10 Tips to Protect Your Home for Vacation Peace of Mind
Summer vacations are a great time to relax and unwind. If you’re a homeowner, it’s certainly not the time you want to worry about the home you leave behind. You can have peace of mind and truly enjoy that get-away by following these 10 simple safety tips before heading out:
- Although it’s tempting, avoid mentioning your intended trip on social media or anywhere online.
- Use automatic timers to turn lights on and off in the home during times when they’re normally in use.
- Leave curtains or blinds in their usual position but be sure to place jewelry and other valuable items out of sight if they can be seen through the window.
- Have a neighbor pick up your mail. If you can’t have a neighbor or friend pick up mail and packages, have them forwarded or held by the post office.
- Stop newspaper deliveries for the time you will be away.
- Arrange to have your lawn mowed if necessary.
- Remove any spare keys you have hidden outside the home (i.e. under mats, above doors — and that plastic rock isn’t fooling anyone)!
- Unplug appliances and deactivate the garage door to prevent would-be thieves from opening it with a universal remote.
- Lower the volume on your telephone ringer and/or answering machine so that they can not be heard from outside.
- Alert police and trusted neighbors when you plan to be away so that you can have “eyes” on your home when you’re not there.
Using these guidelines will help your return to your home the way you left it! So enjoy that vacation – you deserve it!