House Sitters

Sorry, we are all booked up, till May next year, then we fly out
We are housesitting for a horse and dog, gold coast hinterland
followed by a roadhouse repair run, house sitting for a moke rebuild this year
then alpacas horse and dogs
we are always booked in advance, many returns

when looking,
50 somethings are better than
40 somethings are better than
30 somethings are better than
20 somethings

more experience
the further out bush they come, the better
I don't need vet calls for the stock
a very young person may not even know there is something that may need a vet
we leave the house clean, and usually better mechanical condition than we found it, this time water pumps, horse float, tractor, mower, repaired
just because I like fixing stuff
but we don't dust window sills, ever
 
MTR said:
By the way I used a dog kennel some time ago, we arrived to pick the dogs up one day earlier, well did they get a surprise. The dogs were in bad shape, filthy, locked up in small cage, depressed, it was sad. I knew I would never do this again.

Many dog kennel operators will guarantee play time in open space, walking etc. but the dogs can't tell you whether this actually happened? Imagine being confined in a small area for perhaps 10 days??

Most of these kennels are fully booked during peak/holiday seasons and I think it would probably be hard to manage the number of dogs during this period unless adequately staffed.
These operators also charge extra fees for walks in the morning/afternoon and its not cheap, but how do I know they actually did this?? Clearly I have a major trust issue
Click to expand...

Here are a couple of sites we use, when looking for house sitting jobs.
They are free for home owners.
Check the references.

Leave the housesitters a list of feeding schedules.
Make contact with your vet, to make arrangements for payment (we paid up front for a dog we were caring for...housesitter reimbursed us the $200..grass seed got in his paw, and became infected)
Friends, neighbours they can call if need to.


As Rob said, older couples will be probably best.
They are probably home-bodies like us....our day revolves around the schedule of the animals we care for.
When they don't leave enough dog food, we pay for it ourselves...(fair trade off)

Leave the fridge empty, so they have somewhere to put their food.
After the first year of housesitting, we carry our own internet connection.

http://www.aussiehousesitters.com.au/

http://www.housesitworld.com.au/findasitter.htm
 
Thanks for all the great feedback.

I had a brainwave last night, my g/friend just got back from Europe and I forgot about her house sitter which she highly recommended. She also looked after her dog and a doggy person which is a big one.

PG and KD
I am a neat freak, but at the end of the day as long as its reasonable I can live with this.

MTR:)
 
MTR said:
Thanks for all the great feedback.

I had a brainwave last night, my g/friend just got back from Europe and I forgot about her house sitter which she highly recommended. She also looked after her dog and a doggy person which is a big one.

PG and KD
I am a neat freak, but at the end of the day as long as its reasonable I can live with this.

MTR:)
Click to expand...

Good to know you have sorted it out.

Just ask yourself....At the end of the day, are you looking for a pet sitter, or a house keeper?
 
Do many people do pet sitting/house sitting for 'short' periods of only a month?

My fallback has usually been my mother to look after my dog if we go away, but they have a little furball now which does react well to other pets.

I wouldn't be caught dead putting Russ into a kennel though.
 
CJay said:
Do many people do pet sitting/house sitting for 'short' periods of only a month?

My fallback has usually been my mother to look after my dog if we go away, but they have a little furball now which does react well to other pets.

I wouldn't be caught dead putting Russ into a kennel though.
Click to expand...

Our longest was 5 months, and our shortest was 8 days.

We had a short time frame to fill in between house sits, so the 8 day one worked perfectly for us.

The first year, we didn't have our own vehicle in Australia, so the house owners generally picked us up (and delivered us back) to bus stops, train stations, airports.
....then they all supplied us with a vehicle to drive while we house sat for them.

There will always be house sitters who will not meet your expectations, just as sometimes our expections are not met.
However, we have always enjoyed the experience, even with the 'basic' homes.
It is so much fun to see how other people live.

We send email updates (and pics) to the owners during our stay.
They usually want us to arrive the night before they leave, so they can meet us, show us around, and get to know us a bit.
 
I know this is off topic & 100% understand why people prefer not to use kennels but there are good ones. We went through another 2 highly unsatisfactory ones but I asked around and the one we use now was recommended. They group the dogs & have them out 3-4 times each day in their own group - by size / energy levels. If my dog is there for a week they include a wash. He's been a few times now & they know him, tell me funny things he's done while he's been there & I know he's loved. He's also a bit of a tricky character but they know how to handle him & love him anyway. So yep, there are good ones around.
 
WattleIdo said:
Just wondering what you do between house-sits?
Click to expand...

Our van is set up with a double bed, fridge,& cooking.
We use campgrounds along the way.Try to take different routes along the way.

We schedule our sits to start about a week or so after we arrive in Melbourne.
This year we visited Rob's mum for a week, then allotted 5 days to get to Brisbane, where our first house sit is.We are here until the middle of Nov.

Then we take off for Tennant Creek (Threeways Roadhouse) where Rob will work as a Fixer until about Australia Day..then we have another housesit scheduled in Brisbane area, to start around the first of Feb. We'll stay there until 21 April, then head back to Melbourne, visit Rob's mum for a few days...then back to Canada on 1 May.

While in Canada, I try to schedule our house sits.
 
Paid or unpaid?

I'm assuming longer house sits are unpaid. Short house sits (more pet sits) are paid.

A few years ago I did a friend of a friend a favour by house sitting (dog sitting) for a week over xmas. They insisted on paying me the equivalent of kennel fees to look after the dog/place. Is that normal?
 
serendip said:
I know this is off topic & 100% understand why people prefer not to use kennels but there are good ones. We went through another 2 highly unsatisfactory ones but I asked around and the one we use now was recommended. They group the dogs & have them out 3-4 times each day in their own group - by size / energy levels. If my dog is there for a week they include a wash. He's been a few times now & they know him, tell me funny things he's done while he's been there & I know he's loved. He's also a bit of a tricky character but they know how to handle him & love him anyway. So yep, there are good ones around.
Click to expand...
Hi Serendip, is this close to Sydney?
 
kathryn d said:
We never charge anything.
Click to expand...

Are there pets though?

If I was away for only a couple of weeks and had no pets I wouldn't bother with a house sitter. If I was away for a couple of weeks with pets I would expect to pay. For a couple of week stint you're mostly likely to get a local who still has to pay for their normal accommodation and it's an inconvenience to them. At the very least I'd expect them to help themselves to the fridge, pantry & bar and I'd get them a thank you gift.

If I was away for a few months, or more and no pets I wouldn't expect to pay. I wouldn't view that either was doing the other favour - a bit like most of your sits by the sounds of it.

For very long sits who pays the power bill? I'd probably expect the sitter to pay the power bill if they occupied the house for the entire period of the bill. If they only occupied the house for part of the bill period I'd expect to pay.

For extremely long sits (say 6 months+) I'd expect the sitter (becoming more like a tenant now) to pay for rates, power, water etc.
 
Ed Barton said:
Are there pets though?

If I was away for only a couple of weeks and had no pets I wouldn't bother with a house sitter. If I was away for a couple of weeks with pets I would expect to pay. For a couple of week stint you're mostly likely to get a local who still has to pay for their normal accommodation and it's an inconvenience to them. At the very least I'd expect them to help themselves to the fridge, pantry & bar and I'd get them a thank you gift.
Click to expand...

We've had sitters for 3 weeks and 6 weeks (we had a cat and a dog). We didnt pay on either occasion and there was no expectation that this would be the case.

In both situations, the person was seeking free accommodation. They didn't have normal accommodation in the area, thus why they were seeking to house sit. It was a win win for both parties.
 
Ed Barton said:
Are there pets though?

If I was away for only a couple of weeks and had no pets I wouldn't bother with a house sitter. If I was away for a couple of weeks with pets I would expect to pay. For a couple of week stint you're mostly likely to get a local who still has to pay for their normal accommodation and it's an inconvenience to them. At the very least I'd expect them to help themselves to the fridge, pantry & bar and I'd get them a thank you gift.

If I was away for a few months, or more and no pets I wouldn't expect to pay. I wouldn't view that either was doing the other favour - a bit like most of your sits by the sounds of it.

For very long sits who pays the power bill? I'd probably expect the sitter to pay the power bill if they occupied the house for the entire period of the bill. If they only occupied the house for part of the bill period I'd expect to pay.

For extremely long sits (say 6 months+) I'd expect the sitter (becoming more like a tenant now) to pay for rates, power, water etc.
Click to expand...

All of our sits have included looking after their pets/farm animals.

We never pay any bills..as we are not tenants.
On some ads we do notice, home owners ask for money for bills, whether anyone takes them up on their offers, I don't know.

Currently we are only looking after a horse and a dog.
Next house sit will be chickens,alpacas, horse and 2 dogs.

Other house sits have been pigs,sheep, ducks,chickens,geese, and 3 dogs.

Most people are looking for pet sitters, as that is their primary concern.
Mowing their lawns and having their house looked 'lived in' is secondary.

Many times the home owner will say help yourself to what's in the fridge,freezer, cupboards. We only use their perishables they leave behind (fruits/veggies). On occasion , I will use a spice or staple, that I don't have in our 'travel cupboard'.

We are conservative with our water/electricity/gas usage.
 
We used aussiehousesitters for 5-6 weeks, worked out very well. Young couple who was building at the time and wanted some time away from their parents house, they worked shift work so 90% of the day someone was home which is more than usual anyway.
It's a free service anyway and you just pay the normal bills.
 
kathryn d said:
Our longest was 5 months, and our shortest was 8 days.

We had a short time frame to fill in between house sits, so the 8 day one worked perfectly for us.

The first year, we didn't have our own vehicle in Australia, so the house owners generally picked us up (and delivered us back) to bus stops, train stations, airports.
....then they all supplied us with a vehicle to drive while we house sat for them.

There will always be house sitters who will not meet your expectations, just as sometimes our expections are not met.
However, we have always enjoyed the experience, even with the 'basic' homes.
It is so much fun to see how other people live.

We send email updates (and pics) to the owners during our stay.
They usually want us to arrive the night before they leave, so they can meet us, show us around, and get to know us a bit.
Click to expand...

I actually feel a bit jealous of you! I'm not used to that emotion. It sounds like you lead a very interesting life!
 
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