In this article, I will outline how to become a successful house sitter. For the last 5 years, Hannah and I have traveled the world using house sitting websites. It has saved us thousands of dollars in costs and has led to many wonderful extended experiences.
We have over 25 five-star ratings across various platforms but getting started can be a daunting task. Here, I will give you all the tools you need to get going. More importantly, all the information you need to become successful at house sitting.
Let’s get started!
What is a House Sitter? What is a Pet Sitter?
House sitting is a two-way exchange between a host and a sitter. In most cases, if a host is leaving on vacation or is planning to be away from their home for an extended period, they’ll seek out responsible people to live in their home and keep an eye on things.
Often but not always, pets are included as part of the bargain. In this situation, the sitter will be required to carry out the day-to-day functions of a pet parent. This involves feeding, walking, and generally loving whatever pets are staying at home.
Starting Out – Becoming a Successful House Sitter
Here are a few of my top tips for getting started as a house sitter;
Getting Started
- Sign up. In the next section, I will discuss some great house sitting platforms. Sign up for a couple of the best ones and start searching for placements
- Build a profile. All of these platforms have the facility to build an impressive profile. Be thorough, honest, and relevant to appeal to hosts.
- Get verified. List as much personal information as you feel comfortable doing. The more secure you can make a host feel about you, the greater the likelihood of being accepted.
- Learn what’s involved. Read placement listings carefully. Furthermore, educate yourself using the many blogs online about house sitting to ensure you are fully prepared.
- Be realistic. Don’t expect your first application to be successful. It can take a few tries to get a bite especially if you are applying for fabulous far-off popular destinations.
- Build your profile. Consider taking on short house sits close to where you live in order to build 5-star reviews. This will show future hosts that you are reliable and have previously taken verified responsibility for someone else’s home.
Where to Find House Sitting Jobs
So, let’s talk about where you can find house sitting jobs. It’s easier than you may think. There are numerous excellent sites that have been around for a long time. Between them, there are currently thousands of listings just waiting for applications.
Trusted Housesitters
I will rave to anyone who wants to listen about Trusted Housesitters It has been our go-to house-sitting website for 5 years and I couldn’t imagine our life without it. It’s free to sign up and start looking around at all the amazing international house sitting listings.
It’s the biggest platform out there and has a terrific user-friendly website and app that makes the whole process smooth and simple. A quick glance at the app just now shows me that there are over 7500 hosts actively looking for pet sitters globally today. Be sure to also read my previous article – The Top Countries Looking For House Sitters Right Now.
An annual subscription is required to complete exchanges and Trusted Housesitters has three tiered levels of membership. This means you can tailor the cost to your requirements, the cheapest option is $129/year. The top level with tons of added benefits is only $259/year, less than a few nights in an average hotel! Use code BEACHES25 at checkout to save 25% on any membership option, click here to get started.
Mind My House
To become a successful house sitter it’s a good idea to have more than one website in your arsenal. Hosts will generally only list their property on one website so the perfect sit for you may be on another platform.
But paying membership fees can quickly add up so it’s best to go with a decent secondary option that doesn’t break the bank. My secondary house sitting site of choice is Mind My House.
With around 10,000 active users and costing only $29/year, there are plenty of international house sits regularly available for a next-to-nothing membership fee.
Housesitters America/UK/Australia etc.
As well as America, there are individual and specific sites for house sits in Australia, the UK, and Canada.
Lots of listings plus a low annual fee of just $49/year make Housesitters America one the best options as a secondary house sitting resource.
This site is also one of the only ones I have seen that includes options for payment as a house or pet sitter. However, this may be breaking some visa regulations if you are not a citizen of that country. You should approach any payment for international house sitting with caution.
I’ve Signed Up As a House Sitter, Now What?
Great you’ve signed up and started on the path to becoming a successful house sitter. Just be warned, I’ve heard some shocking stuff from hosts we’ve previously sat for about applications they receive and interactions they’ve had with house sitters. Here are a few of the key issues potential house sitters should consider.
Write Personalized Applications
This is an important one and something I have heard numerous times from hosts. A lot of people will blanket apply for available listings and see what comes back. They will send generic emails often getting the town name wrong, the pets incorrect, or even naming the wrong country!
Applicant: ‘I’ve always wanted to visit the UK’
Host: ‘Erm…this sit is for Canada’ Rejected!
Hosts are hot on this, and I’m told it’s usually an instant rejection. So, take the time to write a thorough email application and be sure to get all the details correct. Try and refer to something that may be mentioned in the listing, for example, ‘I see the garden needs watering twice a week and I’m more than happy to do that’.
Including personalized touches like this shows you have read the host’s listing fully and are well aware of the duties and responsibilities required.
Be Flexible
Spending a little can sometimes save you a small fortune. Of course, we have the house sitting website memberships to factor in but also be open to adjusting your plans, budget, and expectations in order to secure longer-term financial benefits.
As an example, Hannah and I were heading to Singapore for a house sit in April 2024. Another sit came up in our alerts but there was a one night gap between the dates. We secured the second sit and by paying for just one night’s accommodation we managed to extend our stay in Singapore by 2-weeks. As luck would have it, a third sit came up after this with dates that lined up perfectly.
Read more about back-to-back house sitting in Hannah’s article – How to Navigate Back-to-Back House Sitting.
Set Alerts
Sites like Trusted Housesitters have the facility with certain membership bands to save searches and be alerted when something matching your specific travel plans comes online.
Users can be very specific about the dates, locations, and even the pets and responsibilities the listing should have before being alerted. It’s a great way to find placements that are more tailored to your specific traveling requirements.
Be Quick
When we started house sitting, Trusted Housesitters had no cap on the number of applications a host could receive. If a good one came online, and we saw it already had 80-90 applicants, we usually gave it a hard pass knowing our odds were pretty slim.
They have since changed this for the better, but it requires sitters to be quick off the mark. Hosts now receive 5 applications before the post automatically closes. You may be able to apply again if they reject one or all of those 5 applicants but if someone good has got in there, I’m afraid that listing is gone.
In order to become a successful house sitter, be sure to use the alerts function and apply as soon as possible.
Be Open to Further Communication
It’s rare that hosts, especially those with pets, don’t want some form of phone/video chat to meet the applicant face-to-face before accepting them as a sitter.
This is standard procedure so a future successful house sitter should be willing, able, and comfortable doing this. I have found they are very rarely like a job interview, which I know can stress many people out. Generally, it’s just a friendly chat to discuss the listing in more detail and put a real face to the application.
Consider Local Sits
Would you hire someone from the other side of the world to look after your home and pets if they didn’t have a reference? Most people would say no and I don’t blame them. This was a quick realization Hannah and I made when starting out. We were applying for some amazing sits but never heard anything back. So, we had a re-think about how to get started.
We come from a small city in the UK that isn’t exactly high on many people’s to-visit list, but we noticed lots of house and pet sitting listings were being posted with minimal applicants. So, we applied to a few, explained we were from the area, and hoped to build our reviews.
Our first 4 sits were within an hour of our home. We secured 5-star reviews for all of them. Our 5th sit was then an amazing ranch in Tucson, Arizona. A dream come true, it even made my Review of 5 Amazing House Sitting Experiences.
Be Outstanding
When you’ve secured a house sit, do an amazing job. Be sure to deliver on the trust that has been instilled in you by the host. It’s a big responsibility not to be taken lightly so deliver an outstanding service that will return a 5-star review to bolster your burgeoning profile.
Every house sit is as important as the last. Remember that as your reviews grow so will your possibilities for extended travel.
Do All Visas Allow House Sitting?
I wanted to mention this because it is something that crops up from time to time.
House and pet sitting is absolutely something travelers are allowed to undertake whilst visiting the majority of countries around the world. Trusted Housesitters have even gone so far as to produce a legal letter template available to all its members outlining why visitors are allowed to house sit in countries like the USA, the UK, and Australia. This can be presented to border guards if ever required.
It is, however, important to remember that the border checkpoints in certain countries, namely the ones I just referenced, can be quite intense places. That’s been my experience many times anyway. So, I don’t openly offer the information that I am house sitting and you’d be wise to do the same.
With international house sits it is often the case that we have a few days by ourselves before starting the placement. We do this to ensure we are not hampered by a delay and stuck in another country while a hungry pet awaits his temporary carers to arrive. This means we can legitimately give a hotel or Airbnb address for the first part of our stay and avoid any confusion as to the purpose of our visit.
Conclusion
I hope this article about how to become a successful house sitter has given you some great ideas for getting started. It can be a little time-consuming at first but doing your research, building an amazing profile, and setting alerts will absolutely pay off in the long run.
House sitting has become a major part of my life. The market is continuing to grow at a significant rate and the opportunities for those that seek them are literally everywhere. Also, be sure to read more about house sitting with our other articles – What to Expect at My First Pet Sitting Experience and How to Travel Without Paying with Free Accommodation (Almost).
Good luck on your quest to become a house sitter. Please get in touch and send us an email if you have any questions about getting started.
*Owners consent given to show property and pets
Like This Post? Pin It!