If you put yourself in the mind of a burglar, when is the most opportune time to break into a home with little chance of being interrupted? Of course, it's when the homeowner is away from home for an extended stay. It could be when you are on a vacation, or just out of town on business for a few days, but your absense is a welcome sign for an intruder.

So how do you protect your home while you are away? It is imperative that you don't give the impression to the casual observer that noone has been home in a few days. When burglars investigate a neighborhood that looks promising they are specifically looking for such an easy target. So, if you are away, you must make arrangements to make it look like you are still at home. There are lots of things that you can do to help make your home and property safe when noone is there, but let's discuss just a few here:

1. Talk to your neighbors, friends or relatives and ask them to pick up the newspaper and mail for you while you are gone. This is usually not a problem as they will likely ask that you do the same for them when they are away. If for some reason, that is not possible though, at least stop delivery of both your mail and newspaper while you are away.

2. Ask your neighbors to park their car in your driveway in plain sight while you are gone. Again, you want to make it look to the casual observer that someone is around the house and it is therefore too risky to to try to break in.

3. Ask someone to stop by your home in the evenings and turn on some lights for you. If your neighbors are very cooperative, maybe they could turn them on and off for you at random times. If you feel hesitant about this for any reason, there is another alternative that works well too. You can purchase inexpensive timers that connect to lights in your home and will automatically turn them on and off at preselected times. The best automated solution though is to use a system that selects random times for turning on and off lights and the TV and perhaps other appliances as well, so the inside activities appear more natural if someone is keeping a close watch on the home.

4. If you live in a cold weather area, make sure that someone will shovel snow away from your driveway and walkway while you are away in the wintertime. Nothing screams that a home is vacant more than snow that has sat for a few days with no marks or footrpints in it.

The best solutions for home security is actually prevention of the crime itself, so taking a few measures like the ones mentioned above can be very important steps in keeping your home secure.