The holidays are here and that means vacation and a lot of time spent outside the home. It also means that you are bringing a lot of items, such as gifts, into the house. During this time of the year, not everyone has the Christmas spirit and some want to break in to take your stuff. Let’s discuss how you can prevent these people from taking your stuff.
Enlist The Community
During a vacation you may be gone but that doesn’t mean your house has to be empty. You live in a community. Ask the community to keep an eye on your house. Find a neighbor that you trust and leave a key with them, see if they will turn your lights on at night and off in the morning. This will give off the appearance of someone being home. Also ask them to bring in the mail.
Hold The Mail When Away
Nothing is a bigger give away that you aren’t home than mail stacking up on the front porch or a full mailbox. Put your mail on hold when you are away to prevent thieves from having a hint that you aren’t home.
Having a mail slot won’t keep prying eyes from knowing you are away if the drop location can be seen through a window.
Newspaper too!
Don’t Close Curtains For Vacation
A lot of people are tempted to button up their curtains and blinds before they go on vacation to prevent people from casing the inside of a house. But this can also have the opposite effect. Changing the normal position of window coverings can hint that people aren’t home.
Check Your Perimeter Before You Leave
Walking around the outside of your property before you leave can be important. Make sure that all windows are locked, and every door is secure. Also make sure that no valuable items can be seen through the windows.
Move The Spare Key
Those who own property tend to have a spare key to their home hidden somewhere. A burglar has the ability to spend time searching for that key when you aren’t home. Putting it inside will prevent them from finding it. Spare keys can be dangerous even when you aren’t on vacation.
Social Media Can Be Your Enemy
Publicly posting about your vacation while you are out of town can let others know that you are away. That includes photographs and videos. Keep these posts to your friends only or wait until you get home to post about your vacation.
Secure Your Valuables
All of your financial documents and valuables should be secured away. A strong safe will help to make sure that your items are safe. Securing that safe to the wall will make sure that the criminals can’t just run off with the safe itself. But more than that, you need to make sure that your safe can’t be easily opened by burglars.
Install Security Cameras
Security cameras can be a great way to keep potential burglars out of your home while you are on vacation. Just the presence of security cameras on the outside of your property can deter criminals. Making sure that your cameras are out of reach is important. You don’t want vandals tampering with your cameras while you are away to prevent alarms.
When you aren’t at home, your cameras won’t do much good if you can’t watch them. Many modern security camera systems allow you to view your cameras remotely, so you can check to ensure your house is okay. What is even more helpful is that many of these systems will also alert you when movement is detected in the camera’s frame. You will know when people are in or around your house.
Vacations are meant to be fun, the last thing you want is for your good memories to be ruined by coming home to find out you have been burglarized. Use these tips to help ensure that your house is safe while you are gone. Make sure that you stay tuned for more helpful information for keep yourself and your property safe.
