The Essential Pre-Trip Home Security Checklist

Planning an awesome tour around the world, a vacation outside the country, or even just a road trip out of town for a couple days? You’re going to have to make sure you have everything you need packed and ready to go. Clothes? Toiletries? Medicine? A few snacks on eat along the way? Don’t forget your wallet, keys, and IDs.

Now, before you let the thrill of the adventure wash over you, let’s take a couple steps back. Whether or not it’s already happened to us, we’ve all seen or heard it before – someone goes on a vacation away from home, only to return to a home devoid of valuable items, money, and maybe even appliances. It’s scary to think about, no doubt; but whether you like it or not, that is the reality of today. Thieves and burglars are becoming ever more sophisticated with each passing year, so as a homeowner, we have to do what we can to stay ahead of the curve and keep them from breaking in to our precious private spaces.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. It is absolutely important to make sure your home is as well secured as your baggage and travel documents, even before you take that first step out of your door. In this article we will be helping you go through a home security checklist so you can rest assured knowing that you’ll come back to a home in exactly the same state as you left it. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Think Thief.

To help you protect your home from thieves, it might be helpful to play the role of the thief yourself. Try to imagine breaking into your house, taking note of any security gaps: a faulty alarm, broken fencing, an unlocked window, a spare key to the house hidden under a potted plant (yes, there are some people who still do that). With all of the possible security gaps in your home covered, resolve each of those issues one by one and run through the list repeatedly on the days leading up to your trip, adding anything else you may have missed in your first sweep.

Step 2: Keep Track.

Time to break out the ledger – only this time, you won’t just be counting cash. Besides making a note of the amount of money you have left at home, list down all of the valuable objects you have in your home like appliances and electronics, making sure to also attach a method of identification like a photograph or a serial number so you can help authorities track down your stolen items should they actually get stolen (although we will try to make sure that doesn’t happen in the first place). Any smaller items of value like loose cash and jewellery should be locked away in a secure location that is difficult for burglars to access (Step 1 will help you here).

Step 3: Be At Home While Not At Home.

Although the statement might seem a bit unintuitive at first glance, what we mean by this is to make your house look like it’s occupied while you’re gone. For this step, there are two things in particular that you should do, the first of which is keeping your lights and a TV or radio on while you’re away. Having the lights on and an electronic device blaring away, especially at night, will make it seem like you are still at home. Now, leaving lights and electronics on for extended periods of time is not exactly the best idea – besides the possibility of damage to your electronics from leaving it constantly running for several days if not weeks, there is also the concern of coming home to a gargantuan electric bill. To get around this issue, you can have a couple of electronic timers set up – these are devices that typically plug into a power outlet or a light socket, and allow you to turn your devices on only at certain times of the day so you can cut back on electricity costs while on holiday.

Another thing you can do is to reduce the amount of mail that you get at home, if not remove all of it outright. Mail and parcels that pile up in the mailbox or on your porch is a very good indicator of an unoccupied home as there is nobody there to receive the mail, which is a green flag for shifty burglars who happen to be in the area. If you tend to get a lot of letters or parcels, our best advice is to contact both the sources of your mail and the couriers delivering your mail, telling them to have any mail delivered to your home to be held at the nearest post office instead, so you can pick them all up once you’ve returned.

Step 4: Stay Secure Online and Offline.

Now, let’s say you’ve already properly secured your home and have gone ahead on your holiday. However, even while you’re away you should always place security first. It might be very tempting to upload photos of that Mai Tai you just had in Hawaii to show to your friends, but posting any information to social media about you being currently away will give burglars the go signal to waltz into your home and help themselves to your stuff. As secure as your home may be, make sure to avoid posting about your vacation until after you’ve returned home – after all, you’ll still have the pictures to show off to your friends anyway.

Step 5 Get Help.

Sometimes the best security systems can, in fact, be human. Trusted next-door neighbours can be your eyes and ears at home while you’re away, keeping watch over your house and notifying you should something be amiss. Of course, this can only happen if both of you trust each other enough to share each other’s contact details, so do take the time to get friendly with your neighbours. If you’re not that type of person and would much rather secure your home against everyone, you might want to look into hiring a home security expert to help you look for and fix potential weak links in your home security chain.

Step 6: Invest In A Security System.

Our last recommendation also happens to be the most expensive one. For true peace of mind knowing your home is safe and secure, it might be time to put some money into a good home security system. For such applications, we at Smart Security have a wide variety of options for you to choose from, from CCTV camera systems to burglar alarms to more comprehensive solutions that combine both measures. Our home security solutions are guaranteed to be of the highest quality, which we offer at competitive prices our lifetime 24/7 support. If you’re interested in our services, contact us at 08-9470-2887 or info@smartsecurity.com.au so we can give you the right solution that fits all of your home security needs.