Protect Your Home While You’re on Vacation

The last thing you want to do when you go on vacation is worry about things at home. You’re supposed to have fun and let the stress melt away, right? Below are some simple “smart” things you can do to protect your home while you’re on vacation.

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Review your insurance policies

Make sure you know what your policies cover, and what they do not. Be aware of your insurance company’s rules regarding your home being unoccupied for extended periods while you’re on vacation. My insurance company specifies that after 60 days I would need my policy updated (yours may be the same, more, or less). In any case, the last thing you want to hear from your claims adjuster is, “Claim Denied”.

Also, make sure your policy covers you for liability while your away (most do).

THRIFTY TIP! While you’re reviewing your homeowners insurance policies, see what qualifies you for discounts on your existing coverage. For example, my company offers discounts for having home security systems with remote monitoring, water leak sensors, video doorbell cameras, and much more. Your agent can provide you with a list of “qualifying” smart technology.

Have your HVAC serviced

Get it serviced by a qualified company, or do it yourself if you know how! You absolutely do not want to come back from your vacation to a fire damaged home because your furnace malfunctioned. Trust me, I know!

I had the displeasure of experiencing this in the spring of 2011. I came home and was overwhelmed by the smell of fire and plastic when I opened my door. Luckily, the fire was contained inside my electric furnace housing. I pulled the access panel to my furnace and the entire inside was black.

Thankfully, I had insurance! I filed a claim and waited for my adjuster. After assessing my situation, he scheduled a company to come in and do thermal fogging. As a result, I had to clean everything in my house. Then, I had to deal with the HVAC company that came out and replaced my furnace. By the time all this was over, I needed another vacation!

It is equally important to service your outside air unit. They can freeze up while your away causing damage to the components. Imagine coming home from a summer vacation to an extremely hot and humid house. You’re tired from the trip home, sweating bullets while unpacking, and now you have to call HVAC companies. You cross your fingers that someone has a time slot available for you on short notice and hope you don’t have to wait for parts to be ordered after they diagnose the problem. Sounds fun, right?

Secure valuables & important documents

We all have different definitions of what “our” valuables are. Your valuables may be of monetary value, sentimental value, or a combination of both. In any case, you need to take the necessary steps to protect them while you’re on vacation.

You also need to protect your important documents! Some documents can be very difficult, if not impossible, to replace.

Protection options

Fire-resistant floor safes or wall safes are excellent ways to protect your valuables.

High-quality, fire-resistant gun safes are imperative if you have firearms! Guns are easy to carry off, in high demand, and yield fast money. Make sure you’re storing your firearms in accordance with safe storage laws.

I personally do not recommend portable lock boxes or safe boxes to prevent theft. They are, after all, portable. You can carry them around your home which means a thief can carry them out of your home. Right?! However, a lot of us have them because they are affordable. So, what do you do?

You leave it in the hands of someone you trust implicitly! Not an option?

That’s okay! Here’s some advice in case you have to leave it in your unoccupied home.

Make it hard on the thief! Pick an area in your home that is difficult to get to. Bolt it to the floor or wall in that location but hide it under stuff. If the thief finds it, they’ll need tools to remove it or drill the lock.

Make it loud! Pick some interior doors to leave closed and mount inexpensive door alarms on them. Make sure to mount one on the door leading to your portable safe or lockbox.

Make them bolt! Hide a couple motion activated voice players around the house. Place one in the area leading to your portable safe or lockbox. They are relatively inexpensive and can scare a thief into thinking someone is in the home with them. You can record your own message like, “I called the cops, GET OUT”! Or record a vicious dog growling! They’ll be jumping out the window they broke in!

Log your possessions

You should already have an itemized list of all your valuables; if you don’t, make one! It will save you a whole lot of stress in case you find yourself a victim of theft, vandalism, or natural disaster.

I suggest a typed list so you can have a hard copy as well as a digital copy. Make sure your digital copy is one you can access remotely from any location.

You should include pictures or video of inventoried items. Make sure you include as much information as you can about each item; especially model numbers, serial numbers, and unique markings.

Spare keys outside? Don’t do that (EVER)!

I really hope you don’t have a spare key laying around outside your home. It’s a really bad idea for so many reasons! You are probably saying, “It’s okay, I have it hidden well!” Do you? Really? Probably not as well as you think. Someone may have seen you use it the last time you locked yourself out, or they may have overheard you telling your trusted “relative or friend” about it. Or, they just may be career thieves that are good at what they do. Let’s be honest, that garden gnome 3 foot from your front door isn’t fooling anyone. Sorry.

Ask someone to protect your home while you’re on vacation

Ask someone you trust to protect your home while you’re on vacation. Have them come and go at random times giving the illusion that your home is occupied. Give them a list of things to check on or take care of while you’re away. Leave them with spare keys, all the necessary codes, and your contact information in case of an emergency.

Make sure you offer them something for their time and give them money for fuel (if needed)! Perhaps, return the favor when they travel?

Don’t have a trusted friend or relative to protect your home? That’s okay! Hire a house sitter. Here’s some advice if you have never hired a house sitter before.

Make sure they are licensed and insured! Don’t just take their word for it. Ask to see their licensing and Certificate of Liability.

Search public court records for any lawsuits against house sitters you’re interested in.

Check with the Better Business Bureau! Look for any formal complaints filed against the house sitters you’re interested in.

Check and compare reviews! It doesn’t take much time, and it’s totally worth it. You don’t want to hire the wrong house sitters and come home to a disaster.

Compare prices! Check multiple house sitters in your area. Make sure you aren’t paying too much for house sitting services.

Ask a LOT of questions! Make sure potential house sitters are the right fit for your specific needs!

Do not post on social media or advertise your trip

I am going to share with you a 100% FREE way to protect your home while you’re on vacation. Do not post your upcoming vacation on social media! Simple, right?

I see people constantly talking about their vacation destinations and departure dates. Seriously? STOP THAT! Real time photographs that share your location are also a very bad idea. Every thief that just saw your post is grinning ear to ear.

Likewise, discussing your upcoming vacation with friends or family in public is not a good idea! The thief sitting at the next table was listening.

Plan in private and keep your travels a secret until you are safely back home. Then, you can post all about it, share your beautiful pictures, and chat with all your friends.

You’ll also enjoy your vacation more if you limit social media time.

Protect your home while you’re on vacation from bad weather

Pay attention to your extended weather forecast, your current season, and past weather patterns in your area. This will help you prepare your home in case of inclement weather. You don’t want to come home from vacation to find shattered French doors because straight line winds rearranged your patio furniture. Right? Below are some ways to protect your home while you’re on vacation when Mother Nature throws a fit.

Excessive rain coming?

• Check sump pumps
• Clean debris from gutters
• Remove debris from downspouts
• Remove debris that has accumulated on top of gutter guards
• Check the drain cover where your French drain daylights and make sure it’s clear
• Make sure doors and windows are water tight
• Inspect your roof

Protect your home while you’re on vacation from high winds!

• Repair any lose siding
• Fix uplifted or damaged shingles
• Secure lose skirting
• Remove dead limbs or trees near buildings
• Secure outside belongings
• Close your hurricane shutters
• Retract awnings
• Secure doors to all buildings

Hail storms coming?

Park vehicles in the garage or use hail covers

• Install hail guards to protect your outside air unit
• Close hurricane shutters
• Bring outside belongings in

Protect your home while you’re on vacation from winter weather!

Turn off your water heater, turn off your water supply, and drain your lines. If you can’t drain your lines, that’s okay!

• Check your wellhouse
  • Operational heat source (thermostat control recommended)
  • Adequate insulation
  • Sealed and secured door
• Leave your furnace on! (60 degrees Fahrenheit works for my home)
• Open cabinet doors under sinks
• Set faucets to a small, steady stream of water (trusted friend or house sitter chore)
• Verify that your heat tape is functional
• Close your crawlspace vents

Stop deliveries & put your mail on hold

Stop any paper deliveries or online deliveries you have coming to your home. Put your regular mail on hold until you return. Should your vacation last longer than 30 days you’ll need to sign up for a forwarding service with the USPS.

This will help protect your home while you’re on vacation because your mail won’t be accumulating. It also helps protect your private information by preventing mail theft while you’re away.

Make sure your security system is functional

I can’t stress enough how important home security systems are! Times have changed and things aren’t like they use to be. Gone are the days of leaving your doors unlocked when you go to town.

Self-monitoring security system? Below are some tips!

• Check your cameras for blind spots
• Cameras should have unobstructed views
• Update your system
• Check for hard drive errors
• Verify strong and reliable signal for remote viewing
• Check batteries where necessary

I have many different self-monitoring security camera systems protecting different properties. Out of all the systems I have personal experience with, I highly recommend this Swann Home Security Camera System.

24-hour professional monitoring? Things they should know!

• You’re planning a vacation
• Your departure date and trip duration
• Trusted friend or House Sitter Information
• Any recent threats against you or your property

Protect your home while you’re on vacation by locking up

This seems blatantly obvious but sometimes the busy human in us forgets the small stuff. There isn’t a one of us that isn’t infallible so don’t forget to “double check” your doors and windows. Make sure they are all locked and their alarms have been set. A last minute walk through could be the key to protecting your home while you’re away on vacation. Perhaps, that one window that was accidentally forgotten becomes a thief’s entry point.

Lock vehicles & outbuildings

Make sure any vehicles you do not take with you on your vacation are locked and secure. This goes for cars, trucks, recreational vehicles, etcetera. You do not want to come home to find that your camper was trashed by some thug running from the law. Also, lock your outbuildings. You probably want your zero turn to still be there when you come home. Right?

Protect your home while you’re on vacation with automatic lights

Interior lighting

Why not be a master illusionist?! Make it look like you never left. Put your interior house lights on programmable in-Wall timers. You’ll want to set those timers to reflect your regular routine so lights come on and off like they normally would. If you prefer a simpler approach, you can always just install dusk to dawn light bulbs in fixtures you wish to have come on at night. You can add even more illusion by setting your television and lamps to turn on and off automatically with these mechanical outlet timers.

EXAMPLE: Perhaps your routine is to go into your living room at 6:30 and turn on your lamp. You proceed to sit down, turn on the television, and watch your favorite shows. Set a timer for the lamp to turn on just like it usually does at 6:30 followed by the television a minute or two later. See, you’re home but you’re not. Right?

Exterior lighting

Don’t forget to make sure your outside motion lights are functioning properly before you leave. If you don’t have any outside motion lights, I highly recommend installing some. Unsuspecting thieves and vandals won’t like being automatically lit up, and they’ll probably leave.

If you have a power source where you need to install motion lights, I have had good luck with this motion sensor light. They are super bright!

However, you may need a motion light that runs off solar energy if you don’t have a readily available power source. If you’re unsure where to start, check out these solar power motion lights.

Automatic Garage Door

This is so easy to forget but necessary if you want to protect your home while you’re on vacation! Make sure you set your garage door to the vacation lock mode using your console. If you don’t have a vacation mode option, you can secure your garage door by physically locking it. In addition, I suggest installing obnoxious alarms on the outside of your garage near potential access points as well as inside the door(s) to your garage. The more obnoxious the better! You can also invest in something loud that has a strobe light. This will scare away intruders and obviously draw a lot of unwanted attention.

Protect your home while you’re on vacation by “unplugging”

When you do your last walk through before leaving, unplug any unnecessary items. It lowers the risk of fire while you’re away.

THRIFTY TIP! Unplugging stuff can also save you money (long term) on your power bill. Items that have light emitting diodes and digital displays constantly draw a tiny bit of power. You’ll also want to unplug any chargers.

Secure gates protect your home while you’re on vacation

Lock all your gates before you leave and make sure you have posted “No Trespassing” signs. I highly recommend purchasing the aluminum “No Trespassing” signs! I have tried the cheaper plastic ones and had to replace them not long after hanging them. Furthermore, consider placing a “Smile You’re on Camera” sign on or near your gate as well. You could actually cover both at once with this dual-purpose aluminum sign! They are relatively inexpensive and a good deterrent (whether there are cameras present of not).

Air quality & mold prevention

Do you think about mold prevention when you think about ways to protect your home while you’re on vacation? If not, you definitely should!

I highly recommend leaving dehumidifiers running if you live in a humid climate or you have had mold issues in the past. Dehumidifiers should be installed in a way that allows them to automatically drain outside your home. In case you have to manually dump your dehumidifier, put that chore on the list for your trusted friend or house sitter.

If you’re not sure where to start, this dehumidifier is capable of getting the job done.

Make sure you leave your air purifiers running as well. If you don’t have one, this air purifier is amazing! I have had mine for around a year and a half now. I am extremely impressed and have absolutely no complaints, YET!

Make sure you have your trusted friend or house sitter clean the filters in your dehumidifiers and air purifiers while you’re on vacation.

Protect your home while you’re on vacation from STINK!

You don’t want to come home and play the “OMG, what’s that smell” game. Right? Just take all the trash out before you leave and avoid that nonsense.

You also don’t want to come home to a whole bunch of fruit flies. Go ahead and get rid of any produce that you haven’t consumed. Don’t waste it though. Give it to someone that can make use of it (if you don’t have time to process it). Take a look in your refrigerator too. Remove things that will expire before you return. I would also suggest putting some baking soda in your refrigerator prior to leaving.

Bathrooms

I recommend putting a cup of white vinegar in your toilet bowl and in the tank (if you wish). Vinegar is an excellent way to help prevent mineral deposits and odor while you’re on vacation. I suggest pouring a little down your drains too.

Pets & livestock

Make arrangements for pet care if you’re not taking them on your vacation. Check with your trusted friend or house sitter to see if they’re okay with pet care. Assuming they are, leave them a detailed list of care instructions and veterinarian contact information. If they’re not, there are many companies willing to care for your pets while you’re away. Please, please do your research before choosing who you leave in charge of caring for your pets. If you’re struggling to find the right pet sitter, try Trusted Housesitters.

Farmers! It can be difficult to travel, can’t it?! You don’t have to just protect your home while you’re on vacation, you have to protect your livestock too!

• Run your fences
• Check automatic waterers (if temps are above freezing)
• Leave plenty of feed
• Check tank heaters (if below freezing)
• Leave plenty of hoses for manual watering
• Stock necessary medications and supplies
• Do a last minute head count
• Hire an experienced farmhand with solid references
• Make a detailed list of instructions
• Leave veterinarian information
• Make sure equipment is functional

Conclusion

Preparing for vacation can be a daunting task. There are so many things that need to be done prior to departure. Forgetting one little thing can cause a huge mess! You don’t want to cut your vacation short because your home was burglarized while you were gone. Nor do you want to come home to a flooded basement because your sump pump failed.

Want to save yourself some time? Download my FREE “Going on Vacation Home Checklist” below.

I hope the information in this post makes it a bit easier for you to protect your home while you’re on vacation and puts your mind at ease so you can truly relax. Wishing you many blessings and as always, Safe Travels!