Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 at 12:32
Lyn, its as Shaker said. No money changes hands, although a few years ago it was customary to charge for power (or a part of the power use) and phone. That seems to have changed over the last few years though.
Having said that, I have seen one or two housesitter sites were the sitters get paid - maybe that's fair enough if the homeowner has special requirements or a lot of work to do - then again I have heard stories from friends who have done sits for no payment but they seemed to work very hard at it. There is a "farmsit" site as well, though Im not sure whether there is some payment involved in that case.
If you Google "housesitters" you will find a number of sites and you can see their rules there. Some sites ask a registration fee from people who want to become sitters. That seems a good idea as it sorts out those who are serious about it. Sitters then are listed on the site with some info about themselves, when they are available etc. As a homeowner we can then choose a few who look suitable, and contact them through the site. Last time I found that I only got a couple of people interested people out of the 20 or so that I contacted (most people don't want to come south in the winter for some reason, and many are booked up 12 months ahead). Then you can have a chat by phone or Skype before making a final choice.
We have a kit of instructions, contact number etc and a son who lives not too far away who can be contacted if the need arises.
Its all pretty straightforward and a win-win for both parties.
Cheers,
Val
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