Keeping Your Home Secure While Away

It’s the height of Summer, and many of you are getting away from it all on vacation!

No one wants to spend their trip worrying about their home, so here are a few tips to make your time away more enjoyable.

1) Hold your mail. USPS has an online hold mail form that takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. You can decide to have your carrier deliver the accumulated mail when you return, or, if you prefer, you can go and pick it up at your branch post office.

2) Use timers – of all sorts. Setting timers on lamps to go on and off when you would normally use them can make your home look occupied from the street, and deter criminals. Timers on sprinklers/soaker hoses can be a matter of life or death for potted plants in the Summer! If you don’t have an irrigation system, a simple timer like this one, hooked up to your hose/sprinkler can keep your plants watered while away.

3) Tell someone! If you are friendly with your neighbors, just give them the heads up you will be gone. They will likely see if anything suspicious is happening at your house. While you’re at it, take your spare key out of that fake rock (that isn’t fooling anyone) and give it to your neighbor or a friend while away.

4) Keep it real. Meaning, if you normally keep your blinds open, then leave them open while away. While a criminal may be able to see in, so can the police or your neighbors if they need to. If you always have them shut, then keep them shut – the key is to stay consistent with what you do when home.

5) Be careful with social media. This one can be the hardest of all! You are standing atop a beautiful mountain, and want to share that view with your friends. (Guilty!) Even if you have private accounts, you never really know who can see your posts, so ideally, wait and share those photos when you’ve returned.

With peace of mind, your vacation can be all the more relaxing!

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