Get a House Sitting Gig
House sitting is a service provided when someone is on vacation or gone from home for an extended period of time. A house sitter charges a small fee for services, or is offered a place to stay in exchange for keeping an eye on a home. House sitting is not a highly profitable business, but it can offer excellent accommodations and/or daily pay for providing responsible care to a client's house and grounds. You can become a house sitter in your native country or abroad, and experienced house sitters can receive free vacation accommodations for watching a house or pet. Getting your first few house sitting jobs can take a while, so it is a good idea to establish yourself, request reviews and referrals and slowly build your house sitting practice. Learn how to get a house sitting gig.
Steps
- Decide what services you will offer.
- Most house sitting jobs require that you do light housekeeping and bring in the mail.
- Other services include pet sitting, garden care, heavy house cleaning and a phone message service.
- Depending on the season, you may also be expected to do some light gardening or snow shovelling.
- The more services and experience you offer, the higher the rate you are likely to be able to request.
- Begin house sitting for friends and family. In order to get good house sitting jobs from strangers, you will need to provide a list of impeccable references. Offer discounted or free house sitting to friends who are willing to be and write references. Reach out to past employers as well to see if they will be willing to write a good reference.
- Ask friends or family members to give pointers after your first few jobs. This will help you to improve your services before you start charging full price. Ask them if they were satisfied with your services and what you can do to improve.
- Make business cards and other advertising materials to show you have a professional house sitting service. Create a free portfolio website on WordPress.com or Blogger.com where you list reviews, quotes from former customers, the services offered and your professional credentials. Hand out business cards to friends, family and customers to refer your services to others.
- Post your services on community classified boards. You can do this in any location where you are available for house sitting. Consider posting free ads on Craigslist and on message boards, although you may also want to pay for small ads in newspapers and online.
- In turn, you should also check local classifieds for house sitters that are needed. To automate this process, you can create a Google Alert on Craigslist that looks for house sitting in your area. Make sure to include the local Craigslist URL and the search terms "house" and "sitting."
- Connect with real estate agents, travel agents and property management companies in your area. Ask them to refer clients, and give them a finder's fee, if they request a percentage. Give them a large stack of business cards that they can give out to clients.
- In this case a finder's fee may be a flat rate or it could be an affiliate marketer percentage. For every referral, you can offer a percentage of 10 percent to the referrer.
- Consider joining a house sitting agency. You may be required to pass a background check and pay a fee before being admitted into the listings; however, the company will be marketing house sitting services directly to potential customers. You can research HouseCarers.com, The Caretaker Gazette and Mind My House.
- The logic in paying a membership fee to an agency or website is that most people in need of a house sitter do not like to advertise too many details about their trip or needs. They often feel safer contacting experienced house sitters, instead of trusting their homes with someone they find in a classified ad. The agency takes on the responsibility of doing a criminal check for the customer.
- Develop a long list of reviews and references before you start to do house sitting abroad. In most cases, this type of house sitting is offered for little or no money in exchange with being provided a place to stay when you are abroad. It's a chance to experience another culture with free accommodation but can come with certain risks.
- Before you look for house sitting jobs, make sure you research the area you want to visit. You should be aware of any language or transportation barriers you might face.
- Negotiate your fee. Many house sitters either post a range of prices for their services or delay all talk of money until they meet the home owners and see what will be required of them. Each house sitting job is a negotiation, so figure out how high and low you are willing to go for each job. With more experience, it should be easier to figure out benchmarks for different stays.
- Create your own house sitting contract. Search for house sitting contract templates online and change the terms to fit your situation. A house sitting contract should be mutually beneficial, protecting both the home owner and the sitter from potential unforeseen circumstances.
Tips
- Leave your business cards or offer an affiliate marketers rate to veterinary clinics, if you plan to offer pet sitting along with house sitting. A high recommendation from a vet can be extremely good for business.
Warnings
- Beware that you should disclose any criminal infractions with a house sitting agency when you apply. Most agencies conduct extensive background checks before they vouch for your services. Clients may also research you, so make sure you have a positive Internet presence before starting to house sit.
Things You'll Need
- Business cards
- Reviews
- Affiliate marketers
- House sitting agency
- Classified ads
- Website
- Membership fees
- House sitting contract
