House sitting: how to do it, where to sign up and where you can go
The idea of getting free accommodation, both at home and abroad, seems too good to be true, but with house sitting this is exactly what's on offer.
Ever wanted to experience life in Los Angeles, the Bahamas, New Zealand or Bangkok but put off by the costs? Well, think again.
There is a growing army of people from all backgrounds and ages who pack their bags and disappear for long periods of time, many staying in swanky private homes all around the world.
They do this without breaking the bank by offering their services as house sitters.
What is house sitting?
The trend has boomed over the past decade or so.
It involves looking after someone’s home, possession or even pets while they are away for weeks or months at a time.
What’s in it for the homeowner?
There is also the benefit of having someone around to deter squatters, burglars and other would be intruders, to mow the lawn, fix any problems as they arise, tackle burst pipes and maintain the swimming pool.
In short, keep the place, including vehicles ticking over nicely.
Also, using a house sitter can get around certain home insurance issues, as some policies become invalidated if the property is left unoccupied for extended periods.
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Why become a house sitter?
There is no shortage of pluses for house sitters, too.
First and foremost there is the free accommodation, which could be anything from a suburban semi just round the corner to a palatial mansion just off Hollywood Boulevard or a Tuscan villa with its own vineyard.
In short, the kind of place you could only otherwise dream of staying at.
As a house sitter, you’d have the run of the place, get to immerse yourself in the neighbourhood and experience life as only a local can.
With housesitting no money changes hands. You aren’t paid directly for your services, and don’t pay utility bills.
In many cases, the only significant outlays are the cost of travelling to and from the property, and groceries.
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Something for everyone
Housesitting used to be seen as a job for retired people with a penchant for travel and both the time and money to take off for weeks and months at a go.
However, it’s fast becoming popular with younger people.
Angela Laws, social media manager at Trusted HouseSitters, said: “We’re getting around 100 new properties a week that need a sitter, and increasingly in places such as Fiji, India, Goa and Costa Rica.
“House sitting appeals to people who can work from anywhere there is a reliable internet connection.
“We’re also seeing a lot of people using housesitting in specific places as a way to dip their toes in the waters, before taking the plunge and relocating there for good.”
Students without any ties may consider it a viable way to fund a gap year, while teachers could see it as a cheap way to make the most of their long summer holidays.
Other people may earn an income by renting out their own home, or use house sitting as an alternative to renting in order to save for a house deposit.
For many house sitters it’ll be something they do for a spell, before returning to settle down, get a mortgage and start a family, but for some it can become a way of life.
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Comments
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We sold up in 2014 and became full time house sitting nomads. It's an amazing lifestyle and we have traveled all over the world. It certainly lowers the cost of travel and accommodation but as said in other comments, there are a lot of other costs that have to be considered. It's important as well to understand there are responsibilities, which mean you often can't just go out sightseeing in the same way you would on a vacation. The whole idea behind house sitting is to maintain the pet's routines, so if there are dogs that need to be walked every 4 hours, that's what you do. But you can adapt your vacation and live more like a local, with the added benefit of pets for company! It's all about matching your expectations with the home owner - so make sure you don't over-commit or for example, take on the maintenance of a pool or off-grid property when you don't have the skills. You might say that's common sense, but we produce the House Sitting Magazine for the community, and believe me, we've heard it all! We use Trusted House Sitters too and some of the regional platforms, depending which country we are in. Other good international sites include HouseCarers, Nomador and HouseSItMatch. We keep our travel flight costs down by picking a continent and staying there for up to 6 months so we can travel on domestic flights, or take coaches to different countries. The other thing we love about house sitting is that you get help others experience their own travel adventures when it might not otherwise have been possible.
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I have been house sitting with my husband for nearly 2 years now. We have certainly stayed in some sensational homes from a huge house in a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica overlooking the Central Valley to an ocean front villa in Panama, an Island off Fiji and a penthouse in Sydney Harbour (and lots of others in between) A lot of these houses had their own pools, gyms and even a theatre room. We’ve built up a lot of good references now so quite often get contacted directly from homeowners searching profiles. If you can treat house sitting as a holiday and jet off once a year and are lucky enough to be chosen by an affluent home owner, then great, but normally there is huge competition for the best houses. Recent home owners we had sat for have quoted that they have had anywhere between 25 – 75 applicants. The Trusted Housesitters website in my opinion is the best and it will shows on every post how many applicants there have been already for each a sit. If you are house sitting permanently like us, then it’s not cheap. The quote “you only have to pay your travel” or “how to get a cheap holiday” is really misleading as travel is the most expensive part by far. You also normally have pets to look after too so you can’t just leave the house all day as you would on holiday as they need attending to or can’t be left for long periods. It is unusual to get house sits one bang after the other so you will inevitably also have hotels bills between sits, especially overnight airport accommodation. There are also air fares between countries (which are really expensive) or even flights within big countries like Australia for example. Car hire is a must if you are somewhere that requires a vehicle to get around and or general transport costs. Every house sit you go to you also have to buy your own supplies. You get the accommodation free but have to buy your own food etc. So you need to go to the nearest supermarket and re buy toilet rolls, washing powder, etc. Also all those half packs of butter or few eggs cannot be taken with you and need to be bought again at the next house sit. However hard you try there is always some wastage at every sit. The other big factor is why you have travelled to the house sit. It is of course to visit that area. So you will be going out to places of interest which incur a cost. There is little point travelling to a house sit just to sit in someone’s lounge and not experience anything the area has to offer, isn’t that why you chose the house sit in the first place House sitting has been an incredible experience for us. We could never afford to travel for 2 years if paying for accommodation but it’s definitely not cheap if you want to see the world this way. There are a lot of expenses!
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I have been house sitting with my husband for nearly 2 years now. We have certainly stayed in some sensational homes from a huge house in a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica overlooking the Central Valley to an ocean front villa in Panama, an Island off Fiji and a penthouse in Sydney Harbour (and lots of others in between) A lot of these houses had their own pools, gyms and even a theatre room. We’ve built up a lot of good references now so quite often get contacted directly from homeowners searching profiles. If you can treat house sitting as a holiday and jet off once a year and are lucky enough to be chosen by an affluent home owner, then great, but normally there is huge competition for the best houses. Recent home owners we had sat for have quoted that they have had anywhere between 25 – 75 applicants. The Trusted Housesitters website in my opinion is the best and it will shows on every post how many applicants there have been already for each a sit. If you are house sitting permanently like us, then it’s not cheap. The quote “you only have to pay your travel” or “how to get a cheap holiday” is really misleading as travel is the most expensive part by far. You also normally have pets to look after too so you can’t just leave the house all day as you would on holiday as they need attending to or can’t be left for long periods. It is unusual to get house sits one bang after the other so you will inevitably also have hotels bills between sits, especially overnight airport accommodation. There are also air fares between countries (which are really expensive) or even flights within big countries like Australia for example. Car hire is a must if you are somewhere that requires a vehicle to get around and or general transport costs. Every house sit you go to you also have to buy your own supplies. You get the accommodation free but have to buy your own food etc. So you need to go to the nearest supermarket and re buy toilet rolls, washing powder, etc. Also all those half packs of butter or few eggs cannot be taken with you and need to be bought again at the next house sit. However hard you try there is always some wastage at every sit. The other big factor is why you have travelled to the house sit. It is of course to visit that area. So you will be going out to places of interest which incur a cost. There is little point travelling to a house sit just to sit in someone’s lounge and not experience anything the area has to offer, isn’t that why you chose the house sit in the first place House sitting has been an incredible experience for us. We could never afford to travel for 2 years if paying for accommodation but it’s definitely not cheap if you want to see the world this way. There are a lot of expenses!
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24 November 2017