Tips For Keeping Your House Safe While Traveling
A good indication to thieves that someone is away from home is with mail stacking up or phone books and newspapers sitting on the driveway or by the front door. To avoid this, have a neighbor or friend come by to pick up your mail and to make sure there are no newspapers, advertising fliers on the front door or phone books in plain sight.
Make sure all your windows and doors are locked securely and that you have window locks on all windows that slide open and any glass sliding doors. Window locks should be placed securely behind the sliding window or door to prevent anyone from being able to slide the window or door open to enter through.
Install motion triggered porch lights in both the front and back of the house. Make sure the lights are working before leaving the home and if you cannot remember the last time you changed the light bulb, and then you should go ahead and replace the light bulbs in them. Nothing worse than having them burn out while you are away and preventing them from performing their job.
Purchase timers in which you can plug lights into so that you can schedule time for lights to turn on in the home in the evening. This will give the appearance that someone is in the home.
Unplug appliances such as the coffee maker, computers, TVs and stereos.
Some people decide not to have their alarm set while away from the home for long periods of time since an alarm can be triggered by power outages. Some alarm companies will charge you a fee if they have to come to the home in the event that the alarm is triggered.
Mow your lawn before you leave and if you are going to be gone for more than a week, have a friend or trusted gardener whom you regularly use, mow it for you while away. Do not tell the gardener that you will be away from home when requesting service.
If you live in an area in which snow accumulates, be sure to have a neighbor or someone you know shovel the snow from your walkway. It is also a good idea to have them walk in a pattern from the door to your driveway or down the street a little to give the appearance of someone actively coming out of the home on a normal daily basis.
Make sure your home insurance, renters insurance and any other personal policies are current just in case there is an emergency in which you will need coverage.
Make sure all your windows and doors are locked securely and that you have window locks on all windows that slide open and any glass sliding doors. Window locks should be placed securely behind the sliding window or door to prevent anyone from being able to slide the window or door open to enter through.
Install motion triggered porch lights in both the front and back of the house. Make sure the lights are working before leaving the home and if you cannot remember the last time you changed the light bulb, and then you should go ahead and replace the light bulbs in them. Nothing worse than having them burn out while you are away and preventing them from performing their job.
Purchase timers in which you can plug lights into so that you can schedule time for lights to turn on in the home in the evening. This will give the appearance that someone is in the home.
Unplug appliances such as the coffee maker, computers, TVs and stereos.
Some people decide not to have their alarm set while away from the home for long periods of time since an alarm can be triggered by power outages. Some alarm companies will charge you a fee if they have to come to the home in the event that the alarm is triggered.
Mow your lawn before you leave and if you are going to be gone for more than a week, have a friend or trusted gardener whom you regularly use, mow it for you while away. Do not tell the gardener that you will be away from home when requesting service.
If you live in an area in which snow accumulates, be sure to have a neighbor or someone you know shovel the snow from your walkway. It is also a good idea to have them walk in a pattern from the door to your driveway or down the street a little to give the appearance of someone actively coming out of the home on a normal daily basis.
Make sure your home insurance, renters insurance and any other personal policies are current just in case there is an emergency in which you will need coverage.