Planning for a holiday is fun. You look forward to it and can’t wait to finally take your family, leave everything behind, and just go on that long anticipated vacation. But aren’t your forgetting something? The house you’re leaving behind alone and unattended is at risk. The last thing you want is to come back from that trip to the Bahamas or Aruba to find the unthinkable has happened: your home was broken into. And only then you regret not having called a locksmith Toronto to secure your property.
Houses left alone where the owners are away are most at risk. In 2015 there were 159338 reported burglaries according to official statistics. You can imagine the number of unreported break-ins. So before you take that African safari vacation, make sure your property is secure by following these tips:
1- Put Your Mail On Hold
The first thing you should do be you even pack your bags is to call you call the magazines you’re subscribed to and ask them to stop sending your mail. The same applies to your mail. You don’t want to have a pile of mail at your front door alerting would-be burglars to the fact that this house is unattended. You can visit Canada Post website and stop the mail. Another option would be to ask a friend to come and pick up your mail for you from your home.
2- No Social Media
We all like to talk about what’s going on in our lives on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Happy events, sad events, plans, birthdays, and holidays. In effect we’re putting our lives there online for everyone to see. Including burglars. When you start discussing your coming holiday on social media, everybody will know your house will be an easy target at this time. If you want to alert friends and family you’ll be away you can do so by email or a text message. Keep Facebook out of it until you’re back from the holiday. This means no photos posted online while you’re holidaying too. You wouldn’t trust your door keys or automatic door opener with a stranger who could duplicate them (key cutting), you also don’t want to tell burglars that your house is unattended.
3- Remove The Spare Key
A lot of people like to keep a spare key under a potted plant or a fake rock. They’re there for convenience. But burglars would find them most convenient as well as they snoop around your unguarded property. Take that spare key with you before you leave.
4- Secure Your Door Locks
It’s easy to forget this one. In the hustle and excitement of leaving for that holiday, you can just pull the door and run to the car. You need to make sure your doors are locked, the deadbolt locks are in place and the keyless entry keys are activated. Also that window you leave on to air the place should be locked. If you’re still in doubt and worry the place is not secure enough, you might want to call a locksmith in Toronto to give the place a once over and replace the door locks.
5- Alert Police And Tell The Neighbors
Whether you can get a friend or a neighbor to come over to your place to water the plants, pick up the mail it’s always a better idea than keeping the place look deserted. Those closed curtains and dark windows are a dead giveaway to any burglar that the owners are away. You should also give them your contact information and a key or the code to your keyless entry locks. As an added measure you can alert the police that your place will be empty for a while.
6- Unplug Appliances
To save energy make sure all unneeded appliances are unplugged. Washers, toaster, and ovens are still using electricity even if they’re not running. This will also protect these appliances from power surges.
7- Lights On And Off
You know if you leave your lights on as you go on vacation in the hope that you’d fool burglars into thinking you’re home, that’s not very effective. Your bill will be outrages by the time you come back. A better option is to buy a switch timer to turn the lights on and off at scheduled times. Safe travels.
