House Swap Holiday, House Swap or House Sit? What’s the difference and what’s the best option for you? Find out in this month’s HouseSit Match blog.

House-sitting and house swapping – what is the difference..?

Whenever I talk about HouseSit Match, people seem to jump immediately to the conclusion that house swap holidays, house-sitting and house swapping are the same things, which they are not! But you can make house-sitting work just like a house swap holiday. How? Read on…

House-sitting and house swapping – the difference

A house swap (or house swap holiday) is a reciprocal exchange of homes for an agreed period.

A house-sitting arrangement is when you have a house that you need someone to look after while you are away and having a house to reciprocate with is not part of the deal. You get a HouseSit Match registered house-sitter as a pet-sitter and garden sitter all rolled into one! Having said that though, they might have a house they are willing to swap so it is worth asking the question which you can easily do through the SEND PRIVATE MESSAGES facility that comes with your registration. This is effectively an internal email function that you can use to contact sitters or other homeowners and make whatever mutually beneficial arrangements you like.

Tip: Register as both a homeowner and a house-sitter and communicate with both types of registrants. In your house-sitter profile, put it out there that you have a house registered on the site (include a link to it or the profile name) that you would consider swapping. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

NB: If you do register as both you will need to use a different email address for each type of registration to differentiate between the two different profiles.

Legally-approved documentation for your protection

To make you feel secure, check out the range of supporting documents, guidelines and suggested contract templates we have researched and prepared with country-specific legal approval for you here. Part of the HouseSit Match promise is about making you feel perfectly comfortable about handing over the keys to your most valuable and precious asset, your home. We are homeowners ourselves so we understand how important this is that is why we spent 12 months researching and building the HouseSitMatch.com site with this very important consideration in mind.

House-sitting is not something new, it is a concept that has been around for quite some time now. In the past five years it has become much more popular though as a means for house-sitters to travel and avail themselves of free accommodation and for homeowners to leave their homes, pets and gardens in the hands of responsible house-sitters saving them the expense and upheaval of external pet care.

Once you overcome the initial reticence of having people you don’t know in your home, it is quite liberating. The world is in your hands! Really think about how you can make house-sitting work for you. The possibilities are endless.

Test drive house-sitting

Maybe try a short stint, a week or so to test drive how the process works. I know you will be pleasantly surprised. Whether it be, while you are away on holidays, a sabbatical or a quick business trip, you really should consider the benefits of house-sitting. For some it can be a bit of a hurdle to get over but once you do, there will be no looking back! Both homeowners and house-sitters swear by the ease and convenience of house-sitting. It relieves a lot of worries from both sides of the fence.

It is difficult to profile a typical house-sitter because they are all so different. Check out our house-sitters profiles here and you will see there is very good cross section of people in here; singles, couples, different age groups and different reasons for wanting to house-sit. For some, it is about travelling, others to experience a new area in their own country and for others, they might be saving for a big purchase and need to save a bit of money in rent for a while. The common thread is that they are all happy to live in, and look after someone else’s home, pets and garden. It is important to remember that house-sitters will be grateful and appreciative to be able to live in your home. There is no need to go to any extra trouble preparing your home for house-sitters to move in. They take it as it comes. It is all part of the real experience.

Finding a trusted house-sitter to look after your home is only a click away! Join the ranks of the thousands of people who have not only found peace of mind but also new friends. Register here now.

Want to find out more about House Sitting? Perhaps some of our most popular FAQs pages could prove useful!

What is a house sitter?

What is the going rate for a house sitter?