Lou McLeod: 13 Tips to PREPare Your Home When Going on Vacation

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Don’t leave home for vacation without first PREParing your home! The last thing you want to sorry about, when you’re trying to get away, is how secure you’ve left your home!

13 Tips to PREParing Your Home for Your Vacation

Stop Deliveries

The USPS now has a quick and easy way to stop your mail, and you don’t even have to go to the post office to do it! There are even ways to redirect it if you’ll be gone for a long period.

If you’re like me and a weekly delivery comes without your permission, you can call the company and request them to stop it, but it might take awhile to happen.

Tip: Here’s a good moment to pay a neighborhood child some money to check to make sure there’s no paper sitting in your driveway, no phone books on your doorstep, or restaraunt hangers on your door.

Get timers for lights and television

Making your home look lived in is the point of getting timers for the lights and television in your house. You can set them to look like your typical activity during the time you’re away, including having a television set turn on and off (make sure your set can handle this). Even a portable radio will work in place of the television, especially if you live in an apartment or townhouse.

Tip: It’s a good idea to make sure you have motion censor lighting on your home, as well. You can get them inexpensively and install them in areas like your garage door, ill-lit alcoves, etc. We have even purchased a motion detecting light for our front porch that is lit all the time, but gets brighter when someone approaches the door.

Lock up!

A great way to have someone unwanted in your home when you’re away is to forget to lock up. Make sure all of your doors and windows are locked, interior doors from the garage are locked, and gates and sheds locked up. You may even want to turn off the garage door so that burglars can’t open it with universal remotes as they drive down the alley.

Tips: If you are making your home a smart home, there are apps and mechisms for controlling the lights and doors in your home. You can answer a doorbell from afar, turn the lights on and off in your home, and even code a remote ‘key’ to allow neighbors in if you don’t want to give one out.

Have someone check by often

Even if they aren’t going to have a key to get in, have someone visually check your property often to make sure it doesn’t look as if something has happened. This is especially important with impending bad weather. You may decide to give a key to a trusted friend or neighbor which allows them to get inside to deliver packages and chedk that the water heater hasn’t emptied its contents onto your newly installed wood floor, etc.

Tip: They can put your garbage cans out for you (and put them away), pick up whatever flyers have been left on the door or phone books that have been dropped on the porch.

Set alarm and notify alarm company

Be sure to set your alarms when you’ve gone. If a neighbor has your key, give them the access code so that they don’t set it off, and make sure to make the alarm company aware that you’ll be gone so that they know to be even more alert if the alarms do go off in your absense.

Tip: If you are going to be gone for an extended time, consider contacting your local police department to let them know you’ll be gone. While they can’t be your security company, they may make the extra effort to drive-by when they’re in your neighborhood.

Keep window coverings closed

There’s not point in advertising an empty house with windows that are wide open to peek in. If you have a neighbor checking the house for you, they can change the window coverings a bit to make it look as if someone has been around, but leave them closed!

Tip: Just in case – make sure not to leave any obvious valuables laying in plain sight of a window.

Park a car in the driveway

Even if it’s your car from the garage, or the neighbor’s teenager, have a car placed in your driveaway to help make it look like someone is coming and going.

Tip: I overheard this recently when traveling and thought it was a great idea – if you use a mountable GPS system in your car, remove it whenever you park somewhere. It just yells that you’re out on the road and not home. Especially if you’re parked at the airport.

Get a housesitter/petsitter

If you’re going to be gone for awhile, or if it will make you feel more comfortable, hire someone to housesit for you. This might allow you to keep your pets at home, as well, which will help serve you with barking or peeking out windows (our cats live in our windows) as if nothing were out of the ordinary at all.

Don’t Adveritse on Social Media

I am always amazed at how often I see people posting all over the internet that they aren’t home. What better way for someone to see that your house is now ripe for the picking? Sure…they’d have to follow you and know where you live, but it isn’t that hard for information to make it out past your smaller circle of friends.

If you are going to share – keep your posts private, or to a specific group of friends which you can control on Facebook (click the gear icon at the top of your Facebook screen to change who your posts are seen by, and you can actually create a list of specific people to share those vacation photos with while you’re gone). Or just text/message them photos…then recreate your vacation when you come back, for all to see. It’ll be a great way to relive it once you’ve returned to normal life.

Be mindful of check-in apps like Foresquare (and Facebook) that automatically post your location when you check-in or post an update.

Tip: Be sure to check into your social media while you’re gone in case friends have left you messages announcing that you’re not home “Can’t wait to hear all about your vacation when you get back!” – which is something we had happen when we were on vacation last month. We simply deleted the post, and left them a message as to why.

Keep the yard maintained

If you’re going to be gone awhile, make sure to pay a neighborhood teen or a lawn service to mow your yard or clear it up from snow.

Tip: I see this posted often, but never recommend doing it in the first place — remove any hidden keys you may have in easy to figure out places in your yard or on the porch. That’s just a bad idea anytime.

Turn it off!

If you’re not going to be using it, it’s often a good idea to turn it off.

Turn off your water supply into your house (don’t use the city’s access, but the one at your house).
Turn down your water heater to save power
Turn down (or up) your thermostat, but do keep it at a level safe for the winter weater
Unplug items that will not be used – televisions, computers, coffee makers. Don’t turn off fridges, freezers or lamps/radios/tv’s that will be used on timers for safety.

Weatherize your home

If you’re going to be gone during the winter, it’s good idea to check your weather for serious dips in the temperature and prepare your home accordingly. Protect the outside faucets and pipes, don’t turn your thermostat down too far.

While you can’t prepare for a freak spring storm, this is a good time to have a neighbor go check your home, visually, for weather damage and get in contact with your insurance agent immediately to start work on getting your home further protected from weather, even if you can’t get home immediately.

YOUR THOUGHTS: Share some of your home security tips for when you’ll be away on travel.

Don't leave home for vacation without first PREParing your home! 13 Great Tips for PREParing your home when you'll be on vacation at Momwithaprep!