Housesitting
Author’s note: this article, along with several others, is an excerpt from my book, Happy & Homeless, available on Amazon.
There isn’t going to be a lot to this section simply because there isn’t much to say. Most people can figure out how to open a door and not take advantage of people when being paid to do exactly that. The point here is to detail that this is an option that you might not have been aware of till now.
Simply put, housesitting is where someone pays you to watch over their house while they are gone. Most homeowners want to be sure that their possessions are going to be secure while they are away. And if they have dogs and plants, they are going to want to make sure that they are well taken care of and alive when they return. You are functioning in the same ways that the homeowner would if they were present.
The only potential pitfall to getting into this type of arrangement is finding the opportunity. For this, you’ll want to go through one of the certified websites designed for this exact purpose. You can use Craigslist, but I wouldn’t recommend it. With the amount of scams present on that platform these days you are just inviting someone to steal your personal information and get you into a precarious situation. As such, this advice is catered specifically toward utilizing these sites.
Have experience.
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Don’t worry, you have the experience. The point of that statement is to get you thinking about how to prove that to another human being. You’ll need to be prepared to answer their inevitable interview questions about whether you have taken care of animals, lived in a house, traveled, and otherwise been responsible in your life. So, start to think through your mental resume of doing just that. Even if you didn’t grow up in a home or haven’t rented one before, think about how you have maintained an apartment or something similar in the past. Anything that details how you can take care of four walls, a fish tank, and a dog.
Create your resume.
Once you sign up and pay for whatever platform you’d like to use for your housesitting leads, you’ll need to create a profile. Think of this as a mix between your social media and work profiles. You’ll want a picture that makes you look friendly, you’ll want to detail your qualifications, and then explain how you fund your travels. Everyone wants to see anyone who is going to be in their home for even a short time as reputable, employed, and otherwise trustworthy. I am going to assume that you are all these things so do a quick personal inventory and list these qualities of yourself on your profile.
Research the location.
When you do find a place that looks appealing to you, research the place before you respond. You need to see if you are going to like the place, if there are things that you want to do there, and if it is going to be a good fit for you. When you are initially reaching out to the homeowner who has posted the ad you are going to want to add these pieces of information. Homeowners can smell desperation from a mile away. If you are frantically looking for a place to stay this is not going to be the best option for you or anyone else. You want to have a good reason for wanting to be in that particular part of the world. Are there great hikes nearby? Great, you can take the homeowner’s dogs hiking with you. Have you always wanted to live in Italy? Awesome, tell them that. Then they will be comfortable trusting their travel plans to you actually showing up. Know what you are talking about before you even reach out.
Don’t be a robot.
Be yourself. The homeowner is going to grill you over all kinds of details of your life. You’ll have already passed a background check by now so there is a basic level of trust between you, but now you are going to have to discuss the details and prove that you are the reputable person that you say that you are. The best way to do this is to be yourself. Answer in your own quirky way. Tell them about your passions, why you want to travel, why you are leaving wherever you are at that moment. Tell them about your family, your partner, whatever it is that means something to you. This creates a connection where you can also hear about their life and see if that is an environment that you want to be in. By resolutely being yourself, you can also save yourself some trouble down the road because if they aren’t a fan of your personality then you probably weren’t meant to live in that house anyway.
