This article is all about how to find the perfect house sitter. As a home or pet owner, leaving your whole world behind for a vacation can be a concerning, stressful, and expensive time. Wouldn’t it be great to have the perfect person or people in place so you can take off without worrying about the welfare of your property or pets?
That’s where house sitting comes in! Every house sitting listing is different and there is no one-size-fits-all candidate. Each situation can come with a varying degree of responsibilities and requirements that should be factored in when seeking applicants.
Hannah and I have been house sitters over 30 times in the last few years and have received 5-star feedback from them all. We were the right sitters, at the right time, for those listings. Intent to improve and learn more, I always ask our previous hosts exactly how they went about trying to find the perfect house sitter for them.
Where Do I Find the Perfect House Sitter?
Before we get into the how let’s take a quick look at where you’ll find the perfect house sitter. There are many house sitting websites out there – probably more than you think, and you can read all our thoughts on the best house sitting websites here.
Some are bigger than others but come with a membership fee while others can be specific to one particular country. A few websites allow homeowners to list their property for free but lack some added benefits and the volume of applicants that a paid membership with some of the bigger sites provides.
Trusted Housesitters is the biggest platform on the market with annual memberships starting at just $149/year. With thousands of active listings, it attracts the majority of house sitters looking for the right placement. Use BEACHES25 at checkout to save 25%, click here to sign up.
How to Find the Perfect House Sitter
Finding the perfect house sitter can make all the difference when leaving your home and pets while you’re away. Whether you’re planning a long vacation, a work trip, or just a weekend getaway, a reliable house sitter provides peace of mind, knowing that your home and pets are well cared for.
However, not all sitters are the right fit for every household, so it’s crucial to know what to look for to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience. Here are some essential tips for homeowners on how to find the ideal house sitter.
Define and Be Clear About Your Needs and Expectations
When creating the listing for your home be clear about what you want from a house sitter. Don’t pull any punches and be honest about exactly what you are looking for. It may be tempting to sugarcoat or soften certain things but this can lead to the wrong candidates applying.
For example, if your dog requires 3 long walks a day, include this in the listing. If you have an epic garden that needs a green-fingered house sitter in your absence, then say so. Simply alluding to issues rather than stating them clearly will leave a grey area for the wrong house sitters to apply.
Even if you clearly list all responsibilities, you may still get an applicant who tries their luck. Many of our previous hosts have told us about unfit or unqualified applicants. But, if you’ve stated these responsibilities, you should feel free to bring them up during conversations with potential sitters and reject applicants if you don’t feel they will fulfill them properly.
Use House Sitting Platforms
I mentioned earlier in this post about my preferred house sitting platforms. It bears repeating that you should only use reputable house sitting platforms to find the perfect house sitter for you.
We are often sent messages from friends and family who come across house sits posted on social media. But this method of advertising your home doesn’t provide any reference-based security or verified ID checks. It also greatly limits the market while at the same time opening you up to a world of random people.
The top house sitting websites require applicants to be verified and have extensive profiles, reviews, and character references. They provide all the information a homeowner needs to select the correct applicant. Additionally, professionally presenting your home and pets will lead to better applicants and significantly more interest.
Read Profiles, References, and Reviews
House sitting platforms offer all these great features, so be sure to utilize them. Take time to read the profiles and reviews of any applicants. Hannah and I always write a short but relevant application of our intent that hopefully leads the homeowner to take a deeper look at our extensive profile and history of great reviews.
The profile is where you will get an in-depth look at any potential applicants and be able to find the perfect house sitter. If there are issues that concern you, or if you have further questions, feel free to address them with the applicant or move on to another application altogether.
A review-based system and the facts that are presented by a thorough and honest up-to-date profile will help guide homeowners to the right candidates.
Conduct Phone Interviews and Video Calls
Of the 30+ sits that Hannah and I have completed to date there have only been a handful that haven’t required additional communication after applying. This usually takes the form of a video or voice call and it’s a great way for homeowners to get to know their applicants better and make a more informed decision.
As seasoned house sitters, we always welcome a video call. At this stage, we are still finding out information about the listing too. Try to keep things friendly and more like a chat rather than a formal job interview, as that will make some applicants, even the right ones, nervous.
Hannah’s article How to Ace Your House Sitting Video Call was aimed at our fellow house sitters but it contains lots of helpful hints that are relevant to homeowners too. It covers important things that hosts should ask and how best to set up a long-distance or international video call.
Look for Sitters Who Ask Questions
Continuing from the previous point, keep an eye out for applicants who ask questions during the application or interview stage. From my POV, there are rarely listings that answer all the questions, no matter how in-depth it is.
A keen and interested candidate will seek to clarify any uncertainties and learn more about the listing by asking questions. Much like your listing, be honest and clear in your responses.
This back-and-forth exchange not only helps the sitter prepare for the task ahead but also builds confidence, trust, and rapport. A sitter who is curious about specifics is less likely to make mistakes and will be better equipped to handle unexpected situations that may arise
Trust Your Instincts
It’s a cliche I know, but it’s absolutely something I live by. If after an application, a profile review, and a call you still have uncertainties, trust your gut and move on.
Hannah and I learned this the hard way when one of the house sits we accepted was not as advertised. Both of us had misgivings about applying but decided to pursue the glass-half-full mentality and applied anyway. The property photos were very misleading and the pets were a nightmare!
This was an early sit for us that taught us a valuable lesson as house sitters. The same rings true with homeowners and pet parents too. Trust your instincts and don’t settle if you are unsure. This leads nicely to our next point…
List in Good Time and Relist if Necessary
Plan and make your listing live well ahead of any planned departure dates. Most platforms allow you to list a year ahead in advance. I’m not saying you should be this prepared but the more time you allow for applications, the more chance you have to find the perfect house sitter.
Trusted Housesitters allows homeowners to receive 5 applications before automatically taking the listing off the market. This usually provides a nice selection of eager and suitable candidates. However, if you don’t like 1 (or all of them!) reject those applications.
This will automatically relist your home on the website and allow for more suitable applicants to apply. I am regularly alerted by the same listing that is evidently rejecting applicants and seeking better options.
Attract Better Applicants and More of Them
This next section is all about drawing sitters to your listing. I have viewed, considered, and applied for hundreds of house sits, and I know a good listing when I see one. Hannah and I can usually decide on whether to apply after 1 read-through of any listing. Here’s what you need to do;
Show Off
If you’ve got a beautiful home don’t be afraid to show and talk all about it in the listing. Likewise, If there are aspects of your local area that you know people will enjoy, be sure to mention them.
We have turned up at many house sits to find they were even better than we expected. Granted, that was to our benefit but it makes me wonder about the ones we didn’t apply for because the homeowner didn’t show off the great features of their home and neighborhood.
Your listing is your shop window, so make it a good one!
Include All the Benefits
Furthermore, always state if you are planning to include benefits such as the use of a car, bikes, kayaks, climbing gear, skis, a holiday beach house, a cabin in the woods, etc. We have discovered all of these on arriving at previous house sits!
These are fantastic bonus features for house sitters that may be the difference between them applying for your listing over someone else’s. Be sure to include as much detail as possible and take nothing for granted.
The use of a car is a big one that many hosts don’t mention. If you can leave a car, it’s a big help for many house sitters. As international travelers, for us, the cost of hiring a car usually means it doesn’t make financial sense to apply for house sits without one included.
Offer an Extra Night or Two Where Possible
Many hosts are clued into the fact that they don’t want their house sitters arriving on the day they are leaving for vacation. This situation could lead to numerous super stressful situations if the sitter is delayed or has a flight canceled.
Inviting your house sitters a day or so early means a smooth transition and allows for a face-to-face handover. Moreover, for long-term international house sitters, it gives the listing even greater appeal, extending the sit duration and making travel logistics that much easier.
For international house sits Hannah and I always factor in arriving a few days beforehand. But with this comes the consideration of additional accommodation costs. If you live in say NYC or Singapore, a few nights in a hotel before the house sit can be expensive and may put off serious sitters.
Help With Travel Logistics if Possible
An easy perk to include in your listing is an airport, train station, or bus depot pick-up. When arriving in a new city or country, for me, one of the first big stresses is ordering an Uber, finding the taxi stand, or trying to figure out the local bus service to get to where we need to be.
Offering to meet and pick up your sitters is a great way to kick-start the exchange. In return, we always offer to drop off and collect our hosts at the airport when it is their time to depart and return home. It’s a mutually beneficial aspect that goes a long way to smoothing out the house sitting process and saving on costs for both parties.
Post Your Best Photos
Have you ever been searching for an Airbnb and seen photos that instantly turn you off? Well, the same applies to house sitting listings so always take care when selecting your photos.
It goes back to that gut instinct feeling I talked about earlier and I do it all the time. I won’t even click on a listing if the photos show a messy house, an unmade bed (it happens!), completely random close-up shots of a dog’s face, or sometimes no photos of the house at all!
You don’t need professional shots, and you absolutely should not mislead applicants but take the time to take photos of your nice, clean, lovely house. With smartphones, it’s easy to do a great photoshoot and upload it to your profile. Take as many as possible, and again, show off your property!
Sign Up as a House Sitting Host
If you are new to the house sitting or hosting game, sign up for a free Trusted Housesitters account to see what all the fuss is about. You just need an email address to get started and have access to most of the site’s excellent features. Click here to get started with a free account.
Memberships for sitters start at $129/year and homeowners at $149/year which includes an unlimited amount of exchanges. There are 2 higher tiers of membership which incur a slightly higher annual fee but include many excellent and valuable benefits for serious sitters and hosts.
Read all about it in my article – Everything You Need to Know About Trusted Housesitters. Don’t forget to use code BEACHES25 at checkout to save 25% on any membership option. Click here to sign up today.
Conclusion
I hope this article has given you lots of ideas and will help as you try and find the perfect house sitter.
We love house sitting and the many people and pets we have met, and places it has taken us. We rave about it to anyone who will listen. For more advice head to the dedicated homeowner/host page on our website to read more house sitting blogs.
Good luck in your search for the perfect house sitter.
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Owner’s consent given to use all photos in this post.