Add Home Security To Your Holiday Checklist
Before going out of town for some much needed rest and relaxation, there are certain precautions you should take. Here are five tips to help keep your home safe while you’re away on vacation.
1. Let your alarm company know: A few days before you leave, let your alarm company know that you’ll be out of town. Their job is to keep your home safe and if you’re leaving for an extended period of time, your alarm company will be on the lookout for anything suspicious.
2. Keep your valuables hidden: Valuables include everything from jewellery to computers. Make sure that you never leave any valuables out in plain sight. Everything from your barbecue to your television needs to be out of view from the outside of the house. When a burglar is casing your property trying to figure out what you have that they can steal, they look for stuff that’s out in the open. Anything that is visible from a window or through a slant in your blinds needs to be moved while you’re on vacation.
3. Don’t change your voicemail message: Instead of saying, “Hi, you’ve reached The Patterson’s. We’re out of town until Tuesday the 14th.”, leave your greeting unchanged. Criminals usually call the home they want to rob first to see if anyone’s home. When you leave an outgoing message that says you’re not going to be home for a long period of time, you’re basically inviting them to steal from you. The same goes for your mobile phone and social media accounts. The more information you give out, the easier it is for burglars to know that your home is unoccupied.
4. Time your lights: Leaving a single light on while you’re on vacation isn’t enough. You need to leave alternating lights on so it appears that normal household activities are going on inside your home. Most alarm systems allow you to put your lights on a timer so that it looks like someone’s home at different times throughout the day and night.
5. Get a friend to help out: Ask a friend or relative that you trust to check on your property while you’re away. They can remove any mail that’s left on the porch and make sure that everything is in order inside. If you trust your neighbours, ask them if they wouldn’t mind parking in your driveway a few times while you’re gone so it looks like someone is at home.
Source: Homeservice Club of Canada