A recent survey conducted by Chamberlain Group found that 69% of homeowners worry about their package deliveries going missing during the holidays, adding to the stress they feel this time of year. Adding to the already hectic holiday season, the survey also found that 74% of homeowners take extra measures to ensure they are home when their packages arrive, including canceling plans/staying home from work to wait for the package. Following are four ways to protect your holiday packages without having to worry about reorganizing your day:

Get deliveries inside your garage — From getting neighbors to grab packages to exploding glitter bombs, homeowners are not short on ideas for how to keep porch pirates at bay. However, if you really want to get serious about protecting your packages, you’ll want a smart garage door opener. Smart garage door openers by LiftMaster and Chamberlain include myQ smart garage technology that works with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Amazon Key and Walmart+ InHome, for a convenient, secure in-garage delivery experience. With in-garage delivery, you don’t have to worry about packages going missing or groceries being left out in the rain. Packages and groceries are securely delivered to the garage where they stay until you are free to get them, whether you’re home or away.

You might already have a myQ smart garage door opener and not know it. Look up at your opener to see if there is a myQ logo and a Wi-Fi logo, or if it says “powered by myQ” on your garage opener. Then download the myQ app and link to Amazon Key or Walmart+ InHome in app. If you don’t have one, you can easily add myQ to your existing garage door opener with a myQ Smart Garage Control device.

Request a signature — If you are ordering expensive items online, it’s smart to require a signature for delivery. Requesting a signature ensures that your online purchases are never left unattended. If you’re not at home, the mail carrier will typically leave a note with options for rescheduling the delivery or picking up the package in person.

Do the neighborly thing — Work with neighbors and friends to look after each other’s packages. If a neighbor is home when you are expecting a delivery, ask permission to have packages sent to their address or have them hold deliveries that come to your front door. Don’t forget to treat them to some holiday cookies as a thank-you.

Put your packages on hold if you’re traveling for the holidays — If you’re traveling this holiday season, check to see if your mail carrier or delivery service offers a temporary hold on eligible packages. Placing a hold on deliveries ensures the packages are kept in a secure location until you can retrieve them and can be a convenient way to ensure packages don’t pile up on the porch while you’re away. When you return from your travels, you can pick up your packages or have them delivered to your home depending on the service.

Give yourself the gift of peace of mind by trying out some of these package delivery tips and spend more time enjoying the moments that matter.

Chamberlain Group, Inc. commissioned a 10-minute, online quantitative survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18+ who own a house with a garage. The survey was fielded in July 2022. (BPT)

Susan Brewer Service First Real Estate (636)936-8600