by Isabelle Esteves

Created on: February 20, 2011   Last Updated: February 21, 2011

Your home is your most valuable possession. When you are going away for an extended vacation it is very important that you do everything possible to safeguard your home.  Safeguarding your home is as much about using common sense as it is about using fancy equipment. Here are a few tips to get you started thinking about things to do and things not to do.

Things to do

Go on line to the US Postal Service and put a hold on your mail. There is a simple form that you fill out. When you return you can either pick up the mail at the local  post office or you can request that they deliver it all. It is a red flag to thieves to see mail piling up in your mailbox.  If you get home newspaper delivery, put a vacation stop on that as well. This is another red flag to thieves.

Install timers on lamps in your home. This will turn on random lights at times you designate. You can rotate the lamps and the times so that it will appear that someone is at home turning the lights on.

Leave a car sitting in your drive way and if possible have a neighbor or close friend move the car every few days so that it appears that someone is actually staying in the house.  Another alternative is to actually hire a home sitter to stay at your home while you are away. This works well if you happen to have pets.

Disconnect the water to your washing machine. This sounds like a simple thing but it doesn’t take much to cause a major flood in your home.  If it is going to be winter, turn off the water to your entire house, just in case you lose power for any length of time.

Talk to the local police and tell them that you are going away for an extended vacation. They will be able to patrol the neighborhood during the time you are away just to take a look.

Let your closest neighbors know that you are going to be away. Most neighbors are good about keeping an eye out for anything suspicious going on. Let them know when you will be returning. It might be nice to let them know that you would be happy to return the service for them when they are away.

If there have  been incidents of break-ins in your neighborhood, you may want to buy an alarm system. These are not fool proof but they can at least give you some advantage over the crooks.

Unplug any appliances that you can, the only one that probably needs to be kept plugged in are the lamps you will be turning on and the refrigerator or a freezer.

Check the locks on all of your windows and of course be sure to set the

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