Unfortunately, Christmas is not only the time of special joy and outstanding celebration. It’s also the time the burglars get down to their business and make the full use of people, who’re preparing to surprise their loved ones with valuable gifts they’ve been saving up for throughout the year or who decided to spend the holidays away from their home and go for a refreshing family vacation.

Thus, when everyone is running around all excited for the upcoming celebration, home thieves get ready to hit the jackpot of the year. They’re already counting your cash, expensive electronics, jewelry, your grandmother’s set of china, the presents piled up under the Christmas tree or hidden in the garage from the curious eyes of your relatives.

According to the surveys conducted by insurance agencies, police departments and FBI, December is the month during which burglary rates, along with the insurance claims of the victims, blow up immensely. In some states, the numbers go up by 15-20%, which is really disturbing. (But, we didn’t need to know those stats about holiday crimes to be aware of the issue. We all saw Home Alone, didn’t we?)

Knowing that and understanding that the burglars manage to find a moment to empty the house when people leave it to run a few last-minute errands or when they’re at work, homeowners need to take a number of precautions to prevent the burglars from successfully attacking their properties and causing mostly irreversible financial damage.

Don't let them steal your holiday: ways to protect your home from Christmas thieves

1. Don’t make your house stand out and attract unnecessary attention. It’s better to blend in with the rest of the neighborhood and refrain from turning your house and backyard into a festive fairytale if your neighbors stick to the plain lights and a few modest decorations. There’s no good in making your house look like a cherry on the burglar’s pie.
2. Decorate smartly. Please, don’t run the numerous cables of your twinkling, dancing and singing outdoor Christmas decorations through the opened windows or garage doors. It’s like sending a rather tempting invitation to the burglars, who’re casually passing your home. If your decorations can’t be powered by batteries, hire an electrician to install a few outdoor outlets for you. They’ll come in handy during the rest of the seasons as well. 
3. Be careful with your purchases. Don’t throw away the packages of expensive gifts you bought or received from someone, as well as the receipts, to the outdoor bins unless you know that the trash is going to be collected shortly after you get rid of it. In addition to that, make sure to break down the packages and conceal the images and labels of things that came in them. Otherwise, you’ll essentially provide the local burglars assessing their target territory with the list of things they need to look for at your house.
4. Store gifts inside the house and keep them out of your garage, shed or car. Furthermore, don’t be lazy to park your vehicle in the garage instead of leaving it on the driveway.
5. Make sure that your home doesn’t appear to be unattended when you’re away. Whether you’re working late evening or night shifts during December or plan to visit your family on Christmas, try your best to ensure that the burglars aren’t able to determine your absence for sure. Leave the lights on when going away for a few hours in the evening. Leave the TV on. Close the curtains/blinds. Program your outside and inside lighting to turn on and off at a slightly different time and different rooms every day so that the thieves can’t tell whether it was put on time or it’s the people inside the house who’re turning them on and off. 
6. Share less on social media. Make the burglars’ job a lot harder and their temptation to break in a lot lower by making none to minimum info they need to get in successfully available. Just like no one has to see the presents you bought/scored this year, the world doesn’t need to know where you’re going to spend this Christmas and who’ll be by your side as you hit the Christmas cruise around the Caribbean’s or visit your wife’s extended family on the opposite coast.
7. Don’t trust everybody who knocks at your door asking for a donation, promoting charities, social events or simply asking for a direction. The ugly truth is that burglars often hide behind those great causes to conduct their pre-operation research, inspect the targeted homes and figure out the owner’s plans. Thus, don’t let those door-to-door donation collectors in unless you personally know them. Talk to them on the porch with the door shut and don’t give away anything they may potentially use to intrude your house and steal your valuables.
8. Multileveled house security won’t harm anybody (apart from thieves), but the absence of thereof will. Basic measures like closing your windows, back doors, not leaving spare keys under the doormat and installing reliable garage doors aren’t even subject to discussion. In addition to those, have a security installer from HireRush.com come to your home to inspect the area, determine possible blind spots and hidden passages to choose and set up the best security system that ensures advanced protection and burglary prevention. Equip your home with the modern security system that features remote home monitoring option and video surveillance to be able to control security cameras and alarms using your phone and monitor your home while you’re absent.                   
9. Look out for each other. Ask your friends to visit your home while you’re on your Christmas vacation. Cooperate with your neighbors and ask them to be a little bit more curious and observant during the holiday season, as sometimes even the most advanced security systems aren’t able to win the competition with the attentive granny from across the road. Moreover, remain on the alert not only before, but even after the holidays, as the costly presents burglars are hunting for will only switch the houses on Christmas Day.