Keeping Your Home Safe While on Vacation
A lot of planning goes into making a great vacation. If you're
planning a vacation, be sure to consider the safety of your home
while you're away and create an action plan to keep your home
and belongings safe.
Some people prey on homes when they know the owners are out of
town or on vacation. There are certain steps you need to take
before leaving to make the house look like someone is there at
all times. Like the old saying goes, "If there is bait, the fish
will grab." You can relate this saying to the way burglars
think. Don't leave out any bait that would tempt a burglar.
What is the bait that burglars look for? There are several
things the burglars pay close attention to at your home. Daily
newspapers piling up in the driveway, a continuous dark house,
and no cars in the driveway are just a few things that they look
for. Your job is to make sure you put a plan of action into
place before leaving your house.
Here are five tips to make sure your house is safe.
1) Temporarily cancel newspaper subscription - Most newspapers
let you contact them and put a hold on your subscription until
you get back. This allows for credits for the days you are gone
and the newspapers are not just piling up and going to waste.
Another idea is letting your neighbor or someone in neighborhood
to get your daily newspapers.
2) Daily Mail - Make sure someone is checking your mail each day
in case you have some important documents coming and also the
mail is not increasing in your mail box. If someone sees the
mail is overloading, they will automatically know you are not at
the house.
3) Cars in the Driveway - Never have all vehicles completely
gone out of the driveway. Leave your spouse's car or borrow
another family member's car to leave in the driveway and arrange
for the vehicle to moved and repositioned while you're away.
This way the driveway is not a complete ghost town.
4) Lights on in the house - Set up specific lights in the house
on a daily timer to come on each evening. You do not want to
leave your house continuously dark the entire time you're out of
town. This is a number one giveaway to potential home break-ins.
5) Have someone check daily - Request that a close friend or
neighbor checks on your house daily. They can go through the
house and check around to make sure there is no harm done to the
house. Also if you have any pets, they will be able to feed and
water the pets while they are checking on the house.
Safeguarding your home and belongings should be high on your
priority list at all times, but even more so when you're going
to be away for any length of time. Implementing these strategies
doesn't guarantee your home won't be broken into while you're
away, but it does greatly reduce your chances of a break-in. If
you're going away on a vacation or out of town for an extended
period of time, the extra peace of mind knowing that your home
is being taken care of is well worth the time put into
initiating this type of plan.