Summer is here and many of us are looking forward to getting away for a break from the pressure of work and school. Any time we are away our homes are more vulnerable to burglars. Knowing this certainly doesn’t help us to the transition from the stress of everyday life to a restful, relaxing vacation.

The good news is, there are a few simple things we can do to protect our homes and our valuables allowing us to more fully enjoy vacation. While securing your valuables in a quality home safe or gun safe is a good step in the right direction there are a number of other helpful things you can do to protect yourself.

Generally, making your home appear that there is someone living there is a big step in the right direction.

1. Invite a trusted college student to house sit while you are away. Students often appreciate the opportunity to get away from home for a week or two and sweetening the pot with a bit of cash in exchange for watching over your home, watering plants and/or caring for animals is a great investment.
2. Put your newspaper and mail on hold. If you are concerned about alerting the paper delivery person consider cancelling the paper and restarting it when you get back in town. Piled up papers in the driveway are a sure sign to a prospective burglar that this home is a hot target.
3. Park a car in the driveway. Ideally one that will come and go. See if a neighbor is willing to park in your driveway at night when they come home from work.
4. Install one or more motion sensitive lights around the exterior of your home.
5. Put multiple inside lights on timers, going off and on at different times.
6. Add a radio or TV on a timer as well, the sound will be an excellent deterrent.
7. Make sure your yard is mowed while you are away. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, splurge and pay someone to do it for you while you are away.
8. If you trust your neighbors, let them know you will be away with the dates you will be gone and a contact phone number in case something suspicious occurs that you might want to know about. Be sure to let them know if you expect anyone to come to your home while you are gone or they and you may be alarmed unnecessarily.
9. 9. If you don’t already have one, consider a home security system that will notify you and local law enforcement if there is an unauthorized visitor enters your home.
10. Secure your valuables in a quality home safe or gun safe as your last line of defense against burglary and fire.

At Maximum Security Safes we are concerned about the overall security of your family and valuables. We recognize that the home safes and gun safes we sell are just the last line of defense and that there are a number of other important security measures we all should take. Consider the steps above and before you leave home check out our educational information and selection of home safes and gun safes at Maximum Security Safes or call us at 800-538-0600.