How To Fake Occupancy To Protect Your Home From Burglary While On Vacation

Winter and spring break are some of the most popular times of year for vacations, but with any vacation comes the risk of a break in, especially if your home clearly looks like it's not occupied. In order to mitigate this danger, it is best to give your home the appearance of being occupied even when you aren't there, since thieves are less likely to target a home they think is being lived in. Here are some tips on keeping thieves in the dark about your vacation in order to protect your home. 

Automate Your Blinds and Lights

Home automation is a powerful tool that's used more often for convenience than for safety, but being able to put your lights and window blinds on a timer while you're away can make for a very convincing ventriloquism act that may help to deter thieves. In order to use this power to its fullest potential,  set your lights to turn on and your blinds to go up at the same time as you normally put them up on a daily basis. 

Have Your Newspapers and Mail Brought In

This classic tip is still true to this day, especially with the decline of print media leading to fewer houses getting newspapers at all. A big pile of newspapers outside of your home is a big "Welcome" sign to thieves, so make sure that you either suspend your deliveries for the duration of your trip or have a neighbor bring in your mail and papers while you're away. You might even be able to work out a deal with a neighbor under the right circumstances, like offering your neighbor who likes sports the daily sports section of the paper in exchange for bringing your daily news and mail inside. 

Keep an Eye on the Weather and Have Your Home Kept Up Accordingly

If you're traveling in the winter, then a sure sign of an empty house is a driveway covered in an even layer of snow for days at a time. Keeping an eye on your local weather remotely can allow you to schedule a local company to plow your driveway when need be. If you're traveling in the spring and summer, call your landscaping company just as you would if you were home to give the appearance of a well-manicured yard. For extended fall trips, offer to pay a neighbor or local teenager a few dollars to rake your leaves so it looks like you haven't been absent for as long as you have.   

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