Your property may fall vacant for various reasons. Perhaps you’ve just relocated and are yet to rent or sell your property. Other times, you may have moved out for renovations or gone for a long holiday. Leaving your property uninhabited may expose it to numerous risks. For instance, thieves find it easy to break-in. It’s also vulnerable to vandalism, squatting, and disasters like fire, floods, wind, and hail.
With that in mind, you need to safeguard your property, whether you’re leaving it vacant for a long or short period. Here are six incredible tips on maintaining your empty property:
- Provide Security
You may consider hiring Empty property security guards from reputable firms to maintain, safeguard, and oversee your vacant property. The guards should monitor your property full time. This protects it from vandals and squatters. In addition to offering security services, they may undertake risk evaluations and help keep your compound clean until you’re back.
Aside from that, you’d want to install security cameras and alarms as a reinforcement to the guards.
- Install Smart Home Devices
Technological advancement has made it possible to monitor your home remotely through smart devices. This helps keep your property safe and gives you peace of mind since you can see all that’s happening around your home. You may install smart home cameras that record live footage and send it to your phone directly. In case of an attempted break-in, you can notify security quickly, saving your property from vandalism.
You can also consider installing a smart lighting system that lets you turn your lights on and off even when you’re away. This scares those with ill intentions as they may think you’re around.
Additionally, make a point of installing smart thermostats. These enable you to adjust your home’s temperatures according to the current weather conditions. For instance, during cold seasons, you may keep your home warmer and prevent your pipes from freezing entirely and even bursting.
- Use Metal Doors
Metal doors provide extra security for your property. Burglars can’t break in simply because they must use special equipment to force the door open, unlike wooden doors. The noise generated in the process alerts your neighbors, who can inform the police, thus thwarting the attempted robbery.
Metal doors also provide a barrier to vandalism and trespassing. And no matter how long you’re away, metal doors can’t be destroyed by pests and insects. This maintains the sound state of your doors and saves you from the costly repairs associated with dilapidated doors.
- Inform Your Trusted Neighbors
Your neighbors are an indispensable asset when it comes to vacant property. You can speak to the ones you trust most, informing them about your intended absence. As they’re always around the home, they can constantly watch your property and report anything strange to you or the police. You can also assign someone to conduct periodic inspections to check for issues like leaking pipes and report them to you.
- Purchase An Empty Property Insurance
If you’re going to leave your property unoccupied for a long time, you may consider purchasing vacant property insurance. This primarily covers theft, vandalism, and natural disasters like fire outbreaks, hail, and winds.
Vacant property insurers know the risks of an empty property. If you inform them, they can make regular visits to your asset and identify any problems timely or even keep them at bay.
- Maintain Internal And External Cleanliness
One obvious indicator of an empty property is bushy and dirty surroundings. Once thieves, vandalizers, and squatters notice that your home is increasingly unkempt, they conclude that you’re not around. Thus, they’ll go ahead and break into your property.
Therefore, you need to ensure the grass and bushes in your compound are trimmed, and the flowerbed is neatly weeded. Also, remember to remove any litter around and empty the dustbins. This gives your surroundings an attractive look and gives the impression that it’s inhabited.
Don’t forget to dust your house. Even though it’s unoccupied and locked, dust still gets in. Dusting prevents any permanent stains from forming on your expensive furniture and interiors.
To make all these maintenance chores possible, you may employ a friend or neighbor to do it on your behalf.
Conclusion
Leaving your property empty for lengthy periods is risky. Therefore, you need to put appropriate measures to safeguard it from burglars, vandals, and trespassers. Remember, prevention is better than cure. It’s better to take precautions against theft and break-ins than to come to terms with huge losses.
So, consider appointing security guards, replacing wooden doors with metal ones, installing smart home devices, and purchasing empty property insurance covers. This way, you’ll keep your unoccupied property safe.
