When it’s time to plan a much needed vacation, leaving your home vacant for an extended period of time will leave you with uneasy feelings. There are considerable amounts of ways to make sure that your home is protected while you are away, a top notch security system through a great provider is one and setting a strict list of basic guidelines for yourself to follow is another. First, and foremost your main concern when securing your home before leaving on the trip should be to give the appearance as if you’ve never left. You want your home to look as lived in and active as possible while you are gone, no matter the length of your vacation. It only takes seconds for a break in to take occur. According to U.S. Department of Justice, an American home is burglarized every eight seconds, and in the next two decades three out of four American homes will be burglarized. The loss of property, resulting from these burglaries, every year in the United States is estimated to be in the billions!
Taking preventative action toward a home burglary will keep your home and family one step ahead of the intruder and quite a few steps closer to safety and protection. An empty home for a prolonged amount of time is an easy target. So, how do you mislead a burglar into believing there is someone home at all times while you’re on a vacation? By following a list of tips such as these:
- Lock all your doors and windows, including upper stairs windows, garage and pet doors.
- Cancel all mail and newspaper deliveries as to not create an overflow. An overflow of either one will immediately give the impression no one has been home for a while. Your local Post Office will be more than happy to hold all of your mail (including propaganda) till your arrival.
- If your vacation is a long one, ask a friend or family member to mow your lawn on a regular basis while you’re gone and compensate them in some way for their trouble.
- Leave your car in the driveway. If you’re going on a trip in your car, ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway till you arrive home from your trip.
- Ask an entrusted friend or family member to check on your house every now and then, leaving them a spare key so they can do a check inside as well. Remember to leave I.C.E. numbers (in case of emergency) where they can contact you.
- Use timers or controlled switches to turn lights on and off at certain times of the day, this creates a busy look in the home and imitates everyday habits.
- Be part of a neighborhood watch project. Get to know your neighbors, and report any suspicious characters to your local police department immediately.
- Do not broadcast your absence. Do not leave an outgoing message on your email account or voice mail, a note on your door, or away messages on Instant Messengers that you will be away. You do not want the wrong person to have access to this kind of information.
- Make sure to update your burglar alarm company’s monitoring center with the phone number of where you can be located in the event of an intrusion or emergency occur.
- Last, but definitely not least, remember to leave the security system codes for the person you entrusted with the key to your home so that they may activate and deactivate as necessary upon entering and exiting your home. With the help of a great home security system provider, you can obtain a system that actually allows you to see your security cameras footage from the Internet. These special cameras are called IP network security cameras. These cameras are connected to your computer which allows you to stream exactly what the camera is recording live, from any location in the world. This system also proves to be very helpful for many people.
If prevention and protection are something you consider a first priority, then you should have minimal worry about the safety of your home while you’re away. With the proper steps you will be able to fully enjoy peace of mind while on your vacation.
Bon Voyage.
