3 Tips to Avoid Unwanted Home Invasions
/Summer is the season for beaching, grilling, sun-bathing…and home invasions. You hear it all the time on the news where a family is out of town and they come back to a vandalized home. This is a devastating situation, and you think this could never happen to you, but it can!
According to a study from Credit Sesame, “approximately 78 percent of ex-burglars use Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook to identify properties with absent homeowners.” So when you check in for a week-long vacation with the family in Mexico, you have potentially let a burglar know you have a vacant house, ready to be vandalized.
Don’t take your chances, and don’t post your whereabouts on social media. Some of our favorite tips from IndependentTraveler.cominclude the following:
Tip off the police and your neighborhood crime watch captain, if you are leaving town for longer than a week. This might be particularly useful if you don’t have a house sitter and/or live in a small town.
Don’t make it TOO obvious you’re trying to make it look like someone is home. For example, leavingthe lights on for the duration of your vacation is obvious and costly. Instead, you can purchase a lightswitcher to look like a person is actually changing it. Nextag.com offers a list of these online.
You can put a hold on your mail during the duration of your trip by going to usps.com. They will deliveryour held mail after you’ve returned.
No one wants to come home to a vandalized house after a relaxing time at the beach. Put your mind at ease by taking precautions before you leave, and while you’re gone to ensure the safety of your home and possessions.
