First off, I’ll start out by saying I use the terms housesitting and petsitting interchangeably, even though one relates to watching a person’s pets while the other may suggest looking after a home. While it is possible to find housesitting jobs that don’t include pet care, they are few and far between. In fact, if you are thinking of becoming a housesitter and hoping to cruise around the world staying in incredible mansions without a thing to do, it’s time to re-evaluate. Below are a few things you may have heard about housesitting and petsitting that should be clarified.
- Housesitting is free!
Many housesitting sites and even other housesitters promote the house and pet sitting lifestyle by saying you can live for free by looking after other people’s homes and pets. Unfortunately, like anything else that seems too good to be true, this just isn’t the case. Housesitting can be a cheaper way to see the world, and it can improve your travels by allowing you a more comfortable place to stay and time with animals, but there are costs involved. First up, is the sites you sign up for. At the time of writing this, the popular sites have the following costs for sitters:
These fees are pretty reasonable considering one sit will save you on accommodation costs well over the price of the membership. But it is still something to consider and budget for.
Another cost is transportation. Unless you are doing a housesit in your neighborhood (which if you’re just starting out, you should) you will likely incur some transportation costs. These may include flights, taxis, airport shuttles, rental cars, trains, and so on. Whenever we find a sit we like, the first thing we do is see what sort of transportation is involved.
If you are traveling and housesitting long term, you will also want travel insurance. While travel insurance won’t cover you if your sit gets cancelled, it will help if your flight is cancelled or delayed, your bags go missing, or you need medical attention.
The final cost isn’t financial, but it does take time and energy to look after animals. If you are planning to petsit while you travel, consider how many hours a day you’ll need to set aside for pet care. Does the dog you are looking after require two long walks a day? Do you need to be home by 5pm to feed a cat? If you work remotely, you’ll need to factor these responsibilities in as well. My thinking is, if you aren’t paying in money, you are probably paying in some other way.
- Housesitting is easy!
Housesitting responsibilities are on a spectrum from “I can’t believe I get to stay here and do nothing,” to “Man, this is exhausting, never again.” Where a sit falls on this spectrum is subjective, and will be determined by your interests, your energy level, and the responsibilities of the sit. For example, I’m happy to look after a huge herd of sheep, but would find a cockatoo or African Grey too difficult. Consider how much work you want to do before applying. In general, dogs (especially lockdown dogs), are more work than older dogs or cats. Reptiles are easier to care for than bunnies. Chickens are easier than horses. Finding out what the responsibilities are in a phone or video chat ahead of time is the best way to decide how easy or challenging the sit might be.
There are also the added responsibilities of the house. Some people require sitters to mow the lawn, shovel snow, chop firewood and so on. Knowing what is needed before you get there will lead to a better sit overall.
I’ll add, just because a sit is challenging, does not mean it isn’t worthwhile. You will learn a lot about pet care, home care, and what you as a sitter are looking for from future sits.
- Housesitting jobs are hard to come by.
There has never been more of a demand for housesitters. With travel restrictions around the world now lifted, everyone who got a pet during lockdown wants to go on holiday. This includes people who were housesitters previously but got their own pets during lockdown. That’s another petsitter off the market and another pet owner looking for a sitter. But that doesn’t mean that these people will hire just anyone to look after their cherished furbabies. Before you start applying for those more challenging sits in far flung places, it’s best to boost your ratings and your experience level. You can get more info on how to get started as a petsitter here.
- You can’t get paid to do housesitting.
The overarching ethos of most housesitting sites is that it is an even exchange between a home and/or pet owner and a housesitter. While there are many instances where this is the case, there are opportunities to make money in certain instances. These include:
-Holidays: Most pet boarding places fill up well before major holidays. Homeowners that wait until the last minute will be in search of a well-reviewed pet sitter and they are willing to pay for the privilege.
-AirBnB: Any homeowner who asks for a sitter to manage their AirBnB should expect to pay for this service. They are making money in this exchange, so you should be too. Unless this happens in a country where you are allowed to work, it isn’t exactly legal for you to be paid, but it also isn’t legal for them to “employ” you without pay. Something to think about.
-Serious reno or pet care: Some housesitting jobs would be better suited for things like Workaway, yet homeowners will also advertise on housesitting sites to broaden their reach. If a homeowner is asking you to do anything beyond basic pet and house care, it could be worth having a conversation about compensation.
Keep in mind that generally speaking, it goes against the TOS for many housesitting sites (particularly Trusted Housesitters) to get paid in exchange for sitting. Others, like the “House Sitting” family of websites, allow sitters to charge for their services. Make sure you are not breaking any terms by asking for compensation if the website you are using forbids it. Better to just pass on that particular sit to stay in good standing with the platform.
A recent article in the Guardian reported on two Australian travelers who were deported from the United States and Canada after disclosing that they were housesitting (for free) in exchange for accommodation, I can’t stress enough that in most cases, your visitor visa will not allow you to work or volunteer in a country where you are not already authorized to do so. Be sure to read the fine print and make a decision regarding petsitting that feels good for you.
- You can’t do housesitting full-time.
Going back to the first myth on this list, I’ll say, you can’t do housesitting full-time for free, but you certainly can do it full-time. It is unlikely that you’ll seamlessly move from sit to sit, so you should expect to put out some money for accommodation and other travel expenses between sits. You can see how much we spent on our first year housesitting full-time here. Housesitting full-time can be challenging and exhausting. As our own housesitting journey progresses, we sometimes choose to put travel first and housesitting second. This allows us to get more out of the experience and spend less time searching for sits or doing sits in places we don’t particularly want to be.
Jetsetting Petsitters 