Tips on How to Keep Your Home Safe While Away for a Vacation

Given the already stressful nature of traveling, it is unnecessary to add the worry of whether your home and other valuables are secure, especially when you suddenly need to leave for an extended period of time.

Traveling to a vacation destination can be an overwhelming experience, involving tasks such as booking flights, accommodations, activities, and travel insurance, as well as arranging pet care, packing, and coordinating with family. As the travel industry recovers from the devastating pandemic, people are beginning to plan holiday trips for the summer vacation, now that movement restrictions have been lifted. However, it is important to consider the security of our homes while we are away, as simply locking up is not enough to ensure safety.

Hence, before enjoying your vacation, it's important to take steps to protect your home and prevent it from becoming a target for burglars. With these months being popular vacation months, it's not surprising that these months also see a peak in home burglaries. To ensure a worry-free trip, use this checklist to plan for home security system maintenance to deter burglars.

Importance of Pre-travel Checklist

It's critical to take added measures to keep your home secure when you're away from your family and property. By doing so, you can protect your loved ones from harm and ensure that your valuables and the structure of your home are safeguarded.

Considering and observing these precautions will minimize the possibility of intruders accessing your property while you're away. The more time passes without any break-ins or vandalism, the less likely it is for such incidents to occur during your absence. Therefore, it's important not to wait until something bad happens before taking action. Use these tips to protect yourself against intruders and keep your house safe.

How to Keep Your Home Safe and Secure When You Travel

1. Have a Trusted Relative or Friend to Check Your Home

To ensure the safety of your home while you're traveling, consider asking a trusted individual to periodically check on your property or ask them to be a temporary house sitter. This could be a friend, neighbor, or family member who can report any suspicious activity or changes in the area. You can provide them with specific instructions on what to look for, such as unusual sounds or signs of forced entry.

To ensure they take their responsibility seriously, it's recommended that you provide clear guidelines on when they should check, where they should look, and what actions they should take if they notice something amiss, such as broken windows or footprints in the living room.

2. Don't Announce Your Travel Before and During Your Trip on Social Media

It's advisable to refrain from posting details about your upcoming vacation on social media. While you may be eager to share the excitement with your loved ones, it's best not to reveal too much information. Doing so could give burglars an opportunity to plan their crimes in advance.

To minimize the risk of such incidents, it's best to keep the specifics of your travel plans, such as your destination and return date, as vague as possible, or you can only share a few details to your family or only your friends. Additionally, avoid posting photos that show the interior of your home or disclose unnecessary location details.

3. Set up Your Sensor Notifications (if you have a smart home technology)

If you own a smart home, it's advisable to configure automatic sensor notifications for various areas of your house. This could include setting up alerts for open all your doors and windows, unusual temperature fluctuations, or abnormal activity with lights turning on and off.

By doing so, you'll be notified via your phone in case of any suspicious activity in your home while you're away, such as a possible intrusion or burglary. Some alarm systems may also be able to trigger alerts to the local police department.

4. Ensure that Your Security Camera Fully Operational Before Your Travel

Before leaving for your vacation, make sure your security system is working properly. If you have home security systems, ensure that it is fully functional and check if you have video surveillance cameras installed. Having a complete security and alarm system installed by reputable alarm company is an effective way to ensure your home's safety. A comprehensive system should consist of various components such as an alarm, security cameras or video surveillance, and sensors that can alert emergency personnel if anything goes wrong.

5. Double-check the Status of Your Security System Prior Leaving Your Home

Before leaving, verify that your security system is operational and activated to prevent unauthorized entry or exit from your home, even if someone has a house key. If feasible, consider installing security cameras outside each door of your home to monitor activity while you're away. To further safeguard against theft, consider adding alarms with glass break sensors on windows or patio doors, as burglars may attempt to break glass to gain entry. This will make your home less appealing to criminals and discourage them from targeting your property while you're not there.

6. Try to Advance Your Security Measures by Using a Home Security App

Think about using a security app for your home that can activate and deactivate your security system from anywhere, if you own a home security company system. Smartphone applications are preferred, but Alexa or Google Assistant-connected security systems are also available.

Ensure that your system is armed when you depart and disarmed when you arrive, preventing burglars from entering your house when they believe it is vacant. In the event that you can't use the app, at the very least, make sure that the front door and first-floor windows are locked when you leave, so no one can quickly walk in while the house is empty.

7. Ensure that Your System is Armed

Ensure that all doors and windows are closed and locked when you arm the system before leaving for your trip. It's important to check that your smart home or security system is fully functional before departing. You can use the virtual keypad of many systems to arm your home remotely or schedule specific times when the system will automatically turn off or on. However, some homeowners prefer a traditional keypad system that enables them to physically enter their house at night without relying on an app or remote device like an Apple Watch.

8. Make Sure that Exterior Doors and Interior Doors are all Locked

Before leaving the house, make sure to lock any exterior and interior doors that intruders cannot easily access, such as doors leading to the garage. Thieves can easily take advantage of unlocked garage doors and commit burglaries through "garage hopping." Therefore, ensure all doors are locked before leaving the house.

If you situated in an area with a high crime rate, your house may be more susceptible to break-ins than those in safer neighborhoods. To safeguard your belongings while away, take some preventive measures such as keeping valuable items out of plain sight, refraining from leaving keys under doormats or in mailboxes, locking the garage door, and securing windows to prevent intruders from entering through them.

To ensure the safety of your home while you're away, there are various security measures that you can take advantage of. Utilizing devices such as timers, smart sensors, and video surveillance systems can help you keep tabs on your home even while you're away on vacation or a business trip. It's crucial to be aware that when you're on vacation, your home is at greater risk, so taking proactive steps to secure it is essential. While the methods for safeguarding your home may vary, our list includes some of the most frequently used techniques that people use to protect their homes while they're away.

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