Not many people know about house sitting, that's why I'm writing this post. I'll try to explain how this works and the pros & cons of this system.
Who would be a good fit for house sitting?
If you are working from home, love pets and plants, are flexible with your routines, and enjoy traveling.
First, let me explain how I came across house sitting. I was living in Australia a few years ago and met a young couple from overseas who told me about it. They had been house sitting for years, so they didn't pay rent and didn't own a home.
What is house sitting?
Basically, it is like babysitting but for houses.
You take care of the house for a period of time, most houses come with pets or plants, and you get to stay and use the house as your own during this time. Some houses even come with a car to use.
In Australia, it is easy to find houses to sit for a long period of time. Maybe you can find a place to stay for 3 months or more, and just after this period, you move to another house. The young couple that I met told me that maybe once a year, they would stay one week in hotels, just when they have to wait between houses.
How does house sitting work?
You need to create an account on a site like MindMyHouse about $20, TrustedHousesitters about €150, or nomador for free.
On your account, you create your profile, and now you can search for houses to sit. After you find a good destination, you can apply to sit there.
If the owners like your profile, they will contact you and organize a video call to get to know you a little bit. If there is a "match," you would live in their home for some time.
My wife and I have house-sat for the following houses:
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A normal house in Australia with a cat for 1 month. Some pictures
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A very good house in Australia in the mountains with 2 dogs (one was blind), a pool, and a car included for 3 months.
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An amazing property in Australia with a gym, pool, tennis court, 4 horses & 2 dogs for a week.
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A Casa Rural (small hotel) in Almeria, South of Spain, with no pets, just cleaning the garden for 3 weeks with a car.
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A two-bedroom apartment with an amazing pool in Marbella, Spain, with 2 lazy dogs for 3 weeks.
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A good house in Central Portugal with 2 huge dogs, car included for 1 month. We got along very well with the dogs and owners, so we did this house twice.
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A normal house in Fuerteventura, Canary Island (Spain), taking care of an olive plantation with automatic irrigation. Our task was to go twice a week to the site and check that the system was working. Car included.
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An amazing home in the middle of Galicia, taking care of 3 dogs (1 old husky and 2 Greyhound) for a month.
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A normal house in Lisbon, with 2 dogs and a unique owner. The property was okay, the dogs were okay, but the owner of the house was special. She was very afraid of everything, believing a bee could kill a dog, so we needed to keep the windows closed. No chemicals were used to protect the dogs against ticks because the dog could die. She only used natural products that needed to be applied to the dogs 3 times per day, which was very time-consuming. The property had a fenced garden, but the dogs could not be outside as it was too dangerous for them.
House sitting is a different way to travel, firstly because it's cheaper and secondly because you have more time to enjoy the surroundings and live like a local.
For us, house sitting has given us the opportunity to stay in amazing properties, great destinations, and get to know wonderful people.
Most people who are open to house sitting are those who have lived in different countries and trust strangers.
Would you stay in a random house ? Would you let strangers use you home and car? Would you trust your dog to a stranger?