As novice house sitters we were rather nervous approaching our very first house sit. It is rather daunting moving into a strangers home to care for their pets. Needless to say, it is a really big responsibility.
Fortunately, the home owners were novices too. Previously they had a friend house and pet sit for them. Apparently, this did not end well. From what we understood, the friend turned out to be not a reliable house and pet sitter.
So, the home owners opted to go through the house sitting site Aussie House Sitters and they selected us. Then, as two sets of novices on Aussie House Sitter’s, we successfully worked things out together about how to proceed with the house sit.
Retirees Enjoying Travel Begin House Sitting…Here’s what we learnt on our first house sit:
Our Aussie House Sitting Profile Attracted Lots Of Interest
When we joined Aussie House Sitters we were uncertain what to write in our house sitting profile. But, to our delight, our profile attracted far more interest than we ever expected.
We joined Aussie House Sitters when we were travelling Western Australia, in mid 2017. We were offered house sits throughout Western Australia. We ended up deciding to take a 3 week 2 day house sit in a Perth suburb, on the edge of the Swan Valley Food and Wine Trail.
Meet The Home Owners Before You Begin The House Sit
Initially we communicated with the Home Owners via many emails and phone calls. Then we arranged to meet at the home a few days before the home owners went on holiday. This was invaluable for both us and the home owners. I think we all relaxed once we met and got a feel for each other. This was also an opportunity where we all asked many questions, we were shown around, and most importantly we meet Chloe and Hagrid – two very shy cats.
In the future, we will always want to have some form of face to face discussions with the home owners before locking ourselves into a house sit.
If we are unable to physically visit the home before the house sit begins, then we will organise a Skype or Face Time type interview. If possible, we will try and visit the home owners before the home owners leave to go on holidays.
Get As Much Written Information As Possible About The House And Pets
We were very fortunate on our first house sit. The home owners were very organised. That had everything covered in a lengthy typed letter. Not only did the home owners include their emergency details (vet, friend to contact etc.) they also included details about everything they could think of. Here’s a few examples:
- habits of the cats
- preferences for each cat
- where keys to the windows were stored
- local services they thought we might need
- transport options
We found ourselves referring to this list repeatedly, until we settled in.
Trust The Pet Owners About Pet Care
This may sound silly to say. But, everyone handles their pets differently. This is what the pets are used to and comfortable with. We had to remind ourselves the cats were not our pets and we were short term carers. It is not for us to change the routines that are well established.
At the meeting before the home owners went away we were told the cats did not like to be picked up and cuddled. And this was our immediate instinct. While we felt this was unusual we trusted what the home owners suggested. We let the cats take the lead in approaching us.
The Pets May Miss Their Owners
Animals are emotionally connected to their owners. When the home owners go away for a period of time it is normal that their pets may miss them.
The first two weeks into the house sit we thought everything seemed fine, particularly after the initial settling in period. Then one of the cats began to display a behaviour that really puzzled us. After much consideration, all we could come up with was that the cat was missing their family / home owners.
We did not contact the home owners about the behaviour, as it was agreed we would only contact them in an emergency. We did leave a detailed letter about the behaviour and what we did in response. The home owners much appreciated our letter and were thankful for the initiatives we took.
All Pets Are Individuals
Chloe and Hagrid were incredibly shy. Apparently they were not used to meeting people. But, how they responded to our presence in their home was completely different.
We did not see Hagrid for a couple of days – he went into hiding. This made us anxious. At times we worried he might somehow have escaped. But, Hagrid was simply too scared to come out.
Chloe was timid too, but nowhere near as frightened as Hagrid. In fact, Chloe was soon up on the coach and, at times, willing to rub up against us and receive a pat.
Check The House Sit Location
Firstly, let us tell you, Perth is a fabulous city. It is beautiful, clean, and easy to get around, if you have a car. But it’s not all about the city. Equally important, when house sitting, is the location in the city.
For our first house sit we were lucky to be in a great location, on the edge of the Swan Valley. We also scored a large, near new home, with all the bells and whistles.
We were lucky, as we didn’t consider the location too much. On this occasion everything worked out perfectly. In the future, we will give more consideration to the location.
Check Parking and Caravan Space
When applying for this house sit we mentioned we were travelling with a caravan. We informed the home owner of the full length of our caravan, including the tow bar. Yet, when we arrived we only just fitted our car and caravan into the parking bays. It was so tight, with the tow ball just under the line, and not out onto the public footpath. We decided to tie a red hat onto the tow ball, to make sure no one walked into it.
We would have been in trouble if our caravan and car did not fit into the parking bays. I guess we would have put our caravan into storage if it hadn’t fitted.
Check Public Transport
It was great having a vehicle to explore Perth. Even so, we did regularly take public transport into the Perth CBD. To do this we needed to drive 20 minutes to the nearest railway station.
So, if we had taken this house sit without a vehicle, we would have needed to rely on a local bus service. This would have been very limiting & basically we would have been stranded.
House Sitting Equals Slow Travel Bliss
With a house sit of 3 weeks and 2 days we were able to take our time exploring Perth. We were able spend days at home resting up with the pets, and:
- Explore Perth’s CBD and surrounding suburbs
- Visit Fremantle
- Enjoy the Swan Valley Food and Wine trail
- Travel the Perth coastline
A House Sit May Include A Cleaner
The home owners had a regular house cleaning service once per fortnight. They decided to continue the service while they were away. Of course, we had no objections. And we never dreamed this might occur.
Meet Neighbours
When we arrived with our caravan, no doubt we stood out. Several neighbours watched us park the caravan. So, we took the opportunity to go over and meet them. The neighbours were friendly and shared a few local tips.
Fortunately the home owner had informed all the immediate neighbours we would be house sitting. While we did not speak to the neighbours again, it felt good knowing we could approach them if we had any problems.
Seek Permission To Photograph Pets
On our first few house sits we did not take any photos of the pets. Nor did we ask to take any photos. This was a conscious decision out of respect for the home owners.
Recently, we have joined Trusted House Sitters. On this site we have been encouraged to put up photos of us with pets we have house and pet sat for. Photos speak a thousand words and help the home owners get a visual of you with pets. I can now see the value in such photos. Even so, I will always ask permission from the owners if we can take photos with their pets.
In Conclusion… We really enjoyed our first house sit. Yes, we were nervous and we did experience a few worries. But, overall, we consider our first house sit a great success & we have completed more since.
We hope the above tips and comments are helpful and will inspire others (perhaps you) to give house sitting a try.
What are your thoughts?
What are your thoughts about house sitting? Is house sitting something you would consider trying? If so, what concerns or questions would you be asking the home owner? Have you completed a house sit? If so, what tips have you to share with those new to house sitting? We would love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment.
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Best wishes from Estelle & Greg ~ Retirees Enjoying Travel
A really thorough and interesting post Estelle, I enjoyed reading your about experiences and tips.
We’ve been house sitting internationally and in Australia for almost 4 years and I can say you’ve covered all the topics and some new ones for me.
Thanks so much Sue for dropping by and leaving a comment. We are keen to gain more experience house sitting and then to try our hand at international house sitting. Thanks so much for the inspiration
Enjoyed reading about your first housesit! It’s funny when you look back on your first one and yours sounds like it went perfectly
I chuckled a couple of times as I read about how you went about it. We too have found that the animals settle into new routines at their own pace amd some take lomger than others 🤗🤗
Thank you Dave for your comment. We still laugh about our first how sit and what we experienced and learnt. We were lucky, it did go really well, and it was a great experience. Our confidence has already increased about caring for pets and being flexible with the pets and their routines.
Great read, we have found communication is the key to success with housesits. On the majority of our sits we go to the house the night before and have dinner with the owners, meet the pets etc, most often have stayed the night with the owners. If this is not practical due to space etc we have booked in to a nearby hotel. We have now formed some great friendships and have done return sits for several people.
We have found on several occasions that we haven’t been given any type of storage for our clothes, and have had to empty the wardrobe to make space for our things! strange as when you go on holiday you expect somewhere to hang clothes so why home owners think housesitters don’t need space, I don’t know! So now when asked if there’s anything we need, we always say wardrobe space!
I always leave a meal for the owners when they get back as I personally hate coming home from a holiday and then have to cook!
The more sits we have done the easier it is to read from profiles if we are going to be a match for the owners.
Thank you so very much Kirstina for all your tips. I take your point that communication is the key to successful house sitting. On the two house sits we have completed we were given no storage. So, your suggestion to ask for for at least a little storage space is great. I had never thought of staying overnight with the home owners. We have left fresh fruit and flowers, but I can see a meal would be really appreciated. I hope, with experience, to become better at reading the home owner profiles, so we apply for house sits that are a good match. To date we have been exceptionally lucky. I realise I need to pay better attention to the profiles. Thanks again Kirstina for taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge and experience.
A really useful read with some great tips. Sounds like a great way of seeing the world. Thank you.
Thank you so much Annie for dropping by and leaving your feedback. I appreciate hearing you think you found the post really useful, with some great tips. Best wishes
This is a great informative and helpful post Estelle!
Thanks so much Deb for your comment. I appreciate hearing you found the post to be informative and helpful.
This is really thorough and informative! I enjoyed reading your tips and I am rather inspired to consider house-sitting as an option when travelling. Would never have thought of it otherwise.
Thanks Georgina for dropping by and leaving your comment. House sitting was never on our agenda, until we began travelling full time. Than we began continually meeting other travellers talking about house sitting. So, we decided to give it a go, and now our hope is to become international house sitters. Hopefully, we will do a house sit one day in England.