Protecting Your Home While You're Away
How can I secure my home before I leave on a trip?
What you want to do before you leave is make sure that all your doors are locked, and that all your windows are locked. And a lot of times what you can do, is you can put a piece of stick in your window, so that prevents them from being opened. That gives you an extra layer of security. You want to make sure that all your dead bolts are locked. And also, if you have an alarm, you want to make sure that your alarm system is activated. Another thing you can do is, you can also notify a neighbor. And tell them that you'll be traveling, and ask them to keep an eye on your house while you're traveling.
Should I hide a key near my front door?
I think that there is a disadvantage to hiding a key by your front door, and that is that it becomes kind of a common spot for people to look for it. I think the better idea is to ask a neighbour to look after your house and give them a key. Or, if you have family members that live close by, give them a key to your house and let them take care of it. Having a loose key out in the open sometimes can cause problems.
How I can appear to be at home when I'm not?
One of the best ways to appear that you are at home when you're not is to make it look like someone's in the house. What you want to do is make sure that newspapers do not accumulate on the driveway, and make sure that mail does not accumulate. Something that you can do, is you can put lights on a timer so that they will turn on during the evening and then turn off at a certain time. You can also maybe have your TV or maybe music on a timer as well, so there will be some noise from your house. If you have a neighbor, you can have them come over, you can have them open up the curtains during the day, and maybe close the curtains at night so that it looks like someone is at the home while you're not there.
Who should I tell I'm going on vacation?
I think that what you want to do is tell a trusted neighbor. Or if you have family close by, you want to tell them you're going to be on vacation. Tell them how long you're going to be on vacation, and also give them telephone numbers where they can contact you. If that's the hotel or if that's on your cell phone, or whatever means of communication, make sure that they have it in case there is an emergency.
What should I do with my valuables before I leave?
What you want to do with your valuables before you leave, if you don't have a home safe, is try to put them in a place where someone might not think where they are. For instance, you might want to put them in a secret hiding place, or somewhere that's just out of the norm where someone will look for them. Because if some does break into your house, you don't want them in obvious places where people can go in there, grab them and leave
