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Rent-free, travel the world and be surrounded by pets? Yes, you heard that right!
For my partner, Alex, and I it seemed too good to be true. But in 2023, Alex and I decided to give it a go and haven’t looked back since. We have been full-time housesitting for over a year, and have done overnight stays, up to 2 months long. Cats, puppies, senior dogs, parrots and horses! We travelled the entire coast of Australia on Trusted Housesitters alone, and are still housesitting back home in Vancouver, Canada. Sound intriguing? If you got questions, we got answers.
So, what is housesitting? What’s the catch?
Don’t worry. Read on for my beginner's guide to securing your first housesit:
First off, understanding what housesitting is:
In short, housesitting is where a homeowner wants someone trustworthy to look after their home while they are away. Responsibilities include:
Feed and care for pets
Dog walks and playtime
Water indoor and garden plants
Keep home clean
Recycling and trash out
Bring in the mail/newspaper
Housesitting is easy to start these days thanks to many platforms catering to sitters and homeowners. Although setting up a profile can look a bit different across these various platforms, the concept is the same.
2. Know the criteria to be a housesitter:
Housesitting isn't for everyone. So it's important to decide if you want this lifestyle. You must be a responsible, trustworthy human who doesn't mind living in other people's homes and caring for other people's pets. Housesitting relies entirely on trust, and being sincere when you say you will care for their home and pets with the utmost respect. Communicating with the homeowner and respecting their home and property are essential.
Other important traits are:
Have experience with cats and dogs
Enjoy travel and moving from place to place
Feel comfortable with a variety of cleaning supplies, and cleaning a house
Flexibility in your schedule
Reliable transportation to get from house to house
Flexible work, either remote or finding housesits close to your workplace
Patience, learning new animals, new neighbourhoods and new routines
Good communication and will update homeowner daily if requested
This nomad lifestyle can be amazing, but also tiring. Your accommodation location and duration can be random and last-minute. It's important to have a fallback plan, whether it’s airbnb options, friend's place, or other accommodation options is essential for in between housesits or if a housesit falls through.
Instead of the nomadic lifestyle, you may choose to vacation using housesitting! Choose and confirm a housesit for 1-2 weeks in a new country, or a weekend getaway in a city centre close to you.
3. Choose a platform
I have used 5 different platform at this point, but my favourite so far is one called Trusted Housesitters. We used this in Australia and now here in Canada. Trusted Housesitters is a global platform that is currently in over 110 countries. You can scroll their “map” view and see housesit opportunities around the globe. This platform has been fantastic for us. For starters, all users are verified with a background check. Once setup, every single housesit you book will be covered by their insurance. This is HUGE and not every platform has background checks and insurance coverage, which were essential criteria for my partner, Alex, and I. Ps - click the link and use my code PFBC25, for 25% off your first year's membership!.
Other platforms include MadPaws (Australia only), Aussie Housesitters, Canada Housesitters, MindMyHouse and PawShake. Although these others are alright, none are as user-friendly, internationally renowned or feel as secure as Trusted Housesitters. Feel free to browse around and find one that suits you.
Photo: Snapshot from Trusted Housesitters map of the current postings that were available on July 22nd 2024 (day of writing). Currently, there are 3,000 housesits available in England!
4. Create your profile:
Not going to lie, this is my favourite part. It’s time to create your housesitters profile! There are a few tricks here to ensure you land your first gig. You want this profile to SHINE! Remember, you could be in competition with hundreds of other global housesitters and could have multiple people apply for the same listing. First impressions are everything, but with these tips you CAN land your first sit:
Profile photo: Think business casual. Headshot is best, with a big smile, nice lighting, no sunglasses, and preferably a cute pet in the picture.
About me: What’s your experience with pets? What do you love about dogs? What do you love about travel and housesitting? Introduce yourself, and ensure you display how caring, responsible and respectful you are.
Photos: Trusted Housesitters allows for up to 12 photos, and you have to make them count. We want action shots, demonstrating how THEIR pet will be spending time with you. My top suggestions are:
You walking a dog outside
Petting a dog off leash
relaxing inside watching a movie or reading a book with a pup beside you
You brushing a pet
Playing fetch with a dog
Running with a dog
Selfie with a smiling dog
Some examples of photos on my profile:
You'll notice in my photos that it's always me with pup, Alex with pup or both of us. We're outside, playing, walking, hiking, training, or relaxing TOGETHER. I aim to have 80% of my photos outdoors doing activities with various pets. I try to avoid having the same pet in multiple photos.
NOTE: I see too many people add a photo of just a dog, or just a cat. Do NOT do this. Homeowners want to see YOU interacting with the pets. You may say “But Jeanine, I am doing this solo and don’t have someone to take photos of me!”. Well, you’re going to have to get creative here. Prop your phone on a bench while dog walking and take a few 10-second timer photos. Ask to go for a dogwalk with your friend and their pooch, and have your friend take photos! This part is crucial so don’t be embarrassed to get those photos.
5. Gather external references:
External references are critical to having a solid profile. I would aim to get 4-5 references from friends and family to have on our profile when you start. These will be essential to landing your first bookikng. Here’s a few places to start:
Pet references: Gather all your friends, family and coworkers that have pets and have seen you interact with them. Ask them to write up a quick reference (30-100 words is fine), gushing about how great you are with their dog, Dumpling, or that you’re a fabulous cat whisperer for their kitty, Liz. The more, the merrier.
Landlord references: If you have a landlord reference on hand, add that to the profile. If not, send an email to previous landlords and ask for a quick reference on how you left the rental. This demonstrates that you care about the space you live in, and know how to keep a place clean.
Ask around: Do you have any friends, family or coworkers that need a petsitter? If you know the person and the animal, offer them housesitting services in exchange for a glowing review. Now you have a stellar reference for house and pet care! Did you housesit for someone previously? Get them to write up a short review, too.
A few of our reviews from Australia:
The nice thing about Trusted Housesitters is you can request external reviews and add them to your profile! I believe you have 2 weeks to request up to 10 or 12 reviews. So, as soon as your profile is set up, send out emails to everyone and anyone that might have nice things to say about you and their home or pet. Send out as many as you can here as this is the best foundation for starting your housesitting journey.
6. Secure that first booking!
Set your notifications on for the Trusted Housesitters app, or whichever platform you choose so you don't miss messages. With Trusted Housesitters, you can create an "alert" for a specific location, length of stay and type of animal. When a housesit appears to match your criteria, you get sent an email so you can be the first to apply. The best recommendation here is to check periodically for housesits and apply for all that interest you. Don't be discouraged if a few people already applied! It's still worth a shot.
My recommendation while applying for your first booking, is to create a template that's ready to copy and paste for any posting that pops up. In that template, explain briefly what experience you have, why you love housesitting and add a personal note about this person's pets. ex: "I see you have two golden retrievers! I grew up with retrievers and absolutely adore them".
Let me know if this was helpful, and if more tips for housesitting would be useful!!
Please note that owners have given consent to showing property and pets for my photos.
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