With the holidays approaching, many people have travel plans in the book to visit friends and family. This can be exciting; however, this is also a time to be extra careful with protecting your assets at home while you’re away. Here are some tips to keep in mind this holiday season as well a throughout the rest of the year to protect your property from theft:

Create a home inventory

Having a good, detailed record of items in your house, especially your gold, silver, and other high caliber investments. This gives you a detailed record of anything that might be missing in the case of a burglary. You can do this by creating a written list with details about your items or even taking pictures and labeling them so that you have visuals of what your items look like can be beneficial.

Securing valuables in the right places

Don’t help out thieves by leaving your valuables in plain sight. Making sure your valuables are locked up is a good start but don’t rely too much on safes and lockboxes. Many smart thieves go straight for typical hiding places like freezers, sock drawers, and safes (even just taking small safes with them). If you do plan on leaving your assets in a safe, consider bolting it to the floor to not allow an easy get away and if you have to write down your passcode, don’t leave it anywhere an intruder could easily see it.

Another option for keeping your valuables safe when on vacation or just in general is to invest in a safe deposit box at your local bank. If you are worried about the security of your home and the safely of your coins, bullion, jewelry, documents, etc., looking into a safe deposit box might be for you. It is probably one of the securest places an individual of the public can store something.

Check all entry points and check them twice

Making sure all entry points of your home are secure is especially important if you are planning on going out of town. All windows, doors, gates around your property, and especially your garage. Many people forget about their garage but that is one of the most common entry points for home-intruders. It is also important to make sure the door inside your garage that leads into your time is locked as well. Another key entry point many forget, is any doggy or kitty doors, even if small, many people will work hard to get in to your home.

Another important thing to do if you are heading out of town this holiday season is to get that spare key you hide outside for emergencies. In general, its not a good idea to leave a spare set of keys outside your home, however, if you do, make sure you take it inside while you’re out of town. Burglars know to look under mats, in gravel for fake rocks, and other typical places keys are usually hidden.

If you’re out of town, make it seem like you’re home

When you’re out of town, I know it tempting to post all over social media where you are and what you’re doing, but Facebook can wait. If any of your accounts are public, anyone can see that your home is empty and asking to be broken into. Even if only your friends can see your posts, there is still a possibility that someone might take advantage of you being out of town.  

Another tip when out of town is to make it seem like there’s still activity in your empty home. Many people keep lamps and other lights on timers throughout the day so that they take turns switching on to make it seem like someone is moving from room to room. Another trick is leaving a radio or a TV on so that if anyone walks by, they might hear noise from the house and assume someone is inside. Many home security systems allow you to turn on lights remotely as well which allows you to control lighting from anywhere.

Enlist your neighbor

One of the first lines of defense against burglary is your neighbors. Many times, if you aren’t home, someone next door is. Giving a neighbor your spare key or house code is a good way to ensure it doesn’t get into the wrong hands. This can be especially helpful when out of town if you need someone to check-in and make sure everything is okay.

When it comes to protecting your family and your belongings, you can never be to careful! Taking these steps to ensure your valuables are safe and sound, especially while on vacation out of town, can make your holiday season very merry and problem free!

 

Information taken from:

https://loans.usnews.com/easy-and-cheap-ways-to-prevent-home-theft

https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/securing-your-home-from-burglary/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/01/how-to-protect-yourself-from-home-burglaries-theft.html