Housesitting Announcement:

Two simple living, trustworthy, very responsible, easy going, and respectful young adults (who also have been married for 6 years) are seeking housesitting opportunities for certain time periods in 2014-2015 to help homeowners that need short term house watching/loving care while they are out on vacation, sabbatical, adventures, etc…Want to learn more about us? Check out our “about” page here. 

We can:

• Care for pets, specifically well behaved cats and dogs (and or easy to maintain pets, sorry no livestock unless you teach us)
• Travel anywhere (well, almost- if the gig is good)
• Clean up after ourselves, and like ninjas make it look like we were never there

We would consider helping with:

• Small household projects such as yardwork, painting, etc… (you would have to supply the tools and materials)
• Short term (like a week) up to long term (a month or more)

Current Housesitting openings?

Checkout our housesitting page here for our latest openings. 

---

How Did We Start?

During our application process with the Peace Corps, we were originally scheduled to leave at a specific point. To prepare, we planned to quit our jobs and give up our lease. Little did we know that life would throw us a curveball and our leave date for Peace Corps would be postponed. Having already given our letters of resignation and communicated with our landlord of our departure, we were forced to figure out what to do next.

We didn’t want another lease, even month-to-month as it wasn’t as flexible as we needed it to be. More importantly, because we no longer had full-time employment, it didn’t seem economically feasible to pay rent. One of our good friends had been housesitting for years and I asked him about it. He said as long as you were responsible, trustworthy, clean, and didn’t mind traveling, it was a great option. We were intrigued.

So How Do You Find Housesitting Opportunities?

The best way to start is through your various social networks. The more personal the connection the better because these people know you the best and can vouch for your character. The most important thing that homeowners are looking for in housesitters is trust and responsibility. They want to know that they can leave their biggest investment in the hands of others who will care for it like their own. So we put it out there. We emailed, Facebooked, and told people that we were looking for housesitting opportunities. Sure enough, there were people in our own networks that needed this service.

Mutually Beneficial Service

What we love about housesitting is that it matches our values about living simply and intentionally. It provides a helpful service to others and it helps us as well. For homeowners it gives them the peace of mind knowing that someone is taking care and watching their home while away. For housesitters like us, we get an opportunity to travel to a new place and keep our living expenses low (no rent to pay).

Do We Get Paid?

It all depends on the length, travel, and services that people request. Everything is negotiable which is the most important part about the whole process – open, honest communication. Both sides need to agree as to what is expected.

Tips for Housesitters

• The best housesitters are ones that leave the house as if they were never there.
• Have a home base for times when you don’t have a house-sitting opportunity.
• Travel light. Don’t bring a lot. Some things to consider: your own sheets, cooking pans, etc…
• Get a list of everything the homeowner would like you to do. Negotiate. Don’t feel that you have to agree to every request. Communicate.
• Use your social networks and referred connections for opportunities. Use certain websites to connect with people outside your personal networks like House Carers. 

Tips For Homeowners

• Do your own vetting of housesitters. Ask for references. Meet/interview ahead of time to feel comfortable with the person(s).
• Do a walk through with the housesitters in person if possible.
• Write down everything you would like housesitters to help with. Be flexible on negotiating requests.
• Provide training and or specific information for complex requests like pet care, cleaning, etc…

Hope this short guide helps anyone who wants to know more about housesitting. Is it a perfect system? No. Has there been challenges? Yes. Michelle and I constantly have to reach out and ask people to find our next housesitting opportunity. We are VERY intentional about who we house-sit for and what is asked of us. We believe that housesitting should and is mutually beneficial for both homeowners and housesitters. It’s not for everyone. But it does support the values of simple, intentional, community, and service.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to use our connect page or comment below.

J&M