother." After a motel guest disappears, a private detective who's looking for her gets suspicious and noses around the creepy Bates home in search of evidence.

Moral: People don't tend to snoop around houses that look lived in. Clean windows, a fresh coat of paint, and trimmed hedges can improve a home's curb appeal and deter intruders.