If there isn't anything much of value at the house, I'd be more worried about vandalism. The loss can be much much higher.
Scarecrows might work (signs and fake cameras and things that look like window breakage sensors and such).
Real video has to go somewhere or it won't be any better than a scarecrow. A cheap DVR that is any good is hundreds of dollars; using a service like ADT has a monthly fee, and running your own IPTV link means paying for broadband at that house.
One possibility, if you personally know anyone reliable in the area that can do it, is to offer the house as a place to stay for free, they just got to stay there and not break anything. This works for some people around here, they have someone stay in their house when they are in Florida for the winter so they don't have to worry about pipes breaking or criminals or the insurance company which usually doesn't cover contents if the house is "vacant" for 30 days or more (read the policy fine print). Finding someone like that can be really hard though, and if you are a weekender it would not work out probably. [there are lots of people that would like to stay in your house for free, but hardly anyone that would do so and not damage things. Even fewer will leave things alone and fewer still fix broken things while there are there... and I know this because I used to stay in people's houses sometimes, if there was some compensating condition like being closer to work or my place needing a major component repaired. It is a real PITA moving 2x/yr though, and basically living out of a few suitcases isn't for everyone.]
I was talking to a ADT installer he said alot of people that have vacation home was set up security camera system and wire them in to a network so you can check them from the internet and you can record 150 day of footage.
