The biggest concern homeowners have after leaving the house

Many homeowners find it hard to unwind on vacation because they remain anxious about what is happening back home, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 homeowners found that the worry begins almost immediately after they step out the door. Nearly two-thirds, or 65%, said they wonder within 30 minutes whether they locked the door or shut the garage.

Another 39% said the concern starts even before they have pulled out of the driveway.

The unease does not stop once they are away. On average, respondents said they check on their home four times a day, either mentally or through an app, showing that checking in does not necessarily ease their anxiety.

So what is driving that lingering concern? The physical safety of family members and pets was the top home-security worry for 28% of respondents. Another quarter pointed to break-ins or burglary as their main fear.

Commissioned by SimpliSafe and carried out by Talker Research, the survey also found that nearly one in five respondents, or 18%, said they had experienced an attempted or successful break-in within the past year.

Among those who worry about unlocked doors or appliances left on, 59% said the uncertainty has prompted them to turn around and go back to check.

To deal with those anxious thoughts, most homeowners surveyed, 63%, said they have some type of security system installed. Of that group, 73% monitor it themselves.

Among those without a security system, 36% said monitoring fees or hardware costs were the main obstacle, while 30% said they do not feel they need one because their neighborhood is safe.

Fifty-nine percent of homeowners with a monitoring system said they also have a video doorbell. Many rely on it heavily, with 32% naming it the one part of the system they trust most.

Half of respondents, or 50%, said a doorbell camera by itself offers enough protection against a break-in.

Still, that confidence may not match reality. Nearly half of homeowners who experienced a security incident while away, 48%, only learned about it after they came back home.

“Video doorbells have changed how people keep an eye on their homes, but visibility isn’t the same as protection,” said Rebecca Zavin, chief product and technology officer at SimpliSafe. “When real trouble arises, whether it’s package theft or an intruder, most traditional video doorbells simply record the event and notify the homeowner, who may miss the alert or be unable to respond. A more proactive approach is to choose a video doorbell backed by professional monitoring, enabling trained agents to intervene through the camera in real time and request police dispatch if necessary.”

Even among doorbell-camera owners, 35% agreed that the device mainly records what happens rather than actively responding to it.

For people who monitor their own systems, alerts are not always enough. Nearly four in 10, or 38%, of those with a security system said they have missed an alert because they were unavailable, while another 39% said notifications were lost in a flood of other alerts.

Most homeowners want a person involved when it matters most. If a serious threat were detected, 52% said they would want a human agent to step in. Only 36% would trust AI to act alone.

Overall, 46% said a system monitored by trained professionals gives them the most peace of mind, compared with 37% for self-monitored systems and 17% for AI-monitored systems.

“AI can be incredibly valuable in security because it can detect and surface activity quickly. But when a potential threat becomes a real emergency, human judgment is irreplaceable,” said Zavin. “The data from this survey reinforces what we hear from customers every day: people are open to AI playing an important role in identifying potential threats, but when something is actually happening at their home, they want a trained professional involved in making the call.”