Vacations are supposed to be relaxing, and it can be easy to leave your home in a rush without the worry of what will happen to it when you’re gone. However, we have all seen the move Home Alone: break-ins can happen when you least expect it and can put your home and family at risk for harm.

 

To get you thinking about the safety of your home, here are some surprising statistics from Rent:

 

·  88 percent of break-ins occur in residential areas

·  51 percent are victims of repeat burglary, usually occurring in the first month

·  77 percent of all crimes are property crimes

·  3 out of 4 homes in the U.S. will be broken into within the next 20 years

·  Identity theft after a break-in is the fastest growing crime in the U.S., Canada and U.K.

·  July and August have the most break ins, mainly due to summer travel

 

Are you going away for awhile and worried about the safety of your home? Here are some suggestions on how to protect your home when traveling.

 

1.     Install a security system

 

Before you leave your house for any reason, you should always lock all doors behind you. Even if you are going to be gone for a few minutes, a few hours or even a few days, this step should be your first security measure. Locking doors is important because burglars perform door-checks to see if there is one you may have missed. Leaving a spare key hidden can be very useful at times, but it creates an easy possibility for burglars to search for the key and use it to open your doors. Make sure to get rid of your spare key when you are gone for long periods of time.

 

Locking the door to the garage is imperative because most people leave that door open since the garage door is closed so that they don’t have to worry about unlocking a door with their key when they get back. Unfortunately, garage door codes can be easily figured out.

 

The next step on door safety is to install a security system. Homes without a security system are 300 times more likely to get broken into. A security system can be great for deterring criminals with the alarm sound, and will also automatically call the police. It also makes room for a great peace of mind.

 

2.     Timers

 

While leaving some lights on while you are gone can be a great idea in making others think you are still at home, it can be very expensive and partly obvious if the same lights are on for days and nights at a time. There is a better alternative around this: timers! Timers are going to be your new best friend.

 

Timer plugs give the appearance of being in when you are out. They can turn lights, radios, televisions on or off when you’re not there.

 

3.     Neighbors

 

While your neighbors are always good for lending sugar, they can also provide a great, and cheap, way to look after your home when you are away. It is a simple task that takes little to no effort at all seeing as they look at your home every day. You can just ask them to notify you if they see anything odd while you are away.

 

If you feel safer with a trained set of eyes, you can always notify the police station that you would like them to drive by or even hire a security guard service to look after your house from Twin City Security.

 

We offer private security guard services for a wide variety of businesses in both the public and private sector. We can tailor a security plan to meet any of your requests.

 

4.     Self-Promotion

 

In the digital age, it might be popular to show all of your friends that you are going away on a vacation. However, this can be detrimental in letting a burglar know you will be out of town. You never know who could break it. It could be a stranger passing through or it could be someone you are acquainted with.

 

5.     Deliveries

 

Another indication of being out of town is deliveries and mail. It is a good idea to either stop deliveries and mail, or have a neighbor pick it up daily to lessen the possibility of someone seeing piles of boxes and letters. The piles would definitely suggest that someone is gone and won’t be coming back for a while.

 

6.     Lawn Care

 

Another sign to others that you are out of town is an overgrown lawn. To avoid this obvious indicator, hire lawn professionals to tend to your yard as you normally would when you are home.

 

Similarly, leaving a car in the driveway can scare away burglars by indicating that someone may be home at the time.

 

Here at Twin City Security, LLC, we care about the safety of your home and your family. We strive to become the number one choice for contract security services in Alabama by providing highly trained security specialists for every industry, by adapting to all security concerns that may arise and by protecting the assets of our clients.

 

To learn more about how we protect the business and residents of Alabama in a manner consistent with the highest standards of the security industry, contact us via our website or at (334) 749-8385.