If you stress about leaving your property unattended while you are away, you may have good reason. According to FBI statistics, 67.2% of all burglary offenses are at residential properties. But that doesn’t mean you have to stress every time you go away. Instead, consider how to prevent burglary and protect your home while traveling. That way, you’ll have peace of mind on your trip.
Below you’ll find 9 powerful ways to help keep your home safe while traveling.
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CONTENTS: In this article, you will learn how to prevent burglary at home while you’re away so you can truly relax and enjoy your vacation. This includes:
- 1. Install a Smart Doorbell
- 2. Invest in Beautiful Fencing
- 3. Make Sure Your Windows Are Locked
- 4. Keep Valuables Out of Sight
- 5. Handle Incoming Mail & Subscriptions
- 6. Tend to Outside Appearances
- 7. Put Your Lights on a Timer
- 8. Avoid Vacation Posts on Social Media
- 9. Consider a Full Security System
- Final Thoughts on How to Prevent Burglary When You Travel
Best Ways to Protect Your Home from Thieves
Many people stress about home security when planning a vacation. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. These 9 easy ways to protect your home from thieves can help reduce the stress of leaving your home empty when on holiday, and limit your risk of theft.
1. Install A Smart Doorbell to Keep Your Home Safe While Away
With advances in technology, you’ll find several options available that can help make your property safer and reduce worry while you’re away.
One item that has evolved from simple beginnings is the doorbell.
Smart doorbells connect to your wifi and allow you access to them on a mobile app. When someone rings the bell, you’ll receive a notification on your phone. Then, you can see who is at your door and speak to them on the mic as though you were home.
Plus you will benefit from the other features a smart doorbell offers at the same time. You can even monitor your home while you’re away.
For instance, some smart doorbells even include a camera that records what’s going on in front of your house. A quick peak can show you no one is outside so you can relax on vacation knowing your home is safe.
2. Invest in Beautiful Fencing to Deter Break-Ins
You might notice the most exclusive homes in your neighborhood are surrounded by beautiful fencing. This acts as another layer of security when it comes to protecting your home from burglars.
When you install fencing around your property, it not only acts as a deterrent but can look great and add to your curb appeal.
Before going away, check to make sure there is no damage on your fencing so that it is secure. If you want to make your property even more secure, you could opt to install some iron fencing, which makes it more difficult for intruders to enter.
You might even update your perennial beds along the fence with prickly plants, like holly, roses to further deter thieves while you’re away.
3. Make Sure Your Window Are Locked
Before going away, make sure you take a walk through each room of your property to ensure the windows and doors are locked.
By doing so, you can feel more relaxed knowing for certain they are locked.
You might even ask your partner or friend to double-check if you need additional reassurance that the house is locked-down.
As an additional safety measure, you can easily install door and window alarms for better peace of mind. They will literally “alarm” any intruders so they flee and alert anyone nearby.
4. Keep Valuables Out of Sight While On Vacation
You may already know it’s not a good idea to bring valuables with you on vacation.
But what about protecting the ones you leave behind?
As important as locking the windows is to reduce the incentives to break in. Make sure expensive items and electronics, like laptops, iPads, and other potentially tempting items are out of sight when seen through the window.
This includes things like:
- Important documents
- Credit cards
- Jewelry
- Cash
- Other personally meaningful items
While we hope no one ever breaks in, if they do, you’ll want to protect these belongings further by keeping money in a safe at home that is concealed concealed, or valuables in a well-hidden lockbox.
That way, if the worst happens, you know you’ve protected your most valuable items.
5. Ask A Family Member To Collect Your Post (and More)
If you are going away for an extended time, don’t let newspapers and mail build up on your doorstep and mailbox. That advertises to everyone that you’re not home.
If you don’t have a P.O. Box, ask a family member or trusted neighbor to collect your mail and keep it until you get back. This way, you can relax knowing everything is being received and taken care of at home while you are away.
Alternatively, you can ask the post office to hold your mail while you’re on vacation. If you’re wondering how to stop mail while on vacation, you simply fill out a form at the post office. Stopping mail delivery while on vacation this way tells your carrier to hold your deliveries.
Likewise, you’ll want to find out how to stop your newspaper delivery while on vacation. Usually, it’s a matter of a simple phone call on online form with the publisher to place a vacation hold or stop on the delivery.
6. Tend to Outdoor Appearances When You’re Not Home
If you’ll be gone for long, you may want to take additional steps to make it look like your home is occupied. That might include having someone:
- Tend to your landscaping
- Watering outdoor potted plants when on vacation
- Park their car in your driveway
- Taking out your trash
Do keep your regularly scheduled landscape and housekeeping services even though you’re on vacation, but don’t tell them you’re away.
And if you’re uncomfortable asking a relative, friend, or neighbor for your help with the mail and trash, offer to compensate them for the work. You might even bring back a souvenir for them from your trip!
Tip: If you have someone looking in on your home while you’re away, don’t leave the key someplace where it’s easy for burglars to find (like under the doormat)!
7. Put Your Lights on a Timed Schedule
Should you leave lights on when you go out of town?
The answer is “Yes”–but only if you put them on a timer that mimics your usual routines. Doing so can help protect against home invasion.
For the interior, you can invest a few bucks in mechanical timers that plug into an outlet. These will turn on and off any devices plugged into them based on the timer settings. In addition to lights, you may even want to program your television or radio to come on/off this way while you’re away.
Or, you can opt for smart lights and other components of a smart home to fully automate your home’s workings.
On the exterior, one of the easiest and cost effective things you can do is to replace your entrance lights with dusk-to-dawn light bulbs that are dark sensitive.
Any of these options makes it look like you’re home when you’re not, potentially making your home less of a target.
8. Don’t Broadcast that You’re Away on Social Media
This may sound strange coming from someone who posts travel photos for a living, but don’t broadcast to the world that you’re away or where you are.
That doesn’t mean you can’t share your selfies, tropical drinks, and beautiful vistas with your friends and family on social media. But wait until you return from vacation. That way, you can safely share your photos without worrying that someone might be casing out your home in your absence.
A safer option is to privately text or email photos you want to share with those you love while you’re away.
9. Consider a Home Security System
If even with these modifications, you are feeling anxious about the safety of your home while you’re away, you may want to consider a home security service. These days, there are plenty of options. Plus, it’s a worthwhile investment, especially if you live in a higher risk neighborhood, or travel often or for long periods.
Final Thoughts on How to Prevent Burglary
Understandably, one of the last things you want to worry about is home security and how to prevent burglary when on vacation. By using these 9 techniques, you can help make your home secure.
Then, all you have to do is have a safe trip and enjoy vacation!
If unfortunately, you do experience a break-in, it’s crucial to know what steps to take afterward. Read 123.ie’s steps to take after a home burglary for guidance on how to handle the situation effectively.
Next Steps
Make sure you know these 9 Must-Follow Steps for the Perfect Home Security Checklist.
Are there other ways that help you prevent break-ins to your home when you’re away? Were any of these suggestions a surprise to you? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo credits: wooden houses – Vecislavas Popa, doorbell – cottonbro, laptop on desk – Andrea Davis, woman with ring – amngakan eka, mailbox – abstrakt xxcellence studios, house at night – Sebastian Sørensen, mobile travel photo – Maria Orlova (Pexels); iron fence – JamesDeMers (Pixabay)
This article is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. For more information, please see the following Disclosure.