House Sitting

What is house sitting?

House sitting is when you employ another person to come and stay in your home while you are away. The house sitter will live in your home just as you would when you are there.

Why engage a house sitter?

There are varied reasons why people engage house sitters, mostly it is take care of your homes' everyday upkeep. Mostly it is up to you to negotiate with your house sitter what you would like them to do while you are away. House sitters will...

  • Water the pot plants & garden
  • Take care of your pets so that they don't have to be put into kennels
  • Collect the mail
  • Pick up those pesky brochures and newspapers
  • Take care of the pool
  • Keep an eye on the house

    Recently we heard about friends of friends who had travelled to Europe. A few weeks into their trip, the neighbours noticed that the windows were fogging up. Turned out that the hot water service that was on the roof, had leaked collapsing the ceiling and creating havoc in the house.

    Well these are the things that can happen when the house is empty for a time. Now a house sitter isn't going to stop this happening, however, they can stop the amount of damage by simply calling someone early to come and fix the problem.

    Insurance: in countries like Canada where winter is severe, a house sitter is an essential, with insurance issues after an owner has been away for more than 4 days. In Australia it varies sometimes insurance is voided if the home is empty after a month. But please do check with your insurer, as policies vary from company to company - this is just to give you a bit of an idea.