Discover how to become a house sitter in a few steps! Find out how much they make and what you need to start house-sitting for extra income.
Do you enjoy cozy homes and watching over adorable pets? Or maybe you love to travel but want to stay in a house instead of short-term accommodation? You're not alone!
House-sitting may be a great option to look into for extra income that you can get while traveling around. It may even be a fantastic second job.
It's an opportunity to stay in someone's house in exchange for looking after their home and precious pets (if they have any).
Homeowners who want to travel but can't bring their pets with them or would prefer someone to watch over their house while they're away seek reliable people to stay in their home.
There are many opportunities for casual house sitters, or you could become a professional house sitter. Some people even become professional pet sitters!
This article will help you understand how to become a house sitter and how to find the best house-sitting opportunities, so stick around.
House-sitting sounds like a dream gig. You get to live rent-free in beautiful homes! It's important to know the reality of the job, though, because it does require some hard work.
While the owners offer their home as free accommodation, the expectation is that you will look after the home and pets.
This could require hours of feeding and walking the pets, as well as doing basic house duties like cleaning, collecting mail, and gardening. They expect you to treat the home as if you owned it.
Whether you want to be a domestic or international house sitter, the opportunities are endless around the world. Let's start your house-sitting journey!
Income ranges are based on a variety of factors, such as location, type of animals to look after, number of pets, additional skills and experience, and length of stay.
While some may only provide you with free accommodation, others can pay over $100 a day or more. The short stays that only require you to look after the home pay around $25 a day.
Stays that include looking after animals, especially if they're farm animals that require significant work and past experience, will pay much more than this.
Having your accommodation expenses covered is reason enough for many people to try it, but there are plenty of other great reasons to consider pursuing this.
The most basic start to house-sitting would only require you to pay the membership fee of a house-sitting website.
You would need internet access for this, as well. Typical yearly membership fees range from $20 to $150, depending on the type of site you want to sign up with.
Additional but not essential costs would be insurance, pet care supplies, and additional certifications that may help you stand out, such as a pet first aid course.
Insurance costs start at around $50 a month from most providers and cover basic things like property damage. More extensive plans are available.
Pet care supplies will depend on the type of pet and what supplies you need. While many homeowners will already have these items or even reimburse you, having your personal items may help you feel more comfortable.
Pet first aid courses are usually around $100 and can be online or in-person.
Establishing yourself as a professional house sitter takes time, but it's entirely doable with the right mindset. The most important thing is building a positive reputation because it will help you get the most house-sitting jobs!
Finding house-sitting gigs is the first part, but being a great house sitter may just be the most important part of the job.
Other professional house sitters have often been doing it for many years, so convincing someone to give you a try and then showing them how great you are is important when starting.
You can become a home sitter as quickly as you can get your first house-sitting job. For many, this is only a few days. For others, it can take a few weeks or months to build relationships and get into the industry.
There are some tips and tricks to getting your first house-sitting gig to get your foot in the door and start building experience. Securing house sits becomes easier as you become more experienced.
The first steps to becoming a house sitter are simple. The important part starts once you get your first gig and start building your reputation.
Follow these simple steps to get started:
The first step to becoming a house sitter is to build your profile on common house-sitting websites. These sites allow homeowners to seek out potential house sitters based on their profiles.
Plenty of options exist, and some websites are specific for certain skills. If you have specific valuable skills, such as experience with farm animals or maintenance or gardening, then you may find specific websites better for you.
If you have no specific skills that feel applicable, that's okay too! There are many general opportunities available. Even just being a pet owner yourself at some point in your life could be considered a skill for pet owners looking for a pet sitter.
Some of the top house-sitting platforms you should check out are:
On house-sitting sites, you'll be able to look for the right house-sitting assignment for you to start. This may be based on the location or the duties involved with that role.
Start applying for jobs that suit your specific needs.
Eventually, you will get a house-sitting opportunity!
Once you have some experience under your belt, it will be easier to become known as a trusted sitter. With profile reviews from homeowners, you can find paid jobs easier.
In time, you may also narrow down what your house-sitting services are. Maybe it won't include pet sits, or maybe you will specialize in a certain type of pet sitting.
Once you've house-sat quite a few homes, the owners may want to use you outside of the website to avoid fees. You can start your business once you've built this network and avoid the costs of membership fees!
This is also a great way to get more jobs as a long-term house sitter, as you'll be considered one of the highly trusted house sitters!
Here are a few house-sitting FAQs you may find interesting:
You can market yourself as a good house sitter on social media and house-sitting websites. You can also opt for a classified advert in a local paper or stick your advert on public notice boards.
Communication is number one! The best tip for having the perfect house-sit is to communicate well with the homeowners.
They may not want too much communication, but just ask them what they want to know while they are away. Many want photos of their pets to know they're happy and well!
If parts of the house-sitting experience sound fun, but you're unsure of the whole thing, you may want to consider other great gig work opportunities to make some extra money.
There are lots of options for working with families and around homes, including:
Find side hustles, part-time jobs, and gigs similar to this one
