Vacation home security is now more important than ever. With rising unemployment, vandalism due to high scrap prices for copper, metals and aluminum, and longer times between visits due to high gas prices or airline fees.

While foreclosure rates remain high, even for vacation homes or second homes, criminals will be seeking crimes of opportunity.

Some of us turn to time-share properties as a more affordable alternative. Each of these two forms of vacation home ownership present unique home security issues.

If you own your own vacation home and live there either seasonally or on a weekend basis, you’re leaving your second home unoccupied for significant periods of time. You’re also establishing a pattern of occupancy that any savvy intruder can soon learn and use to his advantage. If you own a time-share property, you own a percentage of a vacation home. You’re sharing it with complete strangers who may or may not adhere to the same standards of security that you do. And, of course, you trust your time-share company to properly maintain and secure the property during those periods when nobody is staying there.

You may believe that merely applying the same safety practices you follow in your primary residence should be enough to protect your vacation home. But in fact, you need to go above and beyond the rituals of safety you’d observe in a home you live in on a more frequent basis. Homes that look unoccupied are easy targets. You’ve seen those homes with newspapers piled up outside or that appears pitch black at night when the rest of the neighborhood is lit. Consider the following guidelines for protecting your vacation home year-round:

Consider a GE Home Security System from your local Fortune Hi Tech Marketing representative. With FHTM and GE Home Security, it is now easier than ever to protect what means most to you. With customizable systems to meet your specific needs, keep your family, possessions and investments safe. GE is continually advancing new technologies that help homeowners monitor their properties, make schools safer, improve airline security, and more. Plus GE can integrate new security technologies with existing equipment and IT systems. Whether you need an entire system, or individual products, GE has the right technology to keep you safe.

Introduce yourself to your neighbors – particularly those who reside in your neighborhood year-round. Tell them what your schedule is, and ask them to keep an eye on things while you’re away. That doesn’t mean handing them a key, although you may wish to do so if you know and trust your neighbors well enough. And watching over your home doesn’t have to be a job to which you burden your neighbors; simply ask them to remain alert to your home’s appearance. Leave with your neighbors all of your contact numbers at your primary residence, so that they may contact you immediately in the event they spot suspicious activity. Give them verbal approval to contact the local police department in your absence, particularly if they spot suspicious activity and can’t reach you by phone.

Consider the personal items you’re leaving in your vacation home when it’s unoccupied. Anything expensive – including cars, computers, televisions, DVD players and stereo equipment – should be stored under lock and key while you’re away. Take photographs of all of your possessions in your second home, and store them in a safe at your primary residence for insurance purposes. Engrave your name on the back of your expensive electronic equipment.

If you own a timeshare property, find out from the management company exactly what kinds of security measures they have in place. This includes the policies to which maintenance staff are required to adhere. Find out if the management company replaces the locks on doors in the event that tenants lose a key.

For most homeowners, the acquisition of a vacation home is the culmination of years of hard work. That’s why you owe it to yourself and your family to obtain for your vacation home the most stringent standards of safety within your means.

With the GE Home Security lifetime replacement of parts warranty and state of the art UL listed technology, you can rest easy. The highest quality products, competitive pricing and up to 20% off of homeowner and vacation home insurance makes GE Home Security the leader in the industry. One button arming, pager features, door chimes and a 24 hour emergency button make around the clock peace of mind a reality. Let FHTM and GE Home Security give you the power to protect your family and your home.

Here are just a few of the reasons to trust your security with a GE Wireless Home Security System:

One Button Arming: You arm your wireless home security system by pushing a single button.

The Peacekeeper® wireless home security system comes with entry/exit delays at the doors you select, and you can also put these same doors and windows on instant alert with the push of a single button.

Pager Feature: The wireless home security system has a pager feature. Should your child not return from school at the proper time and turn off the system, the system can be programmed to page you.

24-hour Emergency Button: You have access to an emergency panic button that allows you to summon help 24 hours a day.

Battery Back-up: In the event of a power failure, your Command Station will automatically convert from AC to DC.

Door Chime: The wireless home security system will, at your request, act as a door chime. Should your child try to slip out a door unattended, the system will notify you?

Your security and the security of your guests is the most important concern, if you are considering a home or vacation home monitoring system, please contact your local Fortune Hi Tech Marketing Representative, a GE authorized dealer or visit this link to get a Free GE Home Security System  http://fhtmus.com/monaview.

Your Travel Buddy uses and recommends GE Home Security by Fortune HI Tech Marketing. Your Travel Buddy (http://www.ytbvacationrentals.com) is a free vacation rental listing services and publishes vacation rental marketing and cost savings articles for the vacation home or vacation rental owner.

In times past, people didn’t have electronic home security monitoring systems to watch over the security of their homes and families. They relied on a more primitive means of monitoring their home’s security, the watchdog.

The watchdog was more than just a home security monitoring system, however, it was a trusted member of the family. Homeowners knew that so long as their loyal and faithful watchdog was monitoring their home’s security, they were safe, and so were their families and possessions. When an intruder or suspicious person was about, homeowners were confident that their living home security monitor would raise a quick alarm.

Times have changed, but the fundamental necessity of trust between a homeowner and his or her home security monitoring system has not. Homeowners need to feel the same unshakeable, unquestionable, faith and trust for their home security monitoring company as past homeowners felt for their loyal watchdogs.

Home security monitoring can cost anywhere from $10 to $100 per month. Selecting a company you can trust to provide quality home security monitoring is vital to ensuring the maximum return on this investment.

Modern home security monitoring generally works like this: when a home alarm system is tripped, a central home security monitoring station sends an alert to the central home security monitoring station via phone. Within just a few seconds, the central station will contact the homeowner over the phone or through the security keypad to determine if there is a threat to the safety of the home.

If the home security monitoring provider reaches someone in the home, the provider will ask for a passcode to ensure he or she belongs there. If the contact can’t provide the passcode, or if no one answers, the home security monitoring provider will call law enforcement to the scene and may also call a designated secondary contact.

How quickly your home security monitoring provider responds to an alarm can mean the difference between just a frightening experience and a potential tragedy. After many years of decline burglary rates have stabilized, and with worsening economic conditions, it’s only a matter of time before they begin to rise again. With burglary goes the potential for other, more violent crimes such as rape and murder. To protect your family, you need a reliable home security monitoring provider.

When choosing a home security monitoring provider, don’t be afraid to ask questions. What is the home security monitoring provider’s average response time? What relationship does local law enforcement have with the home security monitoring provider? What is the provider’s reputation among other home security monitoring firms?

When you choose a home security monitoring provider, you’re putting your life, your property and your family in that company’s hands. The relationship between you and your home security monitoring provider is just as important as the one you have with your doctor, accountant or attorney. Choose a good watchdog to monitor the security of your home, and you never need worry about your safety or that of your loved ones.