Security Advice for Home Owners on Vacation

By Mark Mahaffey


Do you avoid taking vacations each year out of fear? You may not like to take vacations because you do not want to leave your home unattended for fear of a break-in while you are gone. It is a fact that some criminals prefer to break into unoccupied homes. But that should not keep you from enjoying a vacation with friends and family. The solution is to increase the security at your home.

Hiring a house sitter is a great idea when you are going on vacation. Because burglars are on the lookout for houses that are empty, hiring a house sitter will keep your house from being as tempting to a criminal because someone will actually be living in it. Encourage your house sitter to continue on with her life as usual-coming and going to work and school.

But if you cannot hire a house sitter, the next best thing is to make your house appear as though someone is still living there. For example, ask someone to come and cut your grass once while you are gone. On trash day, ask a neighbor to take your trash to the road for you. And if possible, see if someone will collect your mail each day.

Light timers are another way to make your house look as though someone is there. You can set these timers to automatically turn your lights on and off according to a preset schedule that you determine. Leaving a television or radio playing while you are not at home is also effective. The voices coming from inside your home from the radio and television may trick a burglar into thinking that someone is in your house.

Do you have a security system installed in your home? Many criminals have admitted that if they knew that a home had a security system installed, they would not break into it. The secret is to not only install a system, but put a sign in your yard that lets visitors know that you have a system.

You will be further protected if you contract with a monitoring company. As soon as a burglar trips the alarm system, an alert will be sent to the monitoring company, and they can contact the local authorities. With a security system, you no longer have to worry about your house when you are not there.




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