The Ultimate Intro Guide to House Sitting

What is House Sitting?

At its core, house sitting is a pretty simple and straightforward concept: when homeowners need to travel and start making plans, one of their biggest concerns is thinking whether their home and pets will be ok while they’re away. Who’s going to water the plants, walk the dog, feed the cat, collect the mail, and perform all the other little day to day tasks that keep the household running smoothly?

This is where house sitters come in. House sitters move into a house while the owners are away, stepping into their shoes and taking over their responsibilities. In exchange for their service, house sitters receive free accommodation.

Thus, house sitting is a beneficial arrangement all around:

• The homeowners get the peace of mind of knowing that their home and pets are being taken care of in their absence, without spending a small fortune on pet hotels or home security;
• The house sitters get the opportunity to experience living like a local in a new community, town or even country, whilst saving on accommodation costs; and
• Most importantly, the pets get to stay at home instead of spending a few days, weeks or even months in the stressful and unfamiliar environment that most kennels/catteries provide.

What are House Sitters required to do?

The type and amount of tasks you are expected to perform can and will vary from one house sit to the next, so it’s important that you ascertain what will be expected of you from the offset. Only you can decide whether you are comfortable with the requests and whether you consider it a fair exchange.

As a rule of thumb, at a minimum you will be expected to:

• Look after pets – on average, more than 95% of advertised sits come with pets!
• Water plants and/or do some basic gardening like mowing the lawn
• Bring in the mail, and take out the rubbish and recycling
• Keep the house in good order

Do House Sitters get paid?

Some house sitters do get paid for house and pet sitting in their local area, either through different types of websites / apps, or as a registered business. But the kind of house sitting we support is the one where no money exchanges hands, and is instead based on the principles of the Sharing Economy – an agreement between two parties based on mutual trust and for the benefit of everyone involved.

Some of the house sitting websites we support specifically prohibit house sitters from charging a fee as members of their platforms, whilst others leave it up to house sitters and home owners to reach an agreement between themselves.

Whilst getting paid for doing something you love will naturally sound appealing to many, do keep in mind that receiving payment would constitute employment in many countries, which might land you in hot water with the immigration department or the tax office – or both.

Are there any costs involved in House Sitting?

In short, yes. There are definitely some costs involved, but most of them are expenses that you would incur travelling anyway! Let’s look at the main ones:

• Transportation to and from the sit
• Personal expenses such as food and toiletries
• House sitting platforms’ membership fees
• Alternative accommodation between sits (or if circumstances change and the sit gets cancelled or shortened)
• Travel Insurance (if house sitting internationally)
• Incidental expenses – for example, if you damage something, it is common courtesy to offer to repair or replace it

All the house running and maintenance costs, as well as the pets’ needs, are usually covered by the home owners, although sometimes home owners ask house sitters to contribute to (or cover entirely) the cost of utilities during their stay. Whether this is acceptable to you or not depends on many variables and only you can decide if it’s something you would be comfortable agreeing to.

How long do House Sits last?

House sitting jobs come in all shapes and sizes, and also durations. Some only last a weekend, whilst others span over several months.

Short term house sitting assignments are the most common and are a great way to “test the waters”, giving you the chance to see what it’s like before you commit to a longer period. Short assignments are also a great way to start growing your house sitter profile very quickly.

Medium to long term house sitting assignments tend to be more appealing to the majority of sitters, as they allow you to spend more time in a particular area, and are also far more cost effective if you need to travel far to get to them.

Both short and long term house sits have their advantages and disadvantages, so whether you choose one over the other will very much come down to your personal preferences and circumstances. Many house sitters tend to combine both, particularly at the beginning.

Can I House Sit full time?

If you’ve completed a few sits successfully and fallen in love with the house sitting lifestyle, you may want to consider doing it full time.

Full time house sitters often live a nomadic lifestyle, unless they live in a large city with enough demand to keep them booked all year round. Whilst full time house sitters are able to save significant amounts of money that would otherwise be spent on rent or a mortgage, they also face their own set of challenges.

It’s not always easy to get back-to-back assignments, and whilst rare, house sits can and do get cancelled from time to time. Finding other house sits to fill in the gaps exactly can be tricky, so you’ll need to be prepared to accept that you might end up having to pay for accommodation from time to time, or make alternative plans at the last minute.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if international house sitting is what you’re aiming for, living overseas for several months of the year might come with certain legal and tax implications that you will not want to overlook.

Can I House Sit if I have no experience?

This is a question we all asked ourselves at the beginning. After all, inviting a stranger to come and live in their home requires a lot of trust on the part of the home owners, so it’s only natural for them to gravitate towards those house sitters who already have proven experience, demonstrated capabilities, and a long list of positive references.

Having said that, homeowners may overlook your lack of house sitting experience under certain circumstances, for example if you:

• Have proven experience with animals – as pet owner, volunteer or professional animal care worker
• Have ever been a home owner yourself or have transferable skills (gardening, DIY etc)
• Hold or have held a position of trust in your community or professional life
• Write a compelling profile and application letter and they feel an affinity with you
• Apply for last minute or low competition house sitting jobs

Failing that, consider acquiring some relevant experience in other ways, so you can start building your profile with positive references that will make a good impression. You could:

• Volunteer in your local community or overseas
• Offer to house and/or pet sit for family, neighbours and friends

Where Can I Find House Sitting Jobs?

Whilst you’re getting started, house sitting websites (also known as house sitting platforms) are the best place to find house sitting opportunities easily. In addition to giving you access to thousands of house sitting opportunities, the platforms also contain lots of useful information and resources to help you on your way that are well worth checking out.

Our dedicated house sit search engine makes it easy to find your ideal house sit. With powerful search filters and covering 10 different house sitting platforms, you will be able to narrow down the search results so that you don’t waste valuable time having to trawl through different websites or sift through countless unsuitable listings.

In the meantime, it is a good idea to start putting your profile together and plan what you are going to include in your application letter, so that when the perfect house sitting opportunity arises, you are ready to apply without delay.

What makes a great House Sitting Profile?

A winning house sitting profile is a combination of lots of things. Whilst not all of these are compulsory or absolutely necessary, if you’re really serious about house sitting, and particularly if you want to do it full time over the long term, we strongly recommend the following:

• Background information about you and your experience/skills
• Good Photographs
• Introductory Video
• Impeccable References
• Police Clearance Certificate
• Your own website and/or Social Media Accounts

The more items you can check off this list, the greater your chances will be of getting the house sits you want.

Before you apply for your first House Sitting Job

Before you jump in and start sending applications, we recommend you do some basic due diligence based on the information provided in each listing. It is very easy to get excited by an exotic sounding location or beautiful photos of a home, but it’s not unusual to find that the logistics of the trip might make the house sit unfeasible after all.

At a minimum, before you apply for a sit, you should consider these 3 things:

• Can you commit to the entire duration? If the house sit is overseas – will you need a visa?
• Can you cope with the responsibilities outlined, or will they be overwhelming?
• How much will it cost you to reach the sit? Can you afford it and is it worth the cost?

If none of the above is an issue and you want to go ahead and reach out to the home owner, a simple but well written letter usually works best. Structure and write it as you would a job application, keeping in mind these points:

• Include a short introduction about yourself, your experience and/or skills that would be of interest or beneficial to the home owner
• Go over the responsibilities they have described and alleviate any concerns they might have
• Leave your own needs and wants for the end and stick to the absolute essential priorities
• Ask any pressing questions you may have, but don’t overwhelm them – ask the ones that would “make or break” the deal for you, and leave the rest for later
• Offer to continue the conversation over a video call

Having a successful first House Sit – House Sitting Etiquette

You got your first house sitting job – congratulations! Before you arrive, ask the home owners to prepare a “home bible” for you (if they have had house sitters before, chances are they will already have one available), so that you can make sure you are fully prepared to look after their home and pets diligently.

Other things that should not be overlooked are:

• Treat the house and everything in it with respect.
• Complete the home and pet care routines as instructed.
• Be professional and discreet. The temptation to “show off” may be hard to resist sometimes, but most home owners wouldn’t be happy to find their property plastered all over your social media. Always ask for permission.
• Stay in touch with your hosts during their absence. Find out their preferences in advance and follow through!
• Keep the house in a similar state of tidiness as you got it, and make an extra effort on your hosts’ return.

Once you have completed your first house sit successfully, the second and third will be much easier to secure. Don’t forget to ask for a reference and start looking forward to your next sit!

And there you have it!

With a bit of diligence and perseverance, you’ll soon be able to take your pick of wonderful house sitting opportunities across the globe, and will get to enjoy all the benefits and transformative experiences that come with being a successful house sitter.

If you’ve enjoyed our intro guide, be sure to check out the Further Suggested Reading articles under each section for more valuable information that every house sitter needs to know. Of course you can also find them all in our house sitting blog.

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Happy Sitting!