How To Protect Your Home While You Travel The World
It’s Almost Christmas Break Time; Will You Be Traveling?
Only a few more weeks and the Christmas holiday is here! Even though not everyone can take two full weeks off from work, many people get at least a few days or a week off to spend time with their families over Christmas break.
Whether you spend Christmas at home and travel later, go ‘on location’ to a warm climate, take the family on a ski trip or spend Christmas day at ‘the happiest place on earth’, reality is that when you aren’t home, someone is sure to be looking at your property!
Preparation Can Deter and Prevent Crime and Home Disasters, Too!
We’ve covered this subject before, several times, yet when we watch the news, we feel so bad for those affected by break-ins, fires and other home disasters.
What can you do?
You can take preventative measures to do everything in your power to prevent and deter criminals before they decide to enter your home and you can prep your home to prevent leaks, fire and other home disasters!
Here is a list to help you get started!
13 Things To Do To Prepare Your Home Before you Travel
- Install a security system with 24hour monitoring for crime and fire!
- Install security cameras wired into your security system to get a live feed of your home.
- Post a ‘protected by….’ security sign in a prominent place outside your home.
- Don’t announce your trip on social media.
- Hire a home sitter to take care of your home, or stop all your mail, newspaper delivery and package deliveries!
- Don’t leave your trashcan sitting at the curb.
- Put your lights on timers.
- Lock all doors and double check to make sure your windows are locked as well.
- Turn off your main water valve right before you leave on your trip.
- Check the batteries in your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors if they aren’t hard-wired into your system.
- Tell your neighbors of your plans and how and where you can be reached.
- Leave a few kids toys or dog toys out on the lawn or in the backyard.
- If you have a dog, or even if you don’t, leave a dog bowl or leash by the back door.
Now doing all of these things on this list can not completely prevent crime or home disasters like fires, floods or wind damage, but the thing is, if you have a monitoring service and cameras, at least you’d be alerted the minute something were to be happening in your home.
For example, in one of our local Myrtle Beach neighborhoods there was an unattended home during the ice storms of 2015. After the ice melted, water was seen gushing out of the house from under the garage door. Clearly, a pipe or water heater had broken (most likely a pipe as the water kept running and running) and neighbors tried – in vain – to reach the home owners who, as it turns out, were out of the country. We can only imagine the damage that was done to that home with water gushing out for days!
A simple conversation with a friendly neighbor would not have prevented the disaster but would have notified the owner and stopped it much quicker.
If you travel often and need a security system, come talk with us!
We use the best materials, systems, cameras and the absolute best monitoring service we have found.
