5 Tips for Securing Your South Florida Vacation Home

Do you have a vacation home in South Florida that you stay at on your get-aways? This means that you stay at your other home(s) whenever you're not on vacation. How do you ensure that your vacation home is secured while you're away? In this piece, our home watch experts in Boca Raton have made a list of tips to follow to secure your South Florida vacation home.

1. Install a monitored security system

Monitored security systems mean someone is always looking out for your property including a South Florida home Watch Company. With smart home apps, you can check if your vacation property is secured even when you’re hundreds of miles away.

You can install security cameras that will send real-time videos from your South Florida home to your smartphone, home or work computer, or your tablet. You can also get notifications when something isn’t right. Security cameras often prevent theft before it happens. Many would-be burglars will skip right over your property when they see cameras mounted outside.

2. Secure windows and doors

While most burglaries in the United States are forced entries, many burglars can simply walk, climb, or crawl inside houses without any trouble. Make sure all windows, especially windows on the ground level, have secure locks. You can also install a pin or nail into the frame, stopping the window from opening more than a few inches. Also, lock any basement or back doors and install deadbolts on all external doors to secure your South Florida vacation home.

3. Don’t leave a spare key outside

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to leave a spare key under a front door mat, under a fake rock, or in any other well-known hiding place, only leave it with your South Florida Home Watch Professional. It seems like a good idea to have a spare key somewhere you can get to in case you get locked out, but that’s also an open invitation for a burglar to walk into your vacation house without any forced entry. A better option would be to leave a key with a trusted Safe Home Management who are close by. Or, install a smart lock that you can control with an app.

4. Get to know your neighbors

Even though you don’t live at your South Florida vacation home full time, you can still get to know your neighbors and find someone you trust with your information. Closer-knit neighborhoods generally experience fewer break-ins because strangers tend to stick out. Make sure your neighbors know that your home is a vacation home make sure they have the contact information of your South Florida Home Watch Company. An observant neighbor can alert you and Safe Home Management if there is any suspicious activity while you’re away.

5. Make sure the home appears lived in

If a house looks vacant, it’s an open invitation to a burglar, so make sure your South Florida vacation home looks lived in even when you aren’t there. Don’t let mail or newspapers pile up, keep the yard maintained, and make sure any bushes or shrubs are trimmed regularly. You may also consider installing automatic timers on lights so your house doesn’t sit dark at night.

Far too many vacationers have waited until a crime has taken place to start thinking about protecting the

ir vacation property. The risks are too high to go

another day without securing your South Florida vacation home or getting a Home Watch Professional.