Pre-holiday house preparation [checklist]

Preparing for a holiday trip includes getting your house in good order before you leave! Clive Humphrey, the managing director of ADT Central Region, shared his pre-holiday house preparation checklist to keep your property and belongings safe while you’re away.

• Check for any gaps or points of access in your perimeter. Get your fence, gate, wall and electric fence in tip-top shape before you leave.

• Tell your immediate neighbours, neighbourhood watch and security company you’re away. That way any movement on the property will arouse suspicion immediately. Also tell your security company who they can expect to find on the property, if anyone.

• Don’t post your plans on Facebook or other social media. You’re immediately alerting a wider audience to the fact that your home is empty.

• Brief your house sitter on your security Make sure they know who to call in an emergency, how to set all the relevant alarms, lock the gates properly and any other measures you have in place.

• Pause all your mail, or get your neighbour or a friend to fetch it A bulging mailbox is an obvious sign of an empty house, so make sure your mail is collected or better yet, not delivered at all.

• Trim vegetation by your gate so intruders can’t hide behind them

• Park your car out of sight

• Don’t leave any keys visible, especially behind a glass doors or windows

• Check your plugs, electrics and unplug anything that could be fried in a lightning storm Especially if you don’t have a house sitter! Routers are particularly susceptible to lightning damage.

• Pack away all ladders and tools - these are easy to break into a house with.

• Give your spare keys to someone and make them pop into your house at unpredictable times. Says Clive, “Movement in and out of the house is a deterrent in itself.”

Now you have read all the things you need to do before leaving the house,  download our holiday guide so you do not miss out on packing all the items you need for your family trips.

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