When the holidays roll around, many homeowners pack up and leave town to spend special days with family. If you want the assurance that everything will be just as you left it when you return, follow some of these easy steps to protect your home.

1. Resist the urge to announce your trip on social media sites. You may be excited about letting friends know your plans, but other people can see your postings too, and that can make your home an easy target.
   
   
2. Ask a trusted neighbor or friend to keep an eye on things. Having someone on the lookout for suspicious activity is a great deterrent. You could also give them a key to check inside the house every day to make sure there are no problems.
   
   
3. Set some lights on timers. Leaving them on all the time is a good clue that nobody's home, but the timers will enable the lights to go on in the evening and off at your usual bedtime so it looks like business as usual.
   
   
4. Stop paper and mail delivery. An overflowing box screams, "Nobody's been home for days! Come take what you want!" 
   
   
5. Protect your pipes. This is the time of year when a cold snap can come through and freeze pipes. Make sure pipes are insulated, or leave your heat turned up enough to keep them from freezing. If it's a recurring problem in your home, you may want to leave a key with a friend and have them check to make sure everything looks okay on a cold morning so you don't return home and find extensive water damage. Another option is turning off the water at the main valve and draining the pipes before you leave.
   
   
6. Unplug as much as possible. Your computer, television, coffee pot and toaster don't need to be plugged in when you're not home. Not only will this save you some energy usage, but it will minimize your risk of a power surge that could damage your appliances or electronics. 

Leaving your home can be worrisome, but by taking precautions, you can take a trip, enjoy the holidays with your family out-of-town and come back to everything just as you left it. 

We’ve got you covered. Call Sam Buentello Insurance at 512-646-2691 for more information on Texas home insurance.

What other methods do you use for protecting your home while away? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.