Can you imagine a worse way to end a trip that started off great with a careful review of cheap travel choices, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages only to come home to find that your house has been ransacked?
The following are tips that Readers Digest accumulated from convicted burglars on how to keep your house safe while on the road:
Be careful to make certain all of your windows are locked after letting unknown workers use your bathroom.
Nice yard toys left outside encourage burglars to speculate what type of gaming systems might be inside.
Thieves often leave flyers in front doors to see how long it takes to be removed. You should ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily and remove any flyers.
Virgin drifts of snow in driveways are a dead giveaway that the occupants are away. You should ask a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into your house if you are on vacation.
Do not let an alarm company install a control pad which can be seen through any glass that is part of your front entrance.
If you use a security company, make certain it alarms the window over the sink and the windows on the second floor as well as install motion detectors on the second floor.
Thieves have found that people are less likely to lock their front doors when it is raining.
One of the first places burglars look for valuables is in sock drawers, dresser drawers, bedside tables, and the medicine cabinet. They dont tend to go into kids rooms looking for valuables, unless they are on the prowl for video games.
While thieves dont tend to be willing to spend the time breaking into a safe, if it is not bolted down, they are likely to simply take the safe with them when they leave.
Experts have found that a loud TV or radio can deter thieves better than the most expensive alarm system.
Two major deterrents to thieves are loud dogs and nosy neighbors.
Alarm systems only work when turned on.
Burglars often case house by looking into windows to see if flat screen TVs or gaming systems are in plain sight.
Thieves have learned that a great way to find out when someone will be out of town is by checking Facebook pages that provide details about upcoming vacations.
Remember you are making a potential burglars job much easier by leaving a window opened a crack to let in a little fresh air.
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