House sitters

Hi
Can you advise what agencies did you use as we have not done it before
Thanks
Greg& Leonie

We have used several of the web based house sitter sites & have only had good experiences. On returning home, the house & grounds have always looked as if we had walked out the day before, in fact one sitter even managed to dispose of a stillborn calf!
Most sitters seem to have been police checked & have references, you normally need to look early as most of them, read the good ones, are booked well in advance.
When we leave, we impose no restrictions, we don't charge them or expect any contribution to power, gas etc, as some meaner home owners do.
We appreciate the service that they offer on a no charge basis.
Our aging Golden Retriever is much, much happier being looked after & walked in his own environment.

We have house and farm sat for quite a few people/pets over the last four years in Queensland, North Queensland and NSW.
We are registered on http://www.housecarers.com
People who want to house sit must pay to register their interest home owners do not have to pay. I suggest you register your home and the approximate start and finish times with at least two of the sites mentioned in replies to your request for information. Set out what you want the House Carers to do and details of your community and nearest town etc. Go onto the sites mentioned and look at what other home owners have said in their adds. We do NOT pay for power, rent or heating and we use our own phones and internet connections, we garden, mow lawns and generally keep your home the way you would.
When people reply to your add you get a description of who they are and their background. For example we mention that I'm a retired JP and Real Estate Agent from Queensland and my wife is a retired School Teacher and University Administrator and that we both have Blue Cards which enables us to work with children and have therefore had RECENT Police checks.
Good luck, place your adds about three to four months before you require sitters
PeterM

We have house sat several times in Byron Bay (multiple times up to 3 months a time), Melbourne (6 months), Wellington NZ (3 weeks), Bribie Is QLD (3 weeks), plus one or two more. We got all these by word of mouth except for the Melbourne one that was a post on Exploroz several years ago.

We are looking at house sitting a lot more in a couple of years time when I retire so am interested in sites.

The hardest bit is the first one, then you have a reference and it is easy after that.

Treat the house as though your own, follow any instructions to the letter, leave the place as you found it - and you will have no problems, all easy stuff. We have made life long friends from some of our house sit owners.

We have also met a couple in QLD that have house sat for 5 years now in various parts of the country. A relative of mine is still house sitting after 10 months waiting for his house to be built in NZ.

It is the way to go.

As for your first reference problem, have you ever looked after a house for a friend or relative while they have been away - if you have, you have been a house sitter and get them to do a reference for you.

The two sites I am looking at are aussiehousesitters which charges $65 per year and free for home owners. The other is housesitters which charge $5 per intro, but imply that some areas might cost more. They are both .com.au

All the others I have found charge by zones. It can be $150 to $400 or $500 per year per zone !! You might need 4 or 5 zones to cover a state.

I have not found an Australian chat forum yet... I might start one :)

No, I have not done any sitting at all. But I was thinking maybe applying for a few small sits, like 2 or 3 days. Maybe the owners would be less fussy about refs when it's only a couple of days. Then I get the start I need :)

I think the sitters need to be a little fussy too... I was reading a listing for a house not far from me (less than an hour away). They are only going away for 4 weeks, yet the list of things they want done... Lawns mowed, gardens weeded, gutters cleaned, mail collected etc, etc and some small house repairs done...In return the sitter will need their own caravan or they can pitch a tent in the driveway !! because they will not be allowed inside the house !! Just to top it off, their house is only a 15 minute drive to 2 completely free camping grounds...

We have only done minor chores when house sitting. Mow lawns, watering gardens if required, feed and excercise animals (good for me walking dogs), mail and the usual house cleaning that you would do anyway. We have always been in the house and the Melbourne one, we had the use of their cars which we did not need but used them once a week to keep the batteries charged.

Once we paid power and phone - I took photos of the power meter before and after.

Remember it is a pain if you have a long house sit and there are animals, you have to be there every feeding time and night which is a bind when in the area for several months.

Tell me about it...I have got an 18 month old kelpie :) Five walks a day... Feeding is exactly 4pm every day. It will be 5pm when DS starts.

That is one of the main reasons I want to wait a year or so more. So he grows out of the puppy stage a bit...Kelpies just go and go and go.

Sure, I fully expect some chores. The normal things like cleaning and collecting mail, lawns etc. But I tell ya when I read camping in the driveway, gutters cleared and minor house repairs, I almost fell of my perch...:)

I also read one, I think on the north coast, that offered a car. Along with a fully furnish bed room and a second room incase the sitter wanted to have visitors during their stay !!

From what I have seen so far, I think there are quite a lot of good sitting opportunities...But scattered in amongst them are some home owners with rather large tickets on themselves...There is a thought, who would be liable if the driveway camper fell off the ladder whilst cleaning the gutters? Or would they need to be licenced to carry out house repairs since they were being paid in kind with free driveway camping? :)

Hi Herbal,
Suggest you don't get too hung up one one home-owner with unrealistic expectations. There are plenty of other homeowners out there looking for good house-sitters.

My thought is that with a dog you may have a more limited range of possible sits. We have a dog and she is one of the reasons why we get house-sitters. However there a several reasons why I would not use a housesitter who wanted to bring their own dog.

The idea of a house-sit is that the house should be cared for as it would be by the owners, at least as far as day to day maintenance is concerned. Bigger one-off jobs (eg painting) would be by negotiation.

When we first used sitters the common practice (as far as we could judge) was for sitters to make a contribution towards phone and electricity. That has changed over the years and now most sitters have their own phone, and we don't charge for electricity or other fuel. We have allowed one sitter to use our old car, but recent sitters
have had their own vehicles, so we just ask for the car to be run occasionally so the battery doesn't go flat. Almost all our sitters have asked if they could have relatives stay for a few days and we have been happy to accommodate that request - and the house and garden has always been spotless and in great condition on our return.

Really its all about being responsible and being flexible and prepared to negotiate. Though I do think that you may need somewhere to go between sits. Which is why grey nomads travelling in a caravan have a lot of flexibility as housesitters.

Cheers,

Val.

Hi Val,

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I have done some reading about dogs and kids. It seems that sitters with kids are pretty much out of the game. But dog owners, although restricted still have plenty available.

I am single. I don't even have a girlfriend. No kids. I am almost 50 and retired ex-defence (injured in service)...More or less I think I tick all the boxes except the dog.

I have read quite a few listings that say a dog is welcome. I have also read some that specifically state no dogs but not that many to be a concern.

It is an interesting and important point you raise regarding other accommodation. I have a plan :)

About a year or so ago, I decided I would like to drive around Australia - again...Then I thought why not make it a ten year trip...So I have been gearing up for it. I am now fully self contained as it were...Two 12 volt fridge/freezers, solar with batteries etc, etc. The only house electricity I now use is for lighting and my 240 volt fridge (which I don't really need to use) and the TV cos the kelpie likes to watch Happy Days (I kid you not). I turned the hot water off 9 months ago and now all my hot water is heated as needed on my gas camp stove. I could walk out the door tomorrow and not "need" for anything other than a place to set up camp.

So gaps between sits would not be a problem for me. But I did say I have a plan... A holiday caravan ! An on site holiday van cost not much more than renting a storage unit and it can be used for 180 days per year (in NSW). 12 months on the road not paying rent or 12 months sitting not paying rent...or just not paying rent...Is more than enough to buy an on site van.

Anyway, I ramble to much and the kelpie says it is soccer ball time!...Whether I like it or not !