How to Minimize Risk of Home Burglary During Holidays

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #0b22a2}span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px}span.s2 {letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #000000}span.s3 {text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px} How to minimize your risk of getting burglarized while away for the holidays.

The holiday season is often a time of getting together with family and friends or going on vacation. In both cases traveling is sometimes involved, which means leaving your home, possessions, and pets. While the threat of robbery will vary widely depending on your neighborhood you should still take preventative measures to minimize the chances of coming home to a ransacked house.

Don't widely advertise you'll be away.

It's ok to tell friends and family where you'll be but be wary of advertising your time away on social networks like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. There is always a chance a potential robber is looking to see whose home and whose not using the internet. Even using services such as FourSquare can be a telling sign your home is unattended.

Have your mail held.

You can ask the post office to hold your mail for a set period of time. See the link at the end of this article for an online method of holding mail. You can also ask a neighbor to collect your mail daily as overfilled mailboxes and packages left for days is a signal no one is home. As for newspaper deliveries and flyers stuck to your door, ask a neighbor to come by and collect them if possible.

Give the appearance someone is home.

We've all seen the length's the character Kevin McCallister went to in Home Alone to keep the robbers out. While you don't need to have moving figures in the windows and music blasting, you can take steps to make the home appear occupied. Hook up some timers to a few lights throughout the house. Set the lights for mostly at night. If you can do multiple lights, set some at slightly different times to give the illusion of someone moving about the house. If you have multiple vehicles leave one locked in the driveway instead of the garage.

For trips longer than a week.

If possible for trips lasting more than a week have a friend, relative, or neighbor come by the house. The presence of another person and vehicle on the premises will make would be robbers wary. Also this person can put your trash out front and removing the trash cans after pick up while away for long times, giving the appearance that things are going on normally.

Keep it locked.

This should go without saying. Double check all windows, doors, pet access doors, and chimney vents. Make sure they are all closed and secured. If you had a shed or garage make sure it is locked as well. If you have an alarm system verify it is armed before leaving.

Things to not do while away to "fend off robbers."

Don't put dummies or mannequins in the windows. Savvy criminals will quickly realize the "person" in the window hasn't moved in hours or days and they'll likely keep a closer eye on your property to prove their hunch.

Don't leave the front or back porch lights on. If you can set them on a timer or have someone turn them off and on, by all means do that. But nothing screams "We're gone for days" like outside floodlights and porch lights left on in the middle of the day. Holiday lights and decorative lights are a different story as long as they are on a timer and turn off during the day.

While there is always a small chance of your home being robbed while away, being proactive and taking preventative measures can greatly reduce the chances of home robbery happening to you.

U.S. Postal Service Mail Holding Services: https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail/landingView.do