Securing your home before going on vacation

When you're out of town, you don't want potential burglars to know your house is empty. If possible, arrange for a full-time house sitter. If you can't do that, here are some precautions to take before leaving to reduce the risk of getting robbed.

It's important to give your home a "lived in" impression while you're away.

• Stop mail and newspaper delivery. Piled-up newspapers and mail signal your absence. Better yet, have a neighbour pick up your mail and newspapers. What if your paper delivery person spreads the word that you're not home?
• Hire a neighbourhood teenager to mow your lawn and water your plants.
• Leave a car parked in your driveway and ask a neighbour to move it from time to time. You could always ask the neighbour to park his or her own car in your driveway periodically.

Remember to leave a key with a friend, along with an itinerary and instructions on how you can be reached. What's more, leave the phone numbers of your plumber and electrician with the neighbour in case of an emergency.

It's also a good idea to phone the local police and let them known you'll be away.

• If you have an alarm system, notify the alarm company of your absence and provide the names of people who will have access to your home while you're away – in case they accidentally trigger the alarm!

It's good to have a to-do checklist. Sometimes the simplest things can get overlooked in the excitement of getting ready for vacation.

• Turn on all security alarms and timers.
• Turn off your phone's ringer.  An unanswered phone signals that no one is home.
• Tune a radio to a talk station at a volume loud enough to be barely heard outside, but not understood. Put the radio on a timer programmed to turn it on and off. Burglars don't want to break into homes if they hear voices inside and they may not be able to tell that it's the radio.
• Leave curtains and blinds open, as you would if you were at home during the day.
• Install timers on interior lamps so that they turn on and off automatically, giving the impression that you are home.
• Stash empty garbage cans in the garage or behind the house.
• Turn off your electric garage door opener, padlock the garage door, then lock the door that connects the garage and the house.
• Install a sensor on the front door light. It will turn the light on after dark, then turn it off again during the day.

A home that looks occupied is much less appealing to thieves who are searching for a place to burglarize. With a few simple measures, you can help reduce the risk of having your home broken into while you're away.