Keeping Your Home Safe For The Holidays

Posted on Dec 3 2016 - 8:49am by Charlie

Holidays bring a lot of cheer to the home but unfortunately the holidays are the season for home burglaries too.  With thieves knowing that many homes are stocked with expensive merchandise and/or that homes are vacant with many people heading out of town for the holidays, it is no surprise that burglaries rise around this time of year.  According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more burglaries take place during the holiday season and the peak month for burglaries is December.  To keep your family and home safe this holiday season, follow a few of these tips to ensure a joyous time for your family.

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Use Timers and Motion Sensors

If you and your family are heading out of town for the holidays, you should make sure it looks like someone is home.  Burglars love knowing that a home is vacant and dark.  If your home is well lit the chances of your home being attractive to a thief will be less likely.  Use floodlights or motion activated lighting around the exterior of your home.  Put your Christmas lights and some other lights in the home on timers at night and have a few lights turn on during the day.  If a burglar is monitoring your home, the light activity will be sure to give them pause before breaking into your home.

Tell The Right And Avoid Telling The Wrong People About Your Travel Plans

How well do you know all of your Facebook friends or followers on Instagram?  Burglars now search on various platforms of social media to see what goodies people have in their possession as well as who is on vacation during the holidays.  An innocent snap of your view of the beach could wind up giving a burglar a reason to break into your home.  If you are heading out of town for the holidays make sure to chat with your kids about not posting anything on social media until after you get home.  The website independenttraveler.com also advises to notify your local police and the post office if you will be going on a vacation for a week or longer.  Overflow of mail in your mailbox or a pile of newspapers in your driveway can be a huge sign to burglars that no one is home.

Check How Secure Your Home Is

Do you have a home security system?  Do you have a trusting neighbor who can watch your home periodically while you are away?  Is there a neighborhood watch program that look after your home when it is vacant?  Are the locks on your doors really safe?  It is important to ask yourself questions like these to ensure that your home is the safest it can be during the holidays and any other time of the year.

Make Sure You Pay Attention To Who Can See Your Christmas Tree

If you live in a subdivision or busy street you may not realize that burglars can see where the tree, and more importantly the gifts are, by simply driving by.  It may be inconvenient, but make sure that if you live in a heavily populated area where many people walk by and drive by that your Christmas tree and the gifts underneath are not visible from the outside.  This will remove temptation from burglars who may be targeting your neighborhood.

Spending a little bit of time to assess how secure your home is will make it a less attractive target for burglars and make your home a little safer for the holidays.

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