Don’t announce your absence - Facebook and Twitter figure prominently into a lot of people’s lives these days.  I know some people who update their status on nearly an hourly basis; these people are primed to be victimized.  Posting on the internet that you will be away is like making an announcement to the world; this also goes for answering machine and voicemail messages.  Only notify those who absolutely need to know when you will be out of town.

Don’t Cancel Newspaper or Postal Deliveries – Although many people will tell you to halt newspaper or mail delivery while on vacation, these people are wrong.  First of all if a Royal Caribbean vacation planner can use inside information to burglarize a house a postal employee or newspaper delivery person can use that same knowledge against you.  The other reason is because if someone has been casing your house, its better if to see mail get delivered and then picked up than seeing it not get delivered at all.

Have a house sitter move in while you are away- This is my preferred method of vacation time theft deterrent.  The best way to make your house appear to be lived in is to make certain that it is being lived in.  In my opinion responsible college students are the best for this type of job, since adults normally would need to leave their home in order to temporarily move into yours.  College students typically live at home or with roommates so if they change residences for a week or two it normally won’t be as big a deal.  Luckily, I have a couple of family members who fit the description.

Place lights on timers – If you can’t find someone to stay at your house while gone you may want to pick up some inexpensive electrical timers.  If your home is cloaked in darkness at 8 pm it’s a sign that you aren’t home, not a big deal.  However, if your home is cloaked in darkness at 8pm for three days in a row it’s a tell tale sign that you are on vacation.  Placing your lights on a timer allows you to simulate your normal routine.  Please note that while I am a huge fan of keeping a routine no human being keeps an exact schedule, you would be well served to place at least one light on a completely random cycle just to mix things up.

Make sure all of your doors and windows are locked - This may sound stupid but the truth is a significant amount of breaking and entering occurs without the breaking part ever taking place.  Personally speaking during a large portion of the year my windows remain locked, however during certain times of year I am constantly opening and closing windows.  What this means is there is a chance that one may be inadvertently left unlocked, double check.  This also goes for sliding doors and garage entrances.

Try to keep a car in the driveway – An empty driveway is a dead giveaway that no one is home.  While you may be able to get away with having no car in the driveway during working hours if this timeframe stretches into a day or two it will get noticed.  If you have two cars keep one in the driveway and if you only have one, try to get someone to take you to their airport.

Electronic Security – An electronic security system is without a doubt one of the best investments one can make in order to keep your home safe.  This is true whether you are in town or out of town.  However, an electronic security system also represents a significant expense. Obviously, the level of expense will raise or lower depending on the level of protection as well as the type of technology used, so this may not be in everyone’s budget.  If an electronic security system isn’t in your budget hang up a sign anyway, any doubt you can place in a potential perpetrators mind could be the difference.

Stash your goodies – While it may not always be possible to use a safety deposit box or get access to a safe, if you own valuables make sure to keep them safe.  Whether that means you keep them at your mother’s home or hide them under a lose floorboard, hide your valuables. If someone does break into your house make sure your prized possessions are kept safe.

Be Friendly with your neighbors – A friendly smile and a kind word go a long way towards having your neighbors look out for you.  While we don’t necessarily have a neighborhood watch program I am fortunate enough to live around a bunch of retirees who are the type of people that come to their doors every time they hear a car drive down the street.  While at times these sorts of people can be a nuisance in the long run its good to have them on your side.

Leave discreetly – I almost always leave in the wee hours of the morning when going away on vacation.  I do this because early flights allow me to maximize my time in the arrival city and because it assures me that no one (that isn’t supposed to know) knows when or if I left.  There aren’t many people up at 4 am and those that are tend to stick out like sore thumbs.

What about when you get back from vacation

One thing that I like to do whenever possible is make sure I return home during daylight or early evening hours.  When you enter your house for the first time after being away on a vacation take note of everything and make sure nothing is out of place (assuming no one was house sitting for you).  If something looks out of whack there is probably a reason for that; either you have a crappy memory or someone has been there.

In the unfortunate event that you are robbed while away on vacation there are certain rules you will want to follow in order to help the police out as much as possible.  Even though the sight of seeing your house turned upside down will be shocking, leave the house immediately.  There are two reasons why you will want to leave.  First of all you will want to be out of harm’s way in case the burglar is still inside the house, not likely but you never know.  Secondly, you will want to preserve the crime scene as well as you can and the only way to be sure you don’t contaminate any evidence is by not touching anything at all.  So even if the ashes from a dead relative may have been knocked off the mantle, you may be letting the perpetrator escape punishment by innocently cleaning things up.