4 things to consider before deciding to house sit
Living in people’s houses while they’re away on holiday instead of renting provides many house sitters the chance to travel the world but is it the right lifestyle choice for everyone?
In the current gig economy, we offer up our homes, our cars and our services in exchange for cash. Apps like Airbnb, Uber, Foodora and Airtasker have swept the competition under the carpet. Now we put our trust in complete strangers rather than big business, going against years of convention and centuries of human instinct in the process.
The various house sitting websites and facilitators out there provide a solution for both parties. Owners forever grappling with the problem of what to do with their pets when they go on holiday save a fortune on kennels fees and have the peace of mind that their pet is safe and well. House sitters, in exchange, get to live rent free and live like locals while they can travel to many different places.
It takes a lot of trust from both sides. Not everyone would be willing to let strangers into their own homes to take care of their beloved pets. Equally, house sitters need to trust that the experience will be positive for them too.
Keegan and I have been house sitting since the start of this year while we balance full-time work — we are currently sitting at our eleventh house, caring for two cats that mark it at 36 pets so far. We are loving it and intend to continue for as long as we can, but it has certainly been a steep learning curve for us.
If you are considering venturing into the world of house sitting and living out of a backpack, here are a few of our house sitting tips before you do.
- Are you ready for a second job?
House sitting is a lot of work and you need a lot of energy, especially when you’re getting started don’t have a bank of good reviews to your name to give you credibility. It can be a competitive venture, with as many as 50–100 other sitters competing for a spot. We’ve had an owner tell us that she reviewed as many as 300 house sitter profiles before deciding on our own. You’ve got to sign up to the e-mail alerts and put in a personalised application within half an hour of the ad going up, or likely lose out to someone else. Many owners are overwhelmed by the number of applications and simply look at the first ten they receive. An owner confided to us that something as simple as seeing their pet’s name misspelt can put them off from wanting to meet with a house sitting applicant.
Then once you win the house sit it’s like account management. If the owners want you to walk the dogs before work, you’ve got to get up bright and early every day and honour your commitment. If the cat needs grooming every evening, you get out the brush every night. If the owners want daily updates, you’ve got to remember to keep them informed. Your social life can be impacted too. When you’ve got animals depending on you to bring them dinner it might mean you can’t stay for those after work drinks or have to find another time to catch up with a friend. We spend a lot of time cleaning and always leave the house clean and tidy to leave a good impression when the owners get home.
2) You’ve got to really love all animals
It’s not all waggy tails and purring cats. If you want to house sit on an on-going basis and win back-to-back work and repeat jobs with owners, you can’t fake it until you make it. You’ve got to love those animals like they’re your own during the sit and be prepared to care for them in good behaviour and bad, in sickness and health. If it’s an old dog with a sensitive stomach you can’t resent having to clean up after its mess. Animals with behavioural issues can be challenging too which is why it’s always a good idea to spend some time with them before you agree to the sit as owners can have rose-tinted goggles on when it comes to their pets. We’ve learnt to always ensure that the owners have informed the vet when they go away in case their pet gets sick too. We once had a dog attack a chicken on one of our sits in response to which the owners suggested we euthanise the chook by chucking a brick on its head. We felt that murder went a bit beyond our house sitting duties so chose instead to spend our time nursing it night and day.
A golden rule for us now is that if the owners don’t love their animals more than we will while we look after them then it isn’t worth house sitting for them.
3) Consider what you do and don’t need
The last thing you want when going from house sit to house sit is to be carting around stuff that you could do without. Shop mindfully as you’ll be carrying your purchases around with you wherever you go. Forget buying that new pair of jeans unless you’re prepared to throw out the old pair. Instead of books, use a Kindle. Plan out your meals for the week and buy only what you need. Invest in a portable esky which you can transport perishables from place to place. Use the owners’ kitchen items only if you are prepared to replace them.
4) Do you have a bolt hole in between sits?
As a couple we have the option to overlap house sits, or for one person to attend an interview for the next sit while the other dashes home to feed the pets, which has helped us a great deal. Sometimes we might have a period of a few days, or a week where we haven’t managed to find a suitable sit. We are fortunate in that we have family who live local and who are happy to take in a pair of vagabonds at a moment’s notice. However, the alternative is hostels, Airbnbs and hotels which can get costly and outweigh the financial benefits of house sitting in the first place. Consider where you can go in between sits without stretching a friendship too thin.
The house sitting backpack lifestyle might not be for everybody but it is also incredibly rewarding. We always say coming home to animals every evening is like therapy, the equivalent of doing an hour’s meditation. It’s a great chance to meet new people and explore different areas. We really feel that we live more with less stuff.
