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So many ways to travel and see the world. An option to travel on a low budget is taking care of pet owners’ homes in exchange for free accommodation. Many homeowners travel or need to be away from home for different reasons and they need someone to keep an eye on the house and most importantly, their loving pets.
This is the perfect solution for both parties, either if you are hosting or sitting. We all know how expensive and inconvenient it is for pets to stay at boarding places. If you are sitting, you can save a lot of money on accommodation, food, and other expenses.
After 19 house sittings across the US I can now share my experience and show you how you can successfully do it too.
It is important to note that you must love pets and be flexible. This won’t be that kind of trip where you spend all day out and about. This type of trip is more to experience places like a local. You will have some time to explore the area, just remember you will have a little friend (or friends) depending on you and a family who has put their trust in you while they are away.
I personally like Trusted House Sitters to find sitting opportunities. The company has been around for many years and each profile has the option to add a background check, reviews from the community and externals, and other verifications that will help you to feel safe.
I am happy to share with you a discount of 25% off your membership, just click here.
Talking about safety
Do your homework with any website you decide to try. These are a few of my recommendations:
- Take your time to read the profile of the family or person in the listing you would like to apply for. We are all different and you might find out something that you don’t feel comfortable with such as cleanliness standards or pet behaviors. Also, a well-descriptive profile says a lot about how serious the homeowner is with the arrangement.
- Check for reviews from other sitters, sometimes you can learn about details not mentioned in the listing. Some sitters would prefer not leaving a review if they had a bad experience and other sitters would use keywords to point out unpleasant situations they want to highlight in a neutral way. Because of this is important to read between the lines and look for any statements that could raise questions.
- If the listing is new in the website, do not be afraid to ask for external recommendations. Ask for full names so you can do your own research as well (you can be surprised with all the info you can find on Google). We all have to work to build trust and if the person refuses to give you the information you need to feel comfortable, just let it go and find another family.
- Check out the area where the house is located. A simple Google Maps search can give you an idea. Are you sitting by yourself? Does it look safe? Do you feel comfortable taking public transportation in that area? Can you afford renting a car? All these are things that should not be taken lightly.
How to create a successful profile
Websites like Trusted House Sitters have worldwide communities. There are thousands of sitters everywhere and you should set up your profile for success to stand out from the crowd.
- Add as many pictures as you can, specially with your pets or friends/family pets.
- Talk about you and explain why you would like to house sit and why will you be a great sitter. It is like writing your resume.
- Provide as many details as possible when building your profile. Trusted House Sitters gives you the structure to make it easier with sections such as About You, Experience and more.
- Add at least 1 external recommendation if you are new to the website. This is not an impediment to getting a sit but it helps. You can also explain when applying to a sitting the fact that you are new to the website and you are open to an interview.
- Complete all verifications including background check.
- More than anything, be authentic and real. It will not just help you land great sits but it will be crucial for you to have a good experience as well.
You are all set, now what?
Be proactive and apply to listings. You can do a search by dates, duration, what animals you are ok sitting or not animals at all (yes, that’s an option), location and other filters like houses with high speed WIFI or use of a car included.
I recommend applying for local sits first to start. This way you can build up your profile and collect recommendations. You can also add external recommendations highlighting prior experiences and personal traits such as being responsible, reliable and honest.
Once you find a listing that fits all your criteria go ahead and send a direct message and make sure it is personalized. Do not use a standard text for all listings, this is easy to tell and the homeowner will appreciate someone who actually took time to go through their profile.
Be patient. There are many new listings posted every day, just wait until you find a good fit. Check the website frequently and turn on your email and app notifications so you don’t miss anything.
Screening and Interviews
It is ideal to have a conversation either by a phone call or video chat so both parties can have a sense of each other. A video call will give you a glance of some spaces in the house as well.
Keep always in mind, unless you are house sitting on your own or with a platform getting paid, it should be an equal exchange. You have to feel as comfortable as the home owners. Take this opportunity to go over:
- Prior experiences to use as an example for them to understand what you are looking for and what would be considered a bad experience for you. For example, I do make clear I am very neat and I like to be in a clean environment.
- Platforms like Trusted House Sitters have policies such as cameras not allowed and third parties not permitted during the sit. Even though every member agreed to this policies at the moment of joining the platform, you want to make sure the family you are talking to is following them.
- Ask if they have indoor cameras and if they do, are you ok with that? I personally like to keep my privacy so I do adhere to the no cameras policy.
- Ask if they will be expecting anyone in the house while they are away. If so, ask for a heads up. People like the gardener or groundskeeper are common but you don’t want a random person showing up in the house telling you is a relative; you won’t know for sure. It’s a safety concern.
- Talk about expectations. How long it will be considered ok to be away? If you will be looking after a dog, how many times you will need to go out for walks and how long? If you need to water plants, ask how many.
- The listing should have pictures of the house and pets. If it doesn’t, ask for them. Look for pictures of the kitchen, the guest room, spaces you think you will spend the most time. Do the pets look in good health? It is very unpleasant and even traumatic to arrive in a very dirty house with clutter and having nowhere to go.
You have been invited to sit
How exciting! But at the same time it is a big commitment. Make sure you make all the necessary arrangements to arrive at your destination on time. Ask when they need you to be in the house and when you can leave. Some families will prefer you to stay the night before their departure to get to know you and show you around the house but sometimes you won’t even meet them. I’ve personally found helpful to meet the homeowner either the night before or hours before they leave. This is even better if you are sitting with a dog so they can see you with their owner.
Must profiles will have a welcome guide with all the information you will need. This is ideal but if you are not provided with one ask a lot of questions:
- House: parking, keys, any safety information, trash days pick up, mail.
- Pets: any medications, feeding times, what areas are they allowed to be, vet info in case of emergency.
- Plants: which ones do I need to water and which ones I do not and how often.
- Neighborhood: public transportation, supermarkets, restaurants and any recommendations.
During your stay
Some things to keep in mind:
- Have handy the contact information of the owner just in case you need help with anything in the house or if you have any questions about the pets.
- If you are house sitting solo (or even with someone else) do not open the door to anyone who has not been communicated to come into the house especially at night. Now with social media people love to post they are out on vacation and you don’t know if someone with a despicable mind is thinking about the house empty.
- If you are lucky, you might have the opportunity to stay in a very nice house. If you don’t know how to use something fancy, just don’t use it. Save yourself a headache.
- Plan your day according to your chores. For example, I love cats so I only apply to listings with cats. They usually eat in the morning and the evening. So when I’m housesitting the first thing I do in the day is to feed them and make sure all their stuff is clean. Then I go into town to explore the rest of the morning and come back after lunch to spend time with them and feed them dinner.
- Be respectful of personal belongings. I prefer to stay away from master bedrooms and home offices.
Departure time
Hopefully, you had an amazing time with furry friends at a beautiful house but it is time to say goodbye. Believe it or not, it is hard, I can’t avoid crying. You created a bond with the sweetest pets and now you have to leave them and most likely you won’t see them again.
A few recommendations for your last day:
- Pack the night before so you don’t have to be rushing the day of your departure.
- Wash the sheets and make the bed.
- Clean all the common areas that you frequent. The goal is to leave everything just like when you arrived or even better.
- Take out the trash, most people keep the main trash can in the garage.
- Clean the kitchen the night before after dinner. On your last day, eat something quick or order delivery so you don’t have to cook and clean at the last minute. If you used the dishwasher the night before, put all the dishes away.
- Clean the entire bathroom. I usually pack a pair of gloves and a sponge to clean and then dispose of them after using them.
- If you got to use the owner’s car, make sure you replace the gas you used.
There are so many positives about house sitting specially if you have the opportunity to travel to other states and countries. You will be able to literally step into other people’s homes and experience how they live just like a local.
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