10 Tips for Leaving Your Home While On Vacation

 

  1. Make sure your neighbors have your contact information and know who will be dropping by your house while you are gone.  
  2. Stop your mail (you can start it and stop it on line!) www.usps.com and newspapers. Have a neighbor pick up any flyers, door hangers or packages that get placed around the front of your house
  3. Off or On? Lights - look into automatic timers for your lights.   Leave your shades in normal placement - all closed usually indicates no one is home!
  4. Give the working spare key to a neighbor or friend to use - DON’T LEAVE IT IN THE NORMAL PLACE! On top of porch light, under mat, decorative rock - we ALL know it’s the hide a key and the usual place you keep them! 
  5. Hire the neighborhood kid to mow the lawn - don’t cheap out!  If you WERE home, you would keep it looking mowed.
  6. Leave a list of contact numbers in the house, with friends and the house “watcher”.  YOUR contact numbers, family members that can handle things in case you can’t be reached.  Utility contact numbers.  Insurance companies and agents.
  7. Are your insurance policies up to date and in current payment?  This might seem like common sense - but you would be surprised at how many people can get distracted by the excitement of planning a trip, miss a payment or THINK they made a payment and find out the hard way that you aren’t covered.  Don’t be that guy.
  8. Don’t advertise ALL your details on fb, twitter, etc  Social media is advertising these days - would you announce that your home was going to be unoccupied for 10 days while you are going to see Mickey?  Hmmm - you might not think you are, however the professional planning a string of robberies on a neighborhood might be pretty tech savvy these days.
  9.  Do you have kids? Flush all toilets before you go.  No really - double check!  Can you even imagine coming home to that smell?
  10.  Do what it takes to make sure you can go away and enjoy yourself!
leaving home while on vacation
If you are planning your vacations and need helpfinding a pet sitter, lawn care or a handyman to address a project before you go - give us a call at the office (317) 863-4663.  We can get you connected with people that can help.  Have a safe vacation where ever you plan to go!