5 Hot Tips to Start Out Housesitting

These tips are shared by Pledgettes member, Sarah Moe

In June, The Pledgettes hosting a Money Talks panel about Travel. Sarah Moe joined the panel to share her housesitting experience. Sarah leveraged housesitting to reducing her largest expense (housing) while traveling around the world. Here are five tips as you start housesitting.

1. Start with weekend or short housesitting gigs in your area so you can build up your reviews (it’s easier to get housesitting gigs in your area because you can often meet the people before they leave for vacation),

2. Ask for a video call before you commit,

3. Ask what the homeowner’s expectations are when it comes to updates (frequency, photos, text or phone call, etc.),

4. Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ if something makes you uncomfortable or goes beyond the scope of the housesit (i.e. no you will not take their car to the mechanic and wait all day for it to be fixed. You’re a housesitter, not a personal assistant). 

5. Don’t agree to pay for anything for the homeowner. For the sake of the community, understand that this is a win-win situation and if homeowners are asking you to pay for electricity bills or whatever you can gently remind them that goes against the policies of the agency. 

Are you ready to start housesitting? Here’s a link from Sarah that gives you 25% off your Trusted Housesitter membership.