Five Ways To Keep Your Home Safe While Away On Vacation

With warm weather on the rise around the nation many people’s thoughts are turning to thoughts of a summer vacation. If you are going to be spending time away from your home there are some things to keep in mind to protect your property while you are gone. Here are five things to consider in order to keep your home safe if you are away during the summer months:

Flyers, Newspapers, and Mail: It is absolutely a technique of home burglars to look for newspapers stacked up on your sidewalk to determine when you are out of town, but they aren’t always so passive. They may leave a flyer or take-out menu on your door to see how long it takes you to remove it. Lesson: Have a trusted neighbor pick up newspapers, mail and door-hangers.

Blinds Spot: Of course you leave your blinds shut while you are away, but don’t forget to close the blinds in the evening every night, at least for a few weeks before you leave. Home burglars make it a point to walk or drive through neighborhoods to find the homes with the best goods.

Social Networking: One of the downfalls of telling the world where you are and what you’re doing at all times is that…the entire world knows where you are and what you’re doing at all times. That means home invaders as well. Don’t post on Facebook or Twitter that you’re leaving for a tropical paradise for a week. You’ll not only be making your friends (and me!) jealous, but compromising your home security. Its a lot easier for the bad guys to find out where you live than you think.

Timers are Everything: Don’t be shy to break out the box of Christmas decorations in the attic and dig out the light timers. If put on a few key lights in the house, a burglar watching your house may be fooled. Better yet, put one on the T.V. or radio. If you are reluctant to leave on the T.V. while you are gone, check out this cool product from Hydreon which simulates the lights and sound of a T.V.

Hiding Places: If your home does get broken into, there may be a few things you can do to prevent your most valuable items from being stolen. One place that home burglars most often skip is children’s room. So instead of sticking Aunt Mae’s pearls in your underwear drawer, stick them in junior’s underwear drawer. Another fact is that while a home invader may not take the time to open the small vault he finds in your closet, he will not hesitate to take the entire thing with him and deal with it later. So it’s a very good idea to secure a vault to the foundation of your home, particularly if it contains firearms of any kind. And hey, its not a bad selling feature when that time comes around!

Its no fun to think about your home being broken in to; we all like to think we live in the safest of neighborhoods. That being said, it certainly can’t hurt to take a few minutes to ensure that your home doesn’t become a statistic while you are away. Happy vacationing!