The most important thing for me is that you (the house-sitter) are genuine, honest and totally being yourself, with no airs and graces. All I care about is that you are comfortable with yourself and respect my home and pets. I enjoy reading house-sitter profiles and finding out about people, so tell me about yourself and your interests. Once I like you through your Profile I will then reach out to you and perhaps share my home with you. But I need to warm to you first.

Here are my tips for a house sitter

If you are NEW to House-Sitting… Here is some help with writing your PROFILE and ideas for preparation before you talk to the homeowner.

House-sitter – Prepare before you talk to the owner

• Make a LIST of all the things you’ve done and that you’re good at, that could have some kind of connection to this experience, for example: If you’ve lived /worked in different countries/ professions; had responsibilities: house, pets, children; looked after a neighbours dogs; babysat, love gardening, had unusual experiences…
• Ask people who have known you a long time, to write references for you.
• Ask people you have worked for/with, to write a reference.
• If you feel nervous meeting/ or speaking to a homeowner for the first time, take a deep breath and put a smile on your face. This helps both you and the owner.
• Look in the mirror and pull a funny face, this may seem an odd thing to do but it’ll get you in a better mood if you’re not feeling good.
• Project yourself as the lovely person you know yourself to be.
• Be yourself and natural in your writing and when speaking.
• Realise that, potentially, we are just friends in-the-making, so lets start off that way.

Profile example of us as homeowners

(Lynne & Stuart) and our home (El Nido – The Nest)

We are an English couple in our mid-60s who live in the country, 10 minutes drive from the Port of Mazarron (and the sea) in the Murcia region of Costa Calida, Southern Spain. Although it is absolutely lovely, we have begun to feel trapped.

We bought the lovely finca we live in now, two years ago and were travelling back and forth renovating part of it. We hadn’t planned on living here full time but early one morning, 3 o’clock!… the house alarm we had set up, went off. Our beautiful house was being robbed and we were half an hour away. We moved in soon after this.

This experience, has made us realise we can never leave our house unattended, particularly at night. Hence, we need house-sitters. Alarms don’t do as good a job as having someone on the premises. We’ve had no security problems since we’ve lived here. The property is more secure when occupied.

We have installed a solar system and so have limited electricity which our sitters have to be aware of. Likewise the internet does go on and off at times but for the most part I spend hours on it, particularly on Skype without it cutting out, so its pretty good. We are soon to change our package (August) to one that gives us unlimited data after 12 midnight until 6 in the morning, so that should improve things.

Entertainment at home

We have NO TV but you can watch DVDs on a laptop if you bring one, depending on the power intake, sunshine permitting. It wouldn’t be the same home theater setup you might have back in your home, complete with a fancy Sony HTS350, but it will do for a relaxing night.

If we go out together, it tends to be for up to 4 or maybe 5 hours at a time, usually only twice a week but if we go out separately, leaving one at home, thats fine. Also, I don’t like to leave our dogs for longer than that.

Rural situation

The house next door isn’t occupied and like many old houses in Spain are just left to fall down. Occasionally, the owners, a really lovely Spanish couple, come for a barbecue and weve been invited to join in, they bring all their family, and so we practice our Spanish.

Half of our garden, is laid out as garden with lovely flowers, the back garden which is on a terraced hill is unplanned as yet. Our plans are to build a pool and a garage into the hillside and also a marquee-type structure on the top of the hill which will hold events: Music, Art, Dance etc anything of a spiritual nature.

Stuart is the builder and I am arty-farty therapy oriented. Already we have designed and renovated a beautiful self-catering apartment which you will occupy when you sit for us until we have built a caretakers cabin which is next on the list. The apartment will then be available for short-term lets.

Our Pets

Missy and Brooza, two small terriers that spend a lot of time running around the garden and enjoy the treats they get for not barking at the rabbits, so we get lots of waggy tails cos they want to be good doggies.

At present I don’t take the dogs out because they have rabbit on the brain and we are surrounded by rabbits who sit and I swear they taunt my dogs….Im sure they poke their tongues out when Im not looking!! As you can imagine, our little darlings aren’t that impressed, actually they’re not Stuarts little darlings (cos they dug up the garden).

Due to this, I have been training them to avoid bits of garden and dig outside of those designated areas. I think I’m winning. Part of the house/pet-sitters job will also be checking that they’re not digging up the garden. They have been known to escape in search of a rabbit, but they always come back, no worries.

Our cat, Cookie (Stuart named her Cooking Fat!) has moved next door because the dogs are not her cup of tea. She returns for food and a stroke, morning and night & we get a purr – fair exchange. Our house-sitter should take note!

Our 5 Fish

The pond is now green and the poor fish aren’t cleaning it very well. Were getting more oxygenator plants, so this should get better. You will only need to feed them once or twice a week as they are supposed to feed off the thingies that live in the pond. That’s what the blog on the internet said, and they look healthy enough.

Our Prospective House-Sitter

It will be mainly me who’ll will be reading all the profiles, Stuart is always busy building.  I just shove various profiles under his nose when he eventually sits down, exhausted in the evening and he dutifully reads them and says I don’t know, you choose and so, basically, its me that has to decide.

So… when I’m reading a house-sitter profile, I look for personality, enjoyment, enthusiasm, different life experiences. I’ll note things that you LOVE to do, love of animals, capability to adapt to alternative lifestyles, interest in conservation. You get extra points for FUN and energy. Plus, I read all the references. We would prefer two people and its not really suitable for children at the moment. Its better if our sitters have some life experience. Though not totally essential as long as you’re willing to follow our conservationist route. We don’t waste water or power etc. We do try to be as green as we can.

House-sitter Skills

Gardeners and Assistant Builders as house sitter are a bonus, although as we get older, they will be essential. The plants will need watering. We have small grey-water storage bins for this and pegs for noses as we use old washing up and shower water.

This house-sit is really suitable for people who like to be away from the hustle and bustle. You’ll have time to read, write, paint, sing, dance, play music or similar pursuits.

By Lynne, Homeowner in Murcia, Spain.

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