What Does a House Sitter Do: Responsibilities and Insights

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What is a house sitter and what does a house sitter do?

So what does a house sitter do? A housesitter’s role is usually to care for the pets and the home

What is a house sitter?

The first question we should ask is what is a housesitter? A housesitter is a person invited in as a ‘ live in home sitter ‘ to care for your property and sometimes pets. You may know the term home sitters, or home minders or house minders.

Most of the housesit assignments are related to pet sitting for dogs or cats or other animals. Usually the house sitter will have home. garden and pet care experience to offer you.

You brief the housesitter on how to look after your home and garden and any pets. Be sure to include and note any pets you have at home. As a result once your advert is published you may be surprised by the level of pet care experience some housesitters offer. Many are highly qualified to take care of your pets and animals in your absence.

What does a house sitter do?

Housesitters are people who agree to move into your property as part of their working holiday or sometimes a professional assignment.

But in reality what does a house sitter do?

House sitters care for your home and pets in your absence. Usually you will prepare a guide document with a full briefing on pet and house routines.

They take on the assignment knowing and understanding that it is a responsible role and that your home and pets are their priority whilst they are living in your property.

Home sitters for property security

It is the responsibility of a house sitter, or home sitter as they are sometimes called, to provide care for the property. As a constant presence in the home the sitters will be keeping the home secure in the owner’s absence.

Sometimes the property is at risk if it stands empty for a long period. Most insurance companies will not uphold the home insurance guarantees if the property stands empty for longer than 5 weeks.

House sitters for property management

Therefore house sitter or home sitters play a valuable role in keeping the property occupied. Maintaining and overseeing all the functions and facilities of the home is an essential responsibility.

Only by having a human to manage the property can you make sure that all functions remain in good working order. Should anything go wrong, or if extreme weather causes damage then with sitters on site there will be people to manage the situation. and report issues to the owners.

Property cleaning and maintenance

Cleaning the property and maintaining the garden, or garden sitting is also a regular task for home sitters. There may be a regular cleaner who tends the house regularly. Or the homeowner may ask the housesitter to clean the home. And because of this, at Housesitmatch.com we recommend that you take time regularly to stay on top of the cleaning schedules.

There may be a gardener who tends the garden, or they may ask you as the housesitter to do that. You might mow the lawn and water plants, or even manage the tomato plants, for instance. This is called tomato sitting.

Is there a difference from a professional housesitter?

What does a professional house sitter do? Professional housesitters will need a house sitter jobs salary. If this is a long term professional arrangement there will be a professional house sitter salary per month.

Standard housesitter tasks – what does a house sitter do?

Standard housesitter tasks can vary enormously. You may well be thinking – what does a house sitter do? And do house sitters stay overnight?

How long can a house sitter stay?

The right to stay in a particular location on a house sit assignment depends on a number of different criteria:

National housesit – We recommend no less than 2 nights and no longer than 11.5 months
International housesits – The country where the housesit is located and the passport held by the house sitter
- If you are not from the Schengen region you cannot stay more than 3 months as a house sitter
- You must check the tourist visa requirements of each country before booking your ticket to fly.

What are responsibilities of a house sitter?

Well these standard tasks usually include –

stay in your home overnight for the duration of your absence
basic garden upkeep
keeping the property clean and tidy
feeding and exercising pets
handling post
receiving and managing phone calls.

Include any or all of these tasks in the housesitting assignment. The specific requirements would be outlined by the owner in their housesit listing or advert. If you use HouseSitMatch then these details can be detailed in the written housesitting agreement prepared to benefit both participants.

So what does a house sitter do? Some gardeners are asked to spend time gardening

Do house sitters get paid?

The payment of house sitters will depend on the source of the house sitters and the agreement between the house sitters and the homeowners. It will also depend on the required activities. So we need to ask one more time what does a house sitter do and should it require payment?

House sitters from HouseSitMatch.com do not charge their hosts. They offer their housesitting and petsitting services for free in exchange for free accommodation and an online review.

So what does a house sitter do? You may be asked to clean the pool and water plants

How does housesitting work between homeowners and housesitters?

Housesitting arrangements on Housesitmatch are free for the home owner and sitters. Apart from the cost of registration on the housesitting website no money should change hands between the host (homeowner) and the guest (housesitter).

It works through a collaborative arrangement. That means that a house sitter offers their time, home care and pet minding services for free. In exchange they live rent free in the home.

However, if the sitters incur expenses for pet care and/or essential maintenance then the home owner will recompense the sitters. Include these details in the written housesitting agreement drafted and agreed by the sitters and the home owner. And so the agreement should be drafted and agreed prior to the housesitting assignment starting.

Does a housesitter also do petsitting?

On HouseSit Match we find that most of the assignments posted on our listings are primarily for the care of pets.

And regarding the pets what does a house sitter do?

So if you love pets you are in for a treat. We have dog minding opportunities, cat minding assignments and even rabbit sitting requests among other pet related opportunities.

Petsitting abroad

Some of our petsitting assignments are in various countries around the world. So whether you are keen to enjoy affordable travel by petsitting and housesitting in Europe. You could also try petsitting and housesitting USA and further afield. Take a look.

How do I become a house sitter?

If you would like to become a member, why not register with Housesit Match today? We’ve got two levels of membership – standard and premium.

You’ll need to do an identity verification and a background check in order to become home sitters.

Before you take up a housesitting assignment it is worth reading the Housesit Match House sitter Check List for reference.

You should also read up on the responsibilities of a home sitter to learn what does a house sitter do. You need to make sure you are comfortable with the tasks that await you.

To find out more about House Sitting and Pet Sitting with HouseSit Match, visit our ‘About Us’ webpage.

What Does a House Sitter Do?