Before leaving on vacation, ensure your house is safe. These 7 tips can help protect your home from intruders and more.
Vacation should be a time of relaxation, enjoyment, and happiness, but that all gets harder if you’re worried about what’s happening at home. Many things can go wrong on your property on any given day, and if you’re away from home when it happens, the problem could worsen before you return.
Burst pipes, burglaries, leaking water heaters, house fires – all of these problems can happen while you’re gone. Taking steps to protect your house while you’re away can prevent problems and give you peace of mind while you’re having an adventure away from home. Here’s what you can do to protect your home.
1. Hold the Mail and Newspapers
Intruders may be more likely to let themselves into your house or on your property if they can tell you’re away from home. To help prevent break-ins, make your house look occupied while you’re away.
Allowing mail and newspapers to build up on your front porch signals to intruders that you haven’t been home in a while. Put a hold on any subscriptions (including newspapers and magazines) at least one week before you leave for vacation, and ask the post office to hold your mail while you’re gone. If you cannot put a hold on your subscriptions and mail before you leave, ask a friend or neighbor to collect your subscriptions and mail while you’re away.
2. Keep Up with Landscaping
Grass and other landscaping can grow unchecked while you’re away, and that, too, can tip off intruders that you haven’t been home in a while. Ask a trusted landscaping company to cut your grass and take care of any landscaping while you’re out of town.
3. Find Someone to Watch Your Property
Is there anyone who lives near your home who you trust to watch your property while you’re away? Ask them to check in on your house every couple of days to ensure it is safe. This way, if someone breaks into your home or a pipe bursts or a hot water heater leaks, they’ll catch the problem early on.
4. Put on the Pool Cover
Hopefully, no one will wander onto your property to use your pool while you’re gone; however, putting the pool cover on may make it less of a temptation. If you have a child safety pool cover, even better, as this will prevent any children or pets from wandering onto your property and falling in.
5. Use Smart Devices
Use smart devices to protect your home from intruders while you’re away. Some examples of smart products include:
- Smart outlets. Use smart outlets to turn on lamps automatically at night, making your house appear occupied.
- Video doorbell. Use the video doorbell to see who comes to your door – and who lets themselves into your house while you’re gone.
- Security camera system. Use security cameras to monitor your property inside and out.
6. Avoid Telling People on Social Media
People love to tell their social media friends and followers about their travel, and almost no one thinks about the risk they’re taking. Posting your travel plans or photos on social media is like sending out an invitation for someone to rob your home.
Unless you trust every single social media follower and you’re confident your account privacy is set up properly, posting your vacation status can put your home at risk.
7. Update Your Homeowners Insurance
Is your homeowner’s insurance policy up to date? Call your insurance agent before leaving on vacation to ensure your policy will protect you from covered events while you’re gone.
