Are you curious to ken all about house-sitting jobs? If yes, this guide reveals everything you need to know.
Today, house sitting is one of the best ways to savor free luxury lodging around the globe. Whether traveling alone or with your family, the accommodation expenses can be an enormous burden.
So as a frequent traveler, if you get the option to stay at luxury houses or modern apartments for free, why should you miss out on the opportunity?
Besides, just like babysitting or pet sitting, house sitting can also a lucrative side hustle to earn some cash.
Over the last few years, house sitting has seen substantial growth as a side income source. Interestingly, even full-time job holders are looking for these jobs.
So for all the people interested to take this side hustle, I have crafted this comprehensive guide that details things like the advantages to be a house sitter, the eligibility, the types, the best places to find house sitting jobs, and more.
What Exactly Are The House Sitting Jobs?
As the name suggests, house sitting is like a job where you take care of a house while its owners are away for certain days.
You may take care of the house for just a few days, for a few weeks, or even a few months.
As a housesitter, you treat the place like your own house. Just like the real resident of the house, you perform duties like general cleaning, gardening, taking care of pets, address the portals, attending the phone call, and other housekeeping tasks.
In return for your services, you get a payment or a free stay at that house for the period the owner is away.
The stay duration and the reimbursement get decided before you undertake the assignment. It’s solely up to you to accept the offer made by the owner.
Before you look for housekeeping jobs, always have a clear vision of what you want to achieve from it. You can always choose between short-term and long-term stays and also the way to get compensated.
Types Of House Sitting Jobs
While opening this article, I already mentioned the two earning aspects of house sitting jobs. That becomes the basis to differentiate the Paid and Free housekeeping types.
1- Paid House Keeping Jobs
With paid housekeeping jobs, the owner will pay for your services.
Such cases mostly occur when the owner prefers someone locally rather than a distant traveler to housekeep and doesn’t mind paying for the services.
2- Free House Keeping Jobs
With free housekeeping jobs, you enjoy staying at the owner’s house, free of cost. You are not paid anything in return.
You may wonder why would the owner pay when he has the option to offer free accommodation?
Let’s see why? It’s a growing trend among owners to prefer someone locally over a distant traveler.
A local person would know the surroundings, culture, and traditions in a better way. He will adjust to the house better than a distant person.
Moreover, paid housekeepers are more professional than a person doing it for fun. Owners won’t mind paying for licensed housekeeping services.
So, if you want to earn money through housekeeping jobs, don’t get disappointed. There are plenty of paid opportunities available as well.
Why Become a House Sitter?
If you think house sitting is only for side income or free accommodation, then stop and read this. The benefits of house sitting go beyond.
- By being a house sitter, you become a part of the house sitting global community which is full of like-minded people, travelers, and adorable pets. During the course, you make lifelong human and pet friends.
- With housekeeping, you enjoy traveling at your own pace. Since you don’t have to worry about lodging expenses, you can spend longer times in specific cities you like.
- Imagine cooking your food, making your coffee, watching your favorite TV shows, all add up to the genuine joy of traveling.
- If you love pets, cuddling them gives an immense feeling of satisfaction. It feels as if you are at your own house.
- Not only do you save money by slashing your accommodation expenses, but you cut the food budget by cooking yourself and pay nothing.
- If you plan a permanent shift to a particular location or city, considering a house sitting opportunity at that place will help you get a feel beforehand.
Who Can Do House Sitting Jobs?
Well, the answer to this question is, anyone can be a house sitter. Whether you are singles, couples, families, working, retired or nomadic, you can go for housesitting jobs.
Though, many times I have noticed, if you apply for paid housekeeping jobs, the owner might prefer you to be single rather than a couple or a family with kids.
House sitting doesn’t require any special qualifications or training. However, a good housesitter should be responsible, reliable, and adaptable.
Additionally, with the immense competition in the market, it’s always handy to have prior experience as a housesitter.
In most cases, the house sitting jobs demand you to have some mechanical skills as there could be situations when you need to show some.
For example, you may suddenly have a choked sink and need essential plumbing skills to fix it.
How Much Can You Earn With House Sitting Jobs?
If you count on housesitting to make some side income and wondering how much can you earn? The answer is, it depends on a few factors.
The country you live in:- Countries like the USA where house sitting is more in demand, owners pay more.
The area of the house:- The bigger the house, the more will be the pay.
The location of the house:- Prime locations yield bigger payments.
The responsibilities:- Owners with pets pay more than without them.
The duration:- It’s obvious, longer the assignment the bigger the payment.
19 Websites To Hunt For House Sitting Jobs
House sitting jobs are abundant but are currently restricted to countries like the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, UK, New Zealand, and a few other places.
Let’s see some of the leading websites offering jobs for housesitters.
International House Sitting Jobs
1- HouseCarers
HouseCarers is one of the leading players in the market and offers house sitting opportunities in the US, UK, and Australia.
They are industry veterans and have a well-established history of providing housesitting jobs. The registration fee for the site is $50 for a year.
2- TrustedHousesitter
TrustedHousesitter is one of the biggest resources for housesitting jobs. The company charges a $119 annual fee to register. However, the fee is worth the number of jobs available on the site.
The website’s UI is very modern and user-friendly. They have house sitting opportunities in the US, Europe, UK, and Canada.
3- Nomador
Nomador has a different fee structure than the others. The membership is free for the first three contacts. Once completing those, it’s $35 per quarter and $89 per year.
Since they don’t require a full-year subscription, the site is excellent for those who aren’t looking to house-sit full-time.
The interface is excellent, and the search functionality is superb. Nomador is the only house sitting website that shows the house and property size in the ad preview.
4-HouseSitMatch
For this website, the charges to sign-up are $89 to $115 per year. They advertise house sitting opportunities in the UK, Australia, France, and Spain. The site is more engaging than some of its competitors.
As they are relatively new, the competition among housesitters is fairly less. However, their search functionality isn’t awesome.
I believe the membership fee is much higher for the small number of house-sitting jobs they offer.
5- MindMyHouse
While not as established as HouseCarers, they’ve been around for long. Their interface is modern and user-friendly.
The fee is very nominal at $20 per year. So I consider it the best place to start if you are new to house sitting.
It has a relatively low number of houses listed when compared to the above sites. You can find jobs in the US, Scotland, Australia, and Spain.
6- LuxuryHouseSitting
The website charges $25 per year for housesitters to sign-up. They offer house sitting opportunities in countries like Australia, UK, the US, Africa, and Thailand.
If you are unhappy with their services, they offer a 60-day refund policy. Considering the low annual fee, it’s a good place to start for aspiring housesitters.
Country-Specific House Sitting Jobs
United States
7- House Sitters America
A membership fee of $30 a year.
United Kingdom
8- House Sitters UK
A membership fee of £29 a year.
Australia
9- Aussie House Sitters
A membership fee of $84 a year.
10- Happy House Sitters
Sign-up is free. The membership fee for 4 months is $60, for 6 months it’s $65, and for 18 months is $85.
New Zealand
11- Kiwi House Sitters
A membership fee of $84 a year.
Canada
12- House Sitters Canada
A membership fee of $59 a year.
Mexico
13- House Sit Mexico
A membership fee of $79 a year.
Other Places To Look For House Sitting Jobs
14- Indeed
15- Care.com
16- HouseSitSearch
17- House Sitting Magazine
18- The Caretaker Gazette
19- Craigslist
How To Nail A Perfect House Sitting Job?
Now you know all the websites, to find a house sitting jobs won’t be difficult. Hundreds of jobs get added to these sites every day.
However, the tricky part is how to crack a perfect one. Here’s how to ensure you land a dream house sitting job.
1- Create A Quality Profile
The house-sitting websites are like job portals. Almost all of them will ask you some primary questions to set up your profile. As with job sites, the better your profile is, the better your chances of grabbing the job.
I will advise you to:
- Be descriptive about your past housesitting experiences.
- Highlight your soft skills like caring for the pets, why you love them, any previous pet sitting experience when you took care of a sick or injured pet.
- You can also mention expertise in essential mechanical skills like gardening, plumbing, or even cooking.
- Express your interest in that place (or places) within your profile where you are likely to apply.
- To make it more personalized, add beautiful photographs of real-life experiences about enjoying the previous house sitting gigs or cuddling pets.
- You must provide as many references as possible. That can increase the trust factor of the house owner.
Broadly saying, your write-up must include anything that leaves a positive impact on the owner.
2- Act Smart When Registering On House Sitting Websites
If you had any previous experience with house sitting, I would suggest you register for all the international websites as they offer plenty of opportunities.
The idea is simple, the more opportunities, the better the chances of getting suitable jobs.
On the other hand, if you are going in for the first time, this is not a good idea as the membership fee for most of the websites is yearly and reasonably expensive.
In case you don’t find your first house sitting experience comfortable enough and decide not to pursue it further, registering on too many websites will only prove a money spoiler.
In such a scenario, I advise you to register on one or two best sites that offer monthly or quarterly membership.
One such website is Nomador. It offers a free subscription for the first three assignments and has a quarterly membership.
3- Always Be Alert And Apply
After the registration, it’s important to be alert about the notifications you receive from these websites.
Most of them will send emails or push notifications about the available house-sitting jobs. Turning on the mobile notification is always a great idea. Also, check your email regularly so you don’t miss out on any opportunities.
Once you pick a house-sitting job, don’t wait, just click on the listing and apply. Most of these websites provide the option to contact the owner through private messages or chat. Use this for your advantage before anyone else does that.
During your conversation show your interest in pets, as most of the housesitting jobs also involve pet sitting. The owners want you to care about their pets more than their homes.
Ask caring questions about the animals as you do about the house. That way you sound genuine.
Don’t completely rely on email or notifications. There could be chances, you miss some. So, always visit the registered sites daily and be the first one to apply when new listings get added.
That way you will be ahead of all the other applicants who will wait for the emails to apply for that house sitting job.
4- Win The House Sitting Job Interview
If you did everything correctly till now, the chances are, the owners will shortlist you for an interview.
Usually, the interview is on-call or over Skype. Sometimes, if you are local, they may ask you to meet in person.
This is the ultimate step to land a perfect house-sitting job, so give the best shot.
As I already mentioned, the significant thing to discuss is pets. Keep your focus on them and show full interest and curiosity.
Keep the conversation personal, ask as many personal questions as you can about the pets, owner, and the house. That doesn’t mean you give no chance to the owner to speak.
Never do the mistake of overselling yourself. Let the owner speak about what he expects from you. Always be humble towards the owner, and keep the conversation honest and agreeable.
If you do this step correctly, trust me, most of the time you will get the job.
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You Got The Job! Now What?
No doubt, house-sitting jobs need to be taken honestly and with full dedication. Never consider it to be a fun way of enjoying free accommodation. In exchange for a free place to stay or money, you’re responsible to take care of the owner’s worldly possessions and beloved pets.
The key to getting repeatedly hired is to act professionally and treat housesitting as any other traditional job.
That takes us to our next topic. How can you be a professional house sitter?
How To Be A Professional House Sitter
Here are a few tips that help to become a professional house sitter.
1- Meet Your Commitment
When you confirm the job, it’s essential to show up as per the commitment. Homeowners make important travel plans based on what you promise. Missing that will be the worst thing as it disturbs their plans.
2- Respect The Owner And Love The Pets
On arrival, treat the house owner with the utmost respect. Cuddle the pets and make them feel comfortable with your touch.
3- Ask For Instructions
You must ask for every information about the house like paying utility bills, schedule for recycling the house waste, feeding and bathing the pets, etc.
Make sure you ask them the times when you may go out for your leisure. Ask if guests are allowed and can they stay overnight or if you can be out at night.
4- Ask For Emergency Information
Keep all the emergency numbers handy with you. Information like whom to contact if the pet is sick, what to do if the gas pipe leaks, etc. That will help you to handle adverse situations.
Having the contact numbers of neighbors and general tradesmen in the area is extremely essential if any emergency arises.
5- Get The House Rules Book
Usually, every homeowner has a house rule book they follow themselves. For example, they may support a rule to lock their house sharp at 10 pm and will entertain no outsiders after that.
Always abide by such guidelines.
6- Make Notes
Keep a notebook handy when the owner instructs. There’s every chance you miss important instructions if you don’t make notes.
7- Keep The House Secure
You may think the owner has not instructed to lock the house during the day. But regardless of the homeowner’s directions, always lock every door and window each time you leave the house.
8- Always Maintain The House
Remember, your aim to leave the house in the same condition you got or even better.
Create a daily to-do-list that includes all of your household tasks like cleaning the house, watering the plants, collecting the mail, feeding or bathing the pets, etc.
That way you won’t forget essential domestic tasks, and the house remains neat and clean when the owners get back.
9- Try To Go Beyond The Expectations
It’s always a great idea to make extra efforts than the owner would expect.
For example, you can take pictures or make videos of the pets and share with the owner, restock the grocery so the owners have the stuff to eat and drink when they return.
You can welcome them with a gift, or even prepare them dinner when they arrive back.
These extra little things will compel the homeowners to recommend you to others, praise your services, and leave positive feedback on the house-sitting websites.
10- Ask For Favour
Never hesitate to ask the owners to consider you as their housesitter for their next trip. If the owners are happy with your services, they will love to do so.
11- Hunt Of Other House Sitting Jobs Nearby
If you plan to extend your trip, keep a look at other opportunities at nearby places. There is every chance of getting them, especially when the owner is happy to recommend you.
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Closing Thoughts
House sitting gigs are remarkable for many reasons. You can travel to different cities, states, and even countries, and need not pay for accommodation.
It can also be a useful way to make money as many house-sitting jobs pay you for your services.
The prominent part of the house sitting jobs is that they’re almost available every year. If you act as a professional house sitter the same owner will probably ask you to return time and time.
Make sure the owners leave positive reviews to help your profile show up higher on the house-sitting websites.
With so many benefits, house sitting is worth giving a shot. So if you are keen to experiment, sign up for the above websites and experience house sitting.
That’s it from me. Now, it’s your turn to try these house-sitting jobs and share your feedback comments.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out, I am glad to answer your queries!
Best of luck!
