Keeping Your Home Safe While on Vacation

Most home burglaries occur during the summer months when vacation travel is the heaviest, but you can become a victim any time of the year, especially if you are away on a long vacation. Take steps to secure your home to discourage burglars from choosing it as their next target while you are away.

Take a walk around the outside of your home and check the doors and windows. They should fit tightly, with no wiggle room that will make it easy for a thief to jimmy them open. Remove any ladders from your yard that could be used to access the windows or balconies on upper floors. Imagine you are a burglar breaking into your home and look for other ways to get in. If you can get in without a key, then a professional thief will have no problem breaking into your home!

Shades and draperies should be left partly open when you are away from home. When they are fully closed, it can be a signal to a thief that the house is empty. Peer in the windows from the outside and notice if any TV’s, computers, stereo equipment, or other valuable objects that will tempt burglars are visible. If so, move them to another location in the house until you return.

Enlist the help of a trusted neighbor to keep an eye out for intruders, or have a friend “house sit.” Have them take in your mail and any newspapers or circulars that are left outside, and have mail and newspaper delivery stopped if you will be away for an extended length of time.

Do not leave a key under the proverbial doormat, or anywhere else in the yard! Professional burglars know all the hiding places. Leave a spare key with your friend or neighbor.

Make the home appear to be lived in while you are on vacation. Use timers to turn lights on an off at various intervals. A thief watching your house will notice if the lights are going on and off at the same time each day. Set the radio to a talk-radio station and put it on a timer also. Arrange to have the lawn mowed regularly (or snow shoveled if you are away during the winter).

Take an inventory of your possessions in case you do happen to fall victim to a home burglary. Make a list of any possession with value, and it is a good idea to photograph them also. If you have a video camera, it may be easier to simply walk around the home and videotape your possessions. Keep the list, photographs, or video tape in a lock box or other secure place away from your home. Be sure to have adequate homeowners’ insurance, and upgrade if you have added any improvements or purchases that increase the value of your home or the contents.

Installing a home alarm system inside and dusk-to-dawn motion detectors outside will give you added protection and peace of mind while you are away on vacation. As an added bonus, it may also get you a discount on your homeowners’ insurance.