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Summer is coming, and we’re all making plans to go on vacation this year. A few precautionary measures will ensure you’ll come home to your home without a security incident. If you leave your car at the airport, ask someone to park in your driveway.

1. Don’t post your vacation plans on Facebook

Posting on Facebook is basically offering a burglar a large time slot from which to choose to rob the house. This also applies to ‘check-in’s’ while you’re on vacation, your Vegas plans, wedding dates, and when Uncle Bob’s funeral is going to be held in Arcadia) Hire a house sitter

2. If you can, hire a housesitter. If you can’t afford to hire a house sitter, consider swapping vacation courtesies with a friend or neighbor.  You can do the same for them during their vacation. This includes grabbing your newspaper and mail, taking that flier for pizza delivery off your front door, and walking through the house to check each room. Why ask them to check each room?

Water leaks
Rodents in the house
Broken window from a stay rock hit by a lawnmower next door, a tree branch hitting it during a Phoenix monsoon storm or the neighbor kid playing ball (he didn’t tell his parents)
To turn on a random light. (Please let it be a LED bulb.)
3. Lock your house. Everything--windows, screen doors, the garage, the shed, the works. Afterward, walk around the outside of your house to try to break in, yourself and see what you can find when you peek in the windows. It looks like somebody is home, right?

4. Put away everything you saw while you were peeking in the windows. This includes Tv’s, computers, game consoles, everything. If you can’t make it so it’s out of sight, do something about your window coverings so nothing shows.

5. Pick up the spare key that’s under the mat, the fake rock, or the flower pot. Take it to the neighbor or someplace else you can pick it up after you get home. What are you doing leaving a spare in such an obvious place for, anyway?

6. Have the landscape crew come. But prepay them and ask them not to leave a receipt unless one of your friends or neighbors has your six and is coming by to pick that stuff up.

7. Check your motion sensor lights

This is the time to make sure your motion sensor lights and Ring doorbell are in working order. If you don’t have these items, consider making the leap now for a little extra peace of mind.

8. Turn the lights on at random times with your smart device.

If you have a smart device capable of this, by all means, use it.

9. Ask a neighbor to park in your driveway

We know a single lady who asked one of her neighbors to park his spare car in her driveway. Her neighbors talked for months about the man who had stayed at her house--another single neighbor who happened to have a spare car. So, while we’re telling you this is a good idea, there could be unintended consequences.

10.  Have the police do a drive by

If you can’t get a house sitter, your local sheriff is happy to do a drive-by a couple of times while you're gone. Everyone has a safe in their baby's room, right? Behind the diaper pail. ;)

11. Install a safe

If you don’t have a safe, this might be the time to buy one, bolt it to the floor, and put your valuables in it.

12. Rekey your home.

If you’re nervous about the number of people who have keys, have your home rekeyed before you go out of town. You can even have a master lock system if you want to be able to let people in while you’re gone.

A few other little things you might want to do:

Unplug extraneous appliances and all heat appliances
Don't leave the a/c on a low setting
Turn the water heater down or even off.
make sure your leak detection device is on
You’re going to go and have a wonderful time, especially after taking these precautions.