How To Keep Your Home Safe During a Trip

There is nothing worse than finally taking an overdue vacation and worrying the entire time about the safety of your home. Most burglaries are a result of poor planning on the part of the homeowner, so here are some simple steps for how to keep your home safe during a trip.

Wise travelers always make sure that they retain the services of a neighbor to watch the home while they are away. If a neighbor is not available, many individuals will find a trustworthy student completely willing to stop by the house several times. It is important to ensure that the trusted person has a key to the home, a list of complete instructions, and a paper with all emergency contact information on it.

Many homeowners will shut all of their curtains before they leave, but this may unfortunately be one of the most common mistakes. Many burglars will notice a house that has had all of the blinds closed for several days. If someone is routinely checking the home, it is a good idea to have them close random shades each day.

A tool that can be very helpful in keeping your home safe during a trip is a light timer. Dark houses are also very appealing to burglars, so it is often wise to install a light timer on several different lamps throughout the home. Set the light timer to turn on and off at various times throughout the day. The correct use of light timers will help create the appearance of someone actively living in the home.

Travelers should always ensure that their mail is not going to pile up at home. If there is a person watching the house for the traveler, they should pick up the mail daily to avoid a full mailbox. Full mailboxes are often indicators of an empty home and burglars tend to look for these as a result.

Another important tip that will help keep your home safe during a trip is to temporarily stop newspaper delivery. Newspapers are often delivered early in the morning and a burglar may notice if there are multiple papers in the driveway. If a person is going to pick up the newspaper for you, make sure that they do so at the normal time that you would pick it up. Alert burglars may notice if a newspaper has sat in the driveway all day.

Before leaving for a trip, it is always important to make sure all the doors are locked and the windows are secure. Most home invasions occur through unsecured windows and doors, so make sure that you don't make your house an easy target.

Although there may be a lot of steps involved with keeping your home safe during a trip, the process is definitely worth the peace of mind that comes with taking adequate precautions.