Home Security During Your Vacation
Top tips for home security during vacation.
Looking forward to traveling this summer with your family? We have some helpful home security advice to give you peace of mind during your vacation.
While you and your family are on vacation it can be natural to worry about the security of your home. While you are away it’s not as easy to keep an eye on things, but there are a few preventative measures you can take. Planning some of these home security strategies before your vacation could give you some added safety.
Home Security Before Your Vacation
Leave Nowhere to Hide
Long before you leave for vacation, there are a few ways that you can deter potential break-ins by giving burglars no easy places to hide outside of your home. Think about the areas outside of your home that could provide cover for unwanted activities.
Lighting – Most break-ins happen while it’s dark outside, because activity is not easily observed in low light. Installing motion activated flood lights could keep people from prowling around your property.
Landscaping – Tall bushes that cover a window of your home could potentially give a burglar an opportunity to pry their way inside without being seen by neighbors. On the other hand, sharp or thorny bushes that are planted underneath outdoor windows could act as a deterrent.
Cameras and Security Systems – Installing your own security cameras or subscribing to a home security service gives you the tools to see what is happening at home. Having visible home security technology installed outside of your home can also be a compelling reason for criminals to avoid targeting your home.
There are a number of great technologies that allow you to track home security features from your mobile phone. This is a convenient way to coordinate and monitor your home security system.
Keep Valuables Out of Sight
It is a good idea to store your valuable items in a place that is not easily seen from windows. But, this is not the only way that people we don’t know can see into our homes. Practicing home security, can also mean keeping valuables off of your social media pages as well.
Have a collectable piece of memorabilia on the wall? Wearing an expensive piece of jewelry? Running a small business from your home that requires you to keep cash on hand? Don’t post about it online to a public profile. Many planned burglaries are researched first online, and your posts could look like an invitation.
You may want to consider adding coverage for the valuables inside your home to your homeowners insurance policy.
Don’t Announce Your Vacation Online
In line with home safety practice in the previous paragraph… you should not announce that you are on vacation while you are away from your home.
It is great to share photos and videos of your family on vacation, but you should wait to post them until you are back home. Announcing where you are on vacation on a publicly visible platform is simply not practicing personal safety or home security.
Home Security During Vacation
Looks Like You’re Home
While you are away there are a few things you can do to make it look like you are home. This is one of the best ways to prevent being targeted for burglary. Thieves look for signs that people aren’t at home because it makes it much easier to get what they want when nobody is home.
Follow these home security tips during your vacation to make it look like you are home:
- Pause USPS mail delivery… you can pause the mail delivery so that letters aren’t piling up in your mail box
- Don’t order packages that could be left by the front door
- Leave a light on in the kitchen or the bedrooms (Consider long lasting battery operated lights or lighting timers to save electricity)
- Order lawn care service – a neglected lawn can be a sign that you are away
- Ask a trusted friend or neighbor to move your trash/recycling bins for trash pick-up day, pick up the news paper delivery, and water your outdoor plants
- Hire a house or pet sitter to come by while you are away
Sounds Like You’re Home
Sounds can add an additional layer of home security during your vacation. When a potential thief is near your home, the sound of a barking dog or people inside can derail their plans to break-in. Consider adding a sensor that triggers a barking sound inside your house when someone steps onto your front or back porch. Leave some music or talk radio playing so that is sounds like someone is inside your home while you are away.
Lock-up
This may sound like the most obvious piece of advice, but ensuring that all potential points of entry are locked is the most important home security measure you can take. When you are at home doors can remain unlocked while people go in and out, windows can be opened to let in fresh air, and you may leave a key hidden somewhere outside in case you need it. Burglars have been known to walk up to doors and try to open them just to see if they can easily get inside.
While you are away on vacation, you should make sure to check that these home security measures are in place:
- All doors accessible to the exterior of your home are locked
- Your garage door is closed and locked
- Any vehicles parked outside are locked
- All windows are latched or locked
- Close the blinds and/or curtains
- Lock the gate to the backyard
- Secure your valuables and safe keys in a safe
- Don’t leave your spare key or hide-a-key outside
While you are on vacation, you should relax and enjoy making memories with your loved ones. With some planning and thoughtful home security measures your can add safety to your home while you are away. These home security practices can help you have a better vacation and peace of mind that your home is secure while you are away.
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