Home Security While on Vacation

It’s the vacation you’ve been planning for a couple of years. Two weeks in Aspen, Colorado for the most amazing skiing of your life. Or perhaps it’s you and the family spending two weeks in Florida at your favorite theme park. Or maybe you and your wife are taking that long-talked-about trip to Europe.

Regardless of the reason for your vacation, the last thing in the world you want to discover when you return is that your home has been robbed and that you’ve lost precious valuables. It’s essential to take several steps before you go on vacation to ensure that when you return, your home is safe and your valuables are secure.

It might seem time-consuming to take all these steps when you’re planning a big vacation, but the few minutes you’ll spend to do them could help prevent you from being one of the people whose homes are robbed in the United States.

A Few Things to Know About the Risk of Break-Ins

Here are a few things you should know about the realities of being the target of a burglary:

• Most burglars live within two miles of their victims: That way, it’s easier for them to get their stolen goods back to their residences.

• Most robberies happen between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.: Most people believe that burglars primarily sneak around at night and break into people’s homes while they’re either asleep or away. However, this isn’t always the case. Some burglars prefer the daylight hours because they know people may be at work or school, and there’s a good chance no one is home.

• Most burglaries last 10 minutes or less: Burglars like to get in, take what they want and get out. They know exactly what they’re looking for — electronics, jewelry and other valuables that are easy to fence. They do not, in most cases, ransack the house. Experienced burglars know exactly where most people keep things.

• Burglars tend to go to the master bedroom first: The master bedroom is the place where most people store valuables in easily accessible areas.

• Burglars do not “target” your home: You know those wrong numbers you get now and then? It’s not a burglar calling to see if you’re home. Most burglars do what they call “hot walks.” They pick a neighborhood they want to target, and they walk the streets looking for signs that tell them no one is home. Taking a few precautions can often save you a world of trouble. If burglars see certain signs that tell them somebody may be home, they’ll just skip that house and look for another location.

Protecting Your Home While on Vacation

While there is always the possibility of a break-in happening while you’re on vacation, there are multiple ways to significantly lower your home’s risk of being selected by a burglar. These preventative security measures include:

1. Ask a Friend or Neighbor to Keep an Eye on Your House While You’re Gone

If you know your neighbors well, you can let them know you’re going on vacation and ask them to keep an eye on your house. This will ensure someone is watching over your property, even if you’re not around.

Have them to keep an eye out for anything that makes the house look like it’s empty. Ask them to take in the mail or packages on your front step, newspapers piling up in the driveway and flyers left on your car windshield or jammed in the front door. Also, remember to give them your contact information and where you’ll be staying while you’re away in case they need to reach you.

If you don’t know your neighbors that well, ask your friends or family to check in at the house a couple of times a week so that they can make sure they aren’t any signs that your house is empty. Your goal is to make everything look as normal as possible, this way no one can tell you aren’t home.

2. Call the Police to Let Them Know You’ll Be Gone

If you’re going out of town for a significant period of time, such as a week-long vacation or even longer, it might be a good idea to call the police and let them know. It’s not unusual for police to then assign a patrol car to circle your neighborhood a couple of extra times a week, just to make sure everything is okay. You should give them your contact information as well, and details on where you’ll be staying. Also remember to let them know when you’re leaving and coming back.

3. Have the Mail Held

A mailbox full of letters and grocery flyers is a sure sign to a burglar that no one is home. If your neighbors or family members won’t be around to take in your mail for you, contact your local USPS outlet or visit their online stop mail page, and let them know the dates you’ll be gone. They’ll hold your mail for you for 30 days. You can then visit your local post office to pick it up.

You can also ask UPS or FedEx to hold any packages for you. Again, give them the specific dates you’ll be absent. They’ll deliver everything in a large bundle when you return home. It’s also a good idea not to order anything for a few days before you leave if it would normally be delivered by UPS or FedEx.

4. Stop the Newspaper

Stopping newspaper delivery is easy to do and will help ensure the security of your home. Most papers’ websites have a section where you can go in and enter the dates that you’ll be gone in order to stop delivery. Thieves look for that blue bag at the end of the driveway as a sure sign that no one is home and that the house can be broken into safely.

5. Remember the Trash

If you’re going away on a Monday and your trash day is Thursday or Friday, don’t put out the trash before you leave. A full trashcan left on the curbside for several days can alert burglars that no one is home. Arrange for someone to take out the trash on the day it’s picked up. You can ask your neighbors, friends or family to do this for you as part of their routine of keeping an eye on the house.

6. Park Your Car in Your Driveway

This step is a great way to give the impression that someone is home. If you’re taking a taxi to the airport and one back when you return, simply leave your car out in the driveway! This will also make it more difficult for any potential thief to park their car in your driveway, a strategy which can make it much easier for them to load your stolen goods into their trunk undetected by neighbors.

7. Mow the Lawn or Shovel the Driveway

If you’re away on vacation, it’s very easy to notice that your grass has not been mowed in a while. If you’re on vacation in the winter, people may also notice that your driveway or sidewalk hasn’t been shoveled after a storm. Think about asking a neighbor’s children or a family member to mow your lawn a couple of times or shovel the snow while you’re gone. If you work with a landscaping company, make sure they know that you’ll be away and that your lawn needs to be tended.

It may be a good idea to ask them to also keep an eye out for any other signs that your yard that need attention and you aren’t home. If there’s been a big windstorm and some branches have fallen around the yard, ask them to clean up. After all, if every other person in the neighborhood has done this cleaning, yet there are scattered branches all over your yard, it’s another sure sign for burglars that no one is home.

Make sure to thank your neighbor, friend or family member for helping with the yard work while you’re away! It’s always nice to bring back a souvenir or small gift from your vacation for the person who is watching over your home.

8. Use Timers for Your Electronics

One of the worst things you can do is turn on some lights before you leave thinking it will give people the impression that someone is home. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Few people leave their house lights on all night. By the same token, you don’t want your house dark all the time either.

The answer is electronic timers. Over the past decade, these timers have gotten better and more dependable. Most of the time, you just need to plug them into an outlet, and they’ll regulate when your lights and electronics are on and off. Don’t just put them on lamps — use them for TVs and radios as well. You want a timer that works at random intervals. Most people don’t turn on the lights or the TV at the same time every day or turn them all off at the same time every night.

Many of these timers now also work with your smartphone, so you can actually control their timing while you’re on vacation.

9. Leave Your Blinds in Their Normal Positions

The question of what to do about your blinds is one that’s debated among experts in home security. If you leave your blinds open during the day, don’t close them when you go away. Remember, you want things to look normal, and if all the curtains in your house are suddenly closed and never opened, that’s a sign to burglars that things aren’t normal.

If you don’t want to leave your blinds wide open because you’re afraid of people looking in the windows at night, only partially close them. Leaving them that way will also allow the police or friends checking on the house to do a quick peek inside to make sure everything is okay.

If leaving the window blinds on the ground floor open makes you feel too uncomfortable, close them on the ground floor, but open all the blinds on the top floor.

10. Be Careful What You Say on Social Media

Burglars have gotten more sophisticated over the years, and they’re well aware of people’s tendency to post everything about their lives on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you’re going on a vacation for a week or two or longer, do not talk about it on social media, especially if your settings broadcast your posts to more than just your friends.

While you’re visiting your vacation destination, do not post pictures, no matter how beautiful the view is or how tasty the meal is. Save all those moments until you’re home, then post to your heart’s content. And avoid status updates that say things like “I’ll be at the airport in five minutes” or “Just checked into our beautiful hotel in Paris.”

11. Remove All Spare Keys Hidden Outside the House

If you have a spare key tucked above the doorway, hidden in a fake rock next to the gnome in the garden or taped to the bottom of the mailbox, bring them all in the house. If a burglar thinks that you may not be home, one of the first things they’ll do is look for the spare key. And remember, burglars tend to do this on a regular basis, so they’re well aware of where people like to hide extra keys. Don’t think you have a better idea than they do.

12. Lock Everything in Your House

Yes, locking your doors is a good idea. But also make sure all your windows are locked as well as every other entrance into your home.

13. Secure the Garage Door

If you have an automatic garage door opener, you’re relatively safe. Most burglars won’t bother. But some of the more experienced ones may try to use a coat hanger to reach the emergency release trigger, which lets them open the door manually. To be on the safe side, even if you have an automatic garage door opener, install a deadbolt lock on one side of the door.

14. Hire Someone to Watch Your House

If you can’t persuade a friend or family member to stay in your home while you’re away, keep in mind that some companies and agencies offer housesitting services. Look for a company that includes references and great reviews. It’s not necessarily cheap, but it means many of the tasks mentioned above — mail, newspaper, trash, mowing the lawn and watering the household plants — will be taken care of and you won’t need to worry.

15. Install a Good Security System

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology released a report in 2013 that found that 83 percent of thieves looked to see if there was a security system, and almost two-thirds of convicted burglars said that their decisions about which homes to target were affected by the presence of security systems. If the home had one, the burglars were more likely to move on to another house.

Installing a home security system greatly reduces the odds of you being robbed while you’re on vacation. Place the yard signs and stickers offered by the security company everywhere that you can in the front and back of your house. You want to make sure any potential thief knows that if they try to break in, law enforcement will be on its way in a matter of seconds.

Let Silent Guardian Protect Your Home While You’re on Vacation

Silent Guardian provides reliable and top-of-the-line residential security systems in Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York State. Our customers always come first, and we’re happy to work with you to find a security system that both works with your budget and provides the safety you want for your home.

Silent Guardian has been working with law enforcement for over a quarter of a century now, and we offer alarm and video security systems that give our clients a way to keep an eye on their homes, businesses, children and other assets. We can also provide landscape lighting that will eliminate the kind of blind spots in the yard where a thief could hide while inspecting your house at night.

If you’re interested in learning more about services offered by Silent Guardian and get a free estimate, you can visit our contact page or call us at 800-296-2199.