The Tell-tale Signs that Your Home is Ready for Burglary
June 23, 2008
Gavyn Smith
Associate Editor
Secure24Seven
So you’ve made all the plans: surfed online for the cheapest, yet most livable hotel room, mapped out all of the famous landmarks and attractions, and made a full-fledged war strategy about how you can get all of your children happily through the whole trip without accidentally leaving them somewhere…you are going on vacation!
A vacation is one of the most important things that a family can do all year. It allows family bonding, fun activities, and a relief from the demands of your work schedule. However, a vacation may turn out to be the most stressful activity you can make all year, especially when every minute of your get-away is spent worrying about what is happening at home. So, to the effect of helping you have the best vacation ever, and in order to make sure you still have a home full of valuables to come home to, this article will discuss what you can do in order to think less about your home, specifically about your home security.
Burglars are experts at reading the signs that tell how occupied a home is, whether it is completely full or completely vacated. Even the subtlest hints can set off thieves, and since there is no one home to stop them, they can have full reign of your home. Even if your home is equipped with a security system, an expert thief can break into your home by disabling your security system since he has more time to do so.
In order to protect your home to the fullest while you are vacationing, we are now going to enter into the mind of the burglar, and look for the same signs so that you can know what to do to prevent theft from occurring while you are away. The first big, flashing red, here is a vacant home, sign is the newspaper build-up. A stack of newspapers is never a good thing, but especially for burglars, it suggests that the home is either not well-kept or not well-occupied. What you can do to prevent this is either stop your service temporarily or have a family member or very close friend stop by to pick up the newspapers. Problem solved!
The next tell-tale sign that a burglar may look for is how well-kept and how long your yard may be. A long yard with intermittent trees sprouting in the lawn also suggests that the home has not been occupied for some time, or that there is no one around that can mow the lawn and keep it up, such as with the handicapped or elderly. Either way, a burglar will notice a forgotten lawn and mark it down as a potential strike area.
The third sign that burglars will use is that of general occupancy rules. Are there any cars parked in the driveway, even at night? Are there ever any lights on or any kind of movement in the home? Anyone who has seen the Home Alone movies will recall that Kevin, in order to deter the thieves, set up cardboard cutouts and played Christmas jam music in order to make the appearance of a party. His idea was not half-bad actually. What is great now is that light timers are sold in almost any store that can time the turning on and off of lights or other electronics. This is really a great way to make your home look occupied, and it can save you money in the long run so that you do not have to leave a light one the whole time.
Finally, one of the last tell-tale signs that your home is ready for a break-in is your voice messaging or answering system. Thieves may even call up a house to check if anyone is home, and when they find the message inbox is full, they can take that as a sign of being unoccupied. In order to prevent this do not leave a message that you are out on vacation or any other hints that you are away. Also, you can arrange for the same newspaper retriever to come in and listen to your voicemails and delete them afterward.
In conclusion, I hope that by reading this article today, it will help you to enjoy the summer vacation even more. Now how about that battle strategy to make sure you don’t leave any of your kids on a permanent vacation?
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