House sitting is great, but is house sitting the right fit for you? House sitting is all about taking care of someone’s home while they are away, and likely their pets as well. In fact, house sitting is almost always pet sitting. You meet fantastic people and wonderful pets. And you get a glimpse into how other people live, possibly in a cool part of the world entirely new to you. We’ve been house sitting almost non-stop for 14 months, and have gathered in one spot the best questions to ask yourself before seriously considering house and pet sitting. Some of the questions may seem like no-brainers, but some may surprise you.
Can you be flexible?
Flexibility is key to landing and enjoying the ideal house sit. The more flexible you can be with house sit dates and locations, the more likely you are to find a great match and become a top candidate for securing this house sit. And flexibility is your friend throughout house sitting experiences. Sometimes you won’t get a house or pet sit that you applied for. Beginning and end house sitting dates can change. Realize that some house and pet sits in regions with cold winters may keep all or part of their house cooler than you are used to. Water from the faucets can take some time to heat up. When you do a final walk-through/hand-off, there may be new things mentioned. There may be a new task requested of you, or the walk-through is when you realize that they keep their house 10 degrees hotter than you generally do. Or you were really looking forward to using the pool, but find that it’s unavailable for a few days. When you are pet sitting, there may be something unexpected that comes up, and you won’t be able to complete the other things you set to complete that day. Will those kinds of changes make you crazy?
Do you like animals?
Most house sits involve pets. In fact, house sitting IS MOSTLY pet sitting. The more types of animals you love, and love to care for, the more house sitting options you will have to choose from. Many house sitting web sites allow you to filter sits by pets. So if you want to stick with dog and cat sits, you can filter out the sits involving reptiles, elephants, chickens, etc.. The website we use is Trustedhousesitters.com
Can you afford it when an unexpected expense arises?
We are talking about money and time. And we’ve touched on some of the reasons you want to be flexible with your time. But costs are a major consideration as well. What if you become ill and need medical attention? Specific to house sitting, we have found it best to assume that sits will not cover 100% of lodging costs. Why? The beginning or end dates for a house sit change for a variety of reasons on the part of the home/pet owner (e.g. delayed flights, unexpected injuries). And for house sits, unlike some other lodging arrangements, if you don’t have family or friends in the area, you will be dishing out some money for lodging if these dates change. You buy your own toiletries, food and sundries, and make sure folks can come back to some of their comfort brands. Can you pay upfront for a trip to the vet or to help with a utility/propane payment snafu, until you are reimbursed by the owners? What if a new favorite pet toy is broken and not repairable? What if you break a kitchen tool?
Can you be at home in someone else’s home?
If you are a travel virgin, you may be used to quite a few comfort items and don’t even know it. When you pet/house sit, you quickly realize that not everyone has the same kind of spices, pillows, skin conditioner, TV subscriptions, <insert your can’t-live-without item here>. And what about some more common comfort items….some great house sitting gigs do not include a TV, fast internet connection (even if they think they do), microwave or coffee press. And although some house sits come with maid service, some don’t. And everyone does not have the same definition of ‘clean’. Will you freak out if there are cobwebs in the corner? Just sayin’.
Are you a people person?
House/pet sitting involves interacting with a variety of people, living a variety of lifestyles. One of the fun aspects of house sitting is reading profiles to find folks that sound like ‘your-kind-of-folk’. Even so, as you talk more, you will inevitably find some ways that they are not exactly like you. The differences can be pretty mild like maybe they have very specific guidelines for what cleaning products to use where. Or maybe they are not very precise about how some things should be completed and you prefer step-by-step guidelines. Some folks consider their house clean if there are cobwebs in the corner, where you weekly dust your place stem to stern. The more tolerant and flexible you are, the more you can enjoy house pet sitting.
Are you a good communicator?
Most people would appreciate receiving concise text or email updates every day or every couple of days. If its a longer sit, you may sprinkle in a longer, more detailed ‘status report’ midway through the sit. The important thing is to ask the homeowners their preference, and then follow through consistently.
Can you follow instructions?
Homeowners often leave a set of instructions for maintenance chores, including animal & plant care, where to leave the mail, who to call if there is a pest problem. If you came back to your house and found your house sitters had ignored your instructions, would you ask them back?
Are you a detail person?
Before you leave each sit, you want to make sure that the homeowners have all information regarding any maintenance you completed, or any unexpected events. So, if you fertilizer the plants or change the batteries in a smoke detector, make a note of it. If you change an air filter, you can let them know in your periodic update, and note the date on the filter itself. If a pet had a health challenge or there was an issue with the house, you want to describe what the issue is/was, when it happened, and exactly how you handled it, e.g. who did you call, what did you do. The bottom line is, if you do some maintenance or something goes wrong or unexpected, you want to provide the homeowners with some detailed information. That kind of detail can make all the difference.
Where do you fall on the ‘cleanliness’ spectrum?
Either end of the cleanliness spectrum can have its challenges when it comes to house sitting. If you are a slob, perhaps you will not provide a good impression when the folks return to their home. A messy house can translate to mean disrespect. And if you’re a super-clean freak, the house owners may be very happy with how you treated their belongings, but you may have driven yourself crazy getting things or keeping things up to your ‘clean’ standards.
Can you be proactive if things go wrong?
Sometimes things go wrong. A pet has an accident and needs to go to the vet. You break a glass vase, or spill a really nice red wine on an okay white rug. And then there are the plain old miscommunications that can occur between any two people. Don’t ignore complications, address them and correct them. Most house sits involve parties who haven’t known each other too long. Don’t sully the fragile relationship by not being direct and upfront with unforeseen details that might arise during the house sit. Generally, things come to light, so be proactive addressing any complications or issues that arise during the house sit, and communicate with the homeowners to resolve those issues when necessary. When potential house sitting folks look through your your reviews, they don’t want to see any blatant or diplomatically-worded references to poor communication, or miscommunication.
Can you deal with adversity and not let it spoil your entire house sit?
A pet may have an accident (or 2, or 3, etc.) in the house. You might have to walk a dog in weather you don’t love. It might rain all the time. Or be freezing. There might be a beautiful swimming pool, but you can’t use it. Maybe it’s off season and everything is closed, or maybe it’s high season and everything is too busy, or too expensive. All house sits come with pros and cons; try to anticipate them in advance so that you go into a house sit with the right expectations, and the right mindset to deal with the unexpected.
Do people who know you describe you as super sensitive?
Okay, this one is another spin on the flexible and tolerant things. Some great people you can meet house and pet sitting will have a different disposition than you – they may be more abrupt or short when they communicate. They may tell you things that you think are self-evident. Are you a person who lets these kinds of things upset or insult you? Then you may prefer a more insulated world than the world of house and pet sitting. And pssst…..we are happy to report that house and pet sitting is one area where more mature people, aka grey haired people, sometimes have an edge. We have more life experience, and can come with more wisdom and can be less likely to have our feelings on our sleeves.
Can you leave a house better than you found it?
For a longer housesit that does not include maid service, this means giving the house a good cleaning. That may not be fun but it’s a great way to be asked back and to get a glowing review. If you pick up flowers for the house or cook some goodies, it won’t have the same impact if the house itself looks worse than when you came.
If someone runs a law enforcement background check, what will they find?
Some house sitting sites have the option of a kind of ‘clean background’ badge. You pay a small fee to have them run a background check. We haven’t run across any sites for which this is mandatory, but you can imagine, if someone is trying to choose between two house/pet sitters, and one has such a badge, it could be the tipping point.
If reviewing several of these house sitting questions make you grimace or squirm, house and pet sitting may not be for you. Or maybe it’s not right for you right now. Perhaps you’ll want to reevaluate this possibility in the future when your frame of mind and/or circumstances change. However, if you’ve skimmed this and say, ‘This sounds like me!’, check out our other resources.
How To Find Your Perfect House Sit
Before, During and After Tips For Successful House Sitting Every Time
Periodically check back for more resources!