etting the green light to take a vacation is one of the most exhilarating moments of the year.  Even if you go away the same time every year, there’s a certain element of giddiness once you know the office will be left far behind and you’ll have a specified time period to let your cares drift off into the atmosphere.  However, your vacation doesn’t really begin until you’ve set up a plan for the house.  Your home security concerns shouldn’t come with you when you get a break.  Here are some tips for how to handle the big home security items during vacation time.

1. Try to make everything stay the same.  At the end of the year – and in the month of August – most people are either receiving guests or going away.  Everyone knows this fact, especially professional thieves.  Keep your home off the “gone fishing” list by maintaining regular mail service and leaving your deliveries as they are.  Instead, sign up a house sitter for the time you’re away.  Most people find sitters for free, as everyone can use a little personal time every so often.  Make sure to give him or her a primer on the home alarm before you go away.

2. Save the jobs for this off-season.  With someone watching over your home and presumably on vacation as well, set up your service visits for this same time period.  After all, it’s not much of a vacation if you come back and have to see your deck get repaired or deal with different technicians.  Any yard or painting work will be a pleasant surprise by the time you get back in town.

3. Call your home security company to set up the exchange.  Handing over the responsibility to a sitter will be fine, but you should let your security company know in case an alarm sounds and they are expecting to be in touch with you.  The situation will end up being better even than when you are in town but are away from the house.  Any problem can be handled by your sitter and you can avoid enlisting different neighbors to help out.

4. Try out some advanced techniques.  There are a few tricks of the home security trade that most homeowners would be well-advised to at least consider.  Timers for your lights are one option, making everything seem normal, even if you have gotten a sitter.  Another tactic is the barking dog noise simulator.  Lots of problems could be avoided with this harmless sound which can scare off the manliest of prowlers.

5. Take some elements with you.  Especially if you’re heading to a beach resort or some other tourist destination, take a few of the security principles along with you.  Don’t leave your hotel room door open, even if you and the kids are walking in and out indiscriminately.  Don’t leave anything on the beach if you’re going for a swim.

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During summer trip season, use this checklist to protect your property and to make your home seem occupied. These steps can discourage burglars and thieves.

Install good locks on doors and windows. It is true that an intruder who really wants to get into your house probably can find some way, but most burglaries are crimes of opportunity committed by small time thieves. This means that the more difficult you make it for someone to enter your house, the more likely it is a thief will not make the attempt.

Install motion detector lights and fake security cameras on the outside of your home, or try real closed circuit TV. Use automatic timers on inside lights and photoelectric switches on outside lights. A week or two before you go, set your timers so you can establish a routine while you are still home. There are even timers for sale that can vary the on/off times. Periodically have a radio or TV turned on.

Don’t leave valuable items where they can be easily observed from the windows. Video equipment, TVs, stereos, gun collections, etc. should be stored in cellars, closets, on the second floor, or left with a friend or neighbor. Equipping a storage room with a good quality lock makes a good storage area too. Leave your curtains in the normal position. Have a neighbor close them at night and open them at daylight, or use sheers. Sheers help to hide the view into the house without making it obvious, as curtains would, that no one is home.

Put at least two lights and a radio on automatic timers. Leave the bathroom light on with the door ajar to add to the idea that someone is home. Close and lock your garage doors to prevent someone from entering through the garage. Consider putting a lock in the track of overhead garage doors. Remember, attached garages that are not kept locked provide the means for an intruder to enter the garage and work in privacy at breaking into your house, perhaps even with the assistance of your own tools!

Cover your garage windows to prevent anyone from seeing the contents of your garage and see whether your auto is in there. Check your homeowner’s insurance policy- does it provide robbery coverage while you’re staying in hotels and motels? It should. Don’t let your travel plans become widely known.

Try to arrange for a house-sitter, but if you can’t, give your immediate neighbors a card with your pertinent information. If you are to be gone for an long period, you may want a trusted neighbor to:

-Check the house every day for anything unusual.

-Park in your driveway or in front of the house.

-Occasionally place garbage in your garbage can.

-Cut the lawn.

-Pick up your mail and paper.

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