Are you going on vacation and you need your home to stay safe? Before you hit the road, you need to ensure that you pack all the essentials, but you also need to ensure that your home is safe while you are away. One of the easiest ways to keep your home and your property safe is to hire someone to stay home while you are away. If that is not possible, there are many more options that you can try to keep burglars away.
Notify a Friend or Relative
When you are away, you need someone to go to your house and ensure everything is okay. A friend will go to your home, tidy up and make sure the house looks like it is occupied. The friend can collect your mail and newspapers, clean your yard, water your flowers, and make the home look like it would if you were there.
Before you leave home, however, you need to tidy up and ensure that everything is in order. This way, your yard will not look so unkempt that burglars will know you are not around.
Schedule your Lights and Set Your Monitoring Systems
An old trick that people going on vacation use is to leave the lights on. However, not only will this tell burglars that you are not home, but it will also make it easy for them to see what is in your house. Today, instead of leaving the lights on, you can schedule them to go on and off at specific times. If you are always home by 7 p.m. and sleep at 10 p.m., program the lights to be on for these three hours. Set your yard lights to go on whenever motion is detected.
When you are away, ensure your cameras and your alarm systems are in good working condition. You can then monitor the feeds from your mobile phone as you vacation. To that extent, there are many reliable security systems that you can install to keep your home safe. Ensure that you can connect to your systems through your smartphone.
Keep Mails and the Newspapers on Hold
Even though you can have someone collect your mail and your newspapers, you need to hold them for the days you will be on vacation. If mail and newspapers pile, burglars will know that you are not home. This gives them a chance to storm into your home and take your valuables. If you receive any other supplies to your home, be sure to hold them before you go on vacation.
Lock Your Valuables
While you will lock your house, your garage and any other structure in your house, you need to keep your valuables secure in a hidden safe. It is good to be extra careful in case burglars still found out that you are not home. Any cash in your home, collectables, important documents, expensive jewelry, and anything else you hold dear should be in a secure safe.
Keep a Low-Profile on Social Media
During the time you will be on vacation, it is advisable to stay off social media for a while – if you happen to go there, do not mention that you are not home. You are probably friends on social media with people in your neighborhood, and you may never know who the burglars are. If you do not tell that that you are not home, they might never figure it out until you are back.
Leave the House the way You Do When Going to Work
Do you leave the curtain drawn when going to work or half-drawn? You need to ensure your house stays the same way it does when you are around (except for extra locks). This way, burglars will not suspect you are not home and will not invade your home. You also need to set the thermostat to a safe temperature. It is tempting to want to set the thermostat on low temperature, but you do not need your pipes freezing and bursting when you are not home.
Remove Your Spare Key from Under the Mat
If you have a spare key hidden somewhere in your home, you need to remove it and either go with it or give it to a friend. If burglars realize you are not home, and they find a spare key, you will have helped them rob your home.
