Best Practices for Securing Your Vacation Home
Most vacation homes are left unoccupied for a significant percentage of time each year. Even if you rent yours out to other vacationers, it’s difficult to keep people living in it all year long. The result is that burglars and other criminals see a prime opportunity to take advantage of your empty house and property. You may already have a security system in place, but it could be ineffective when no one is occupying the house, especially in remote areas. Any alarm that sounds when a burglar breaks in could be incapable of reaching earshot of anyone willing to notify the authorities. Some vacation homeowners have experienced robberies that occurred months before they were informed of the incidents. If you want to prevent this kind of crime and stay informed, the following best practices will help you secure your vacation home year round.
Yard and General Appearance
Carefully assess and change the outer appearance of your vacation home to deter burglars. If you can make your home appear lived in and cared for, burglars will have little to no interest because they prefer to focus on houses that show evidence of neglect or absence. You can do this by trimming shrubbery and trees to keep them from blocking windows and doors, trimming hedges so that they come no higher than waist level, maintaining your yard all year by hiring some help, and storing all ladders and tools behind locked doors. If you have fencing, make sure that it doesn’t obscure the street view of entrances.
Lighting
Consider the type of lighting you have both indoors and outdoors. Automatic timers can help you create the illusion of having someone live in your vacation home all year. Be sure to leave curtains and blinds in normal positions so that anyone outside can see that lights are on indoors.
Locks and Keys
Re-think your locks. A simple key in the knob is ineffective, as is a bolt lock that opens with a plastic card. Try using deadbolts, padlocks, pin tumbler locks, or double cylinder deadbolts. You can go to a local hardware store, buy these locks, and install them yourself with relative ease. If you’ve just bought your vacation home, replace all of the locks to prevent anyone with keys to the existing locks from entering.
Doors and Windows
Make sure that your doors and windows can resist burglars as much as possible. Invest in stronger exterior doors that are either metal or at least 1 ¾” solid hardwood and use broomsticks to jam the tracks of sliding doors. If your windows don’t have key locks, you can easily install these for extra peace of mind.
Deliveries and Subscriptions
Stop all deliveries at your vacation home. This may seem counterintuitive, as activity around your home would give the illusion of inhabitants, but accumulated mail, newspapers, magazines, or packages are a clear indicator that no one is living in your home.
Additional Security
If you have a trusted neighbor, ask him or her to check up on your home at monthly intervals. You may even consider installing a security system, like those available from alarm.com, that enables you to monitor your home online or notifies you via cell phone in the case of a break-in or other disturbance. Employing these practices can help you become a more informed vacation homeowner with increased security for your property.