Making connections: “It’s not what you know…”

You probably know the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” In house sitting this is often the case.

It’s important to register with some of the main house sitting websites, especially when starting out on your house sitting adventures. However, this probably isn’t the only way you will find great house sitting assignments. Networking and word-of-mouth will also produce interesting possibilities as you expand your horizons.

Sometimes the best opportunities come via the most unusual set of random connections, and you never know where these contacts might lead you in the future.

Our current house sit is a great example of this. It was never advertised as we were contacted directly by the people managing the property. They wanted to know if we would be interested in overseeing a luxury holiday resort in Fiji for a month during the off-season, so they could go on holiday. They also had two dogs that would need caring for too.

So how did we secure this amazing house sitting assignment?

As we flew from Australia to Fiji I thought about the chain of events that had led to our connection with Sue and Lloyd, the managers of Serenity Point.

In 2012 I was living on a little island in the Caribbean, just off the coast of Panama. I was planning three months away over the summer in Canada, and needed a house sitter, so I sent out an email to friends and contacts. “Who wanted to live on a tropical island for three months?”

None of the people I contacted directly could actually take me up on the offer, as they were tied down by work and other commitments.

… it’s who you know.”

However, my friend Ryan in Australia eventually put me in touch with Cameron, another Aussie who had time on his hands. A couple of months later Cameron arrived in Panama to take over as I headed north.

I returned three months later to find that Cameron had integrated well into the local ex-pat community and had developed a big group of friends. One of those friends was Sam. She was house sitting my neighbours’ house, and when Cameron departed Sam and I became friends.

By the time my neighbours returned Sam had managed to secure another house sit, looking after a beachfront resort which was closed for a couple of months. The owners of the resort were taking some time off for a well-earned break, and Sam had to meet them to finalize arrangements.

As we were both heading to town on the same day Sam and I shared fuel costs by boat-sharing, and when Sam went to meet the resort owners I said a quick hello, before settling down to wait for Sam to finish her meeting.

A month or two later, when friends came to visit me in Panama, Sam emailed her property owners and asked if it would be OK for her to entertain us as guests at the resort for a night or two. I’d only said a brief hello to the owners, but they were kind enough to give us the go-ahead to stay at the resort, which was closed for business at the time.

Later, when Sue and Lloyd returned from their trip to the States I bumped into them at the local jungle restaurant, and made a point of saying a big “thank you” for allowing us to stay at their beautiful resort. Over the following months we kept bumping into each other and began to build a friendship.

A year or so later, Sue and Lloyd sold up and moved on, but we all stayed in touch via Facebook. When we saw that they had taken over the management of a beautiful spot in Fiji we expressed our envy.

We never expected to be invited to come and look after their dogs, Angus and Bella, as well as oversee the resort and staff during the off-season. So you can imagine our excitement when we realised that their dates fitted perfectly with our schedule in Australia and we quickly secured the dates by booking our flights.

As you build your network of contacts, and as more people become aware that you are often on the lookout for interesting assignments, you too may be surprised by a wonderful offer out of the blue.

We’d love to hear your story in the comments section below. Tell us about a connection that landed you an unexpected house or pet sitting assignment.

Which house sitting website is best?

House sitting platforms compared – If you are new to house sitting or pet sitting, then you’ve probably discovered that you’ll need to subscribe to a website to get access to assignments.

Which house sitting website should I choose?

We compare house sitting websites and detail the best services provided. We review the top 5 international house sitting platforms and give links to some of the country specific sites in popular countries like the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

• Trusted House Sitters
• Nomador
• House Carers
• Mind My House
• House Sit Match

Without doubt Trusted House Sitters is the largest and most popular international house sitting website, with a wide range of assignments in countries around the world.

HOUSE SITTING WEBSITES COMPARED

All of the subscription costs are shown in USD $ unless indicated

www.TrustedHousesitters.com

TrustedHousesitters is the largest and most well known of the international house sitting websites. You will find house sits from all over the world, but they are particularly strong in Europe, Australia and the USA.

They have the most house sitting assignments to choose from. Although they are the most expensive, the huge choice will increase your chances of selection. Home owners are charged the same rate as house sitters for membership – this means that home owners are generally committed to the assignments they list, and less likely to be “testing” the water as can happen on some sites where home owners list adverts for free. If you want to join as both a house sitter and a home owner, the combined subscription is $149.00.

This website is also run as a professional business with a team of 26+ people including a 24/7 customer care team. The website has been improved and updated time and time again over the years.

There are a number of helpful filters, including the option to select house sits that are “family friendly”.

A possible downside for the “newbie” house sitter is that it might be more difficult to get on to the house sitting “ladder” due to the number of members. Make sure you set up “email alerts” and apply to house sits as soon as possible. Spend some time creating a stand out profile and video. Our advice would be to select an additional regional site to increase your chances of selection until you get established.

Definitely one to have at the top of your list. Some of our best house sits have been found through this platform!

 www.Nomador.com

Nomador is newer to the scene but is already gaining ground on the three other most popular sites. This site was originally operated as a French house sitting site called Ilidor. Its French connection means there are still a lot of house sits in France, but the business is now truly global. So, international registrations are becoming much more prolific. We found the site a little more difficult to navigate in terms of pre-registration browsing, but once signed up it is full of great tools and helpful advice for house sitters and home owners alike.

When searching or browsing “available” sits make sure you select “Limit search to house-sits that are still available” otherwise you’ll see all the filled sits too.

The website’s modern design has a unique trust-based identity upload area for passports, driving licenses and other forms of ID. This identity check provides extra reassurance for homeowners. Your uploaded information is not shared and it is disposed of once the verification is complete.

Nomador also has a unique “Stopover” feature where home owners can register to offer free accommodation to members in-between house sits, or simply to build friendships. They also have a filter for assignments that are suitable for persons with reduced mobility. The ethos of the platform is to grow the sharing economy and build “community” – we think they have really succeeded with this!

The rate is the same for both home owners and house sitters. There is also a “Discovery Option” available FREE OF CHARGE which allows new house sitters to apply for up to 3 assignments. This free option extends to home owners too, but with some restrictions.

www.HouseCarers

HouseCarers is another long-standing, highly rated international site, with listings in countries around the world. Definitely worth considering, and the website has had a major overhaul so the user interface is much easier to use and with more features than before.

They have a limited FREE TRIAL although you can’t upload photographs or contact home owners. You will get daily alerts so it could be worth a try just to see what you get offered. There is no charge for home owners on this site.

We secured our first long term sit of 2016 with HouseCarers. We looked after a beautiful luxury property in Australia, with a pool and a fabulous view! We were very happy with their service and the ease of use of the website.

We’ve also negotiated a special 10% discount for house sitters – click here of on the image below.

www.HouseSitMatch.com

HouseSitMatch initially focused on house sits in the UK and Australia but new countries are being added all the time. Their strength in Europe is currently in the UK and Spain.

They don’t have so many house sitting assignments, but founder Lamia Walker, offers a very personal service and their current ratio of home owners to house sitters is only 1:1.5, so your chances of securing a house sit assignment are much higher. There is an option when searching to filter “available sits” only, as the site does show completed assignments too when you first browse or search sits.

The premium subscription is worth the extra money as you can load more pictures and a video. The website offers lots of great resources, has a new member chat facility and we’ve heard that this is a good website to contact if you are interested in family house sits.

Home owners pay the same as house sitters. There are often special offers in the Facebook group, so it’s worth checking there if you are thinking of joining.

www.MindMyHouse.com

This is another good international website that gets regularly updated and improved. The site is inexpensive to join at USD $20 a year and so you’ve nothing to lose really at this price!

It has a good messaging system and a great search system with a useful map locator. There’s lots of relevant information to help you get started and they have some good downloadable resources. Home owners join for free.

There has been some criticism in house sitting forums about people posting sits that are more like Workaway projects than house sits, but as platforms like TrustedHousesitters move towards advertising free trust based house sits only, perhaps this will be the place to find more opportunities that pay.

COUNTRY SPECIFIC HOUSE SITTING WEBSITES

Not all house sitting sites cover international assignments. Some prefer to focus on one particular country, such as the UK, or a region such as Australia & New Zealand.

If you are planning to house sit in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand or Mexico, then you might find it beneficial to also subscribe to one of these more regional websites.

We’ve always found that HouseSittersUK has worked very well for us when we’ve been looking for sites in the UK, and I think if we were looking in Australia, we would definitely look to sign up to a similar site there The “House Sitters” network has sites in a number of countries, but you do have to sign up to each one which can be expensive if you are an international sitter.

Remember that many home owners will have signed up to the larger international sites as well, so you need to weigh up whether you think it’s worth it.

House sitting websites in Australia (including Tasmania)

Australia is a great place to house sit. Many Aussies love to travel and usually for extended periods. This means properties are available throughout the year in some great and often interesting locations and there are more country specific websites here than in most other countries.

If you are an Australian looking to house sit primarily in your home countries then one of more of these sites are worth subscribing to and we would definitely recommend: www.AussieHouseSitters.com

If you are planning to spend an extended period of time in Australia house sitting long term, then we would also suggest you sign up to an Australian specific website.

However, if you have subscribed to House Carers and Trusted House Sitters you will have a large selection of Australian assignments available to you. We suggest you browse the sites of your international subscriptions first, and compare to your country specific selection to see what sort of duplication of assignments exists.

http://housesittingtasmania.com.au/

www.happyhousesitters.com.au

www.aussiehousesitters.com.au

www.mindahome.com.au

www.housesittersaustralia.com.au

www.australianhousesitter.com.au

www.yourhomemyhome.com.au/

And remember that www.housecarers.com are based in Australia, so whilst an international site they have a lot of experience of Aussie house sits and feature many.

House sitting websites in New Zealand

www.housesitters.co.nz/

www.kiwihousesitters.co.nz

House Sitting websites in the USA & Canada

Given the size of America and the number of house sitting opportunities that exist, there are very few country specific house sitting websites available. Although an international site, you will find that TrustedHousesitters has a lot of USA sits available.

This is probably why House Sitters America do so well. They charge only $30 a year for anywhere in the USA. Some sites charge by zones or states so this really is a good deal. The website runs and operates easily using the same format as House Sitters UK, a company we’ve had great personal success with.

House Sitters Canada is the newest addition to the world’s largest network of regional House Sitter sites. For a limited period of time they are offering FREE membership while they build their database of members.

www.HouseSittersAmerica.com

www.HouseSittersCanada.com/

House Sitting websites in the UK

House sitting in the UK is extremely popular and there are two great country specific websites. We are subscribed to House Sitters UK and I find their website really easy to navigate.

We had instant success when we joined up, finding two consecutive house sits within just a few weeks. They have a great instant messaging system, cost only £20 for a year and currently have over 100 assignments listed.

Again, as with Australia, you should compare how many of these assignments are featured on the international websites if you are only looking to house sit temporarily in the UK.

www.HouseSittersUK.co.uk
www.MindaHome.co.uk

House Sitting websites in Mexico

www.HouseSitMexico.com/

With an influx of expats from America and Canada, Mexico is becoming a popular choice for house sitting and assignments are increasing all the time. Destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, Ajijic, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City, Merida and the Yucatan in general, offer year round opportunities.

To help facilitate the growing demand, HouseSitMexico has just been relaunched (2016) with a smart new interface, and the option to select different regions within this large country.

They charge $39 USD for 3 months membership, or $79 USD for a year. Rates are the same for home owners and house sitters. If you are both, there is NO additional charge. Once a member you can use either service.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

House Sitting Magazine – The ultimate lifestyle magazine

House sitting magazine is an unbiased free online publication that is available to download as an Apple or Android app version, or if you don’t have a mobile device, you can read a simple PDF version on your computer. You’ll find lots of informative articles about how to get started in house sitting. Download Issue 1 for the best “getting started” articles or go to the resources page on the website.

Sign-up for our House Sitting online video course for only $47

If you want to learn how to become a successful house sitter or pet sitter take a look at our comprehensive online video course:

This course covers all the techniques used by successful house sitters. We’ll show you all the tips and strategies you’ll need to secure the assignments of your choice time and time again. You’ll discover all the secrets to becoming a credible, well respected house sitter, even as a newcomer.

You can get this course for only USD $47 by clicking this link:

Become a Pro House Sitting Pro and reduce your world travel accommodation

Of course house sitting isn’t just about free accommodation. There are responsibilities that are an important part of the relationship between home owners and sitters. These should never be taken lightly. This course guides you through the process of becoming a professional house and pet sitter, ensuring that the experience is win-win-win – for you, the home owner and the pets!

Or watch our video introduction here:

House Sitting – Introduction to becoming a successful international house sitter

Join our Facebook Group and Reddit Community

You can also join our subreddit where you’ll find lots of useful resources, house sitting articles and a question and answer forum:

https://www.reddit.com/r/housesittingforum/

and our House Sitting Magazine Facebook Group where you can discuss all sorts of topics.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HouseSittingMagazine/

We hope you’ve found this “House Sitting Websites Compared” article helpful – message us if you have any questions – we’d love to help you get started!

House Sitting in the UK

It was tough leaving the USA and even tougher selling the RV, our home for six months while we traveled around the southern states. But now we were back in England looking forward to house sitting in Reading.

I had grown up close by, so it was interesting to see how Reading had developed from my memory of a dingy, soulless town into a vibrant, modern city.

We were looking after an apartment that overlooked a park and the River Thames, just a short walk across the bridge to the city center. We had no car but we really didn’t need one here as the we could almost see the train station from our balcony!

This is one of those house sits that nearly didn’t happen. We were scheduled to look after Karen’s country home and her dogs for three weeks while she traveled. But a personal issue meant that she had to cancel and so no longer needed a sitter. However, she knew that we were flying in from the US and that it was too short notice for us to easily secure another assignment, and so she offered up her second property that was in the process of being sold.

Our house sitting home in Reading

This is what’s so lovely about the house sitting community. On the whole, and I believe because no money changes hands, everything is handled on the basis of trust and respect. People don’t want to let each other down, and Karen was amazing in this respect. When we arrived at the apartment, she’d even stocked up the fridge for us and put the heating on. What great hospitality.

So what exactly is house sitting?

House Sitting is a trend that’s become extremely popular over the last few years. It’s now a recognized alternative to a regular vacation and a great accommodation option for longer term travel.

Some people (and we’re almost in this category), house sit as a way of life. It’s an inexpensive way to visit and live temporarily in different countries and cultures round the world.

Sunny morning on the River Thames

Instead of leaving a house vacant, home owners use house sitters to care for their property, possessions and pets. This can be anything from a few days to a few months, or even longer. By registering on international house sitting websites such as Trusted House Sitters, you can choose properties all over the world to stay in free of charge!

A mutual agreement is put in place where in almost all cases the house sitter is given rent free accommodation in exchange for looking after the property and pets. Over the agreed period of time, house sitters will make sure things run just as smoothly as if the owner were at home.

Ian and I have used house sitters to look after our own properties and we now frequently take assignments as house sitters ourselves.

We live a lifestyle where we travel the world full-time – we’re part of a new group of people described as “Location Independent” or “Global Nomads”.

We have no fixed abode and house sitting allows us to live in many wonderful locations.

River Thames at Caversham, Reading

We spent a three great weeks in Reading, enjoying the last of the autumn sunshine. We took advantage of the hourly bicycle hire, close to the apartment and explored the trails along the side of the River Thames. We also took this time to study for our 150 hour TEFL course, in preparation for our teaching posts in China.

Before leaving we managed to meet up with Karen and her partner and spent a welcome evening drinking beer in a cosy village pub.

Pet Sitting in Birmingham

It was soon time to move on and after a whirlwind visit to family and friends we settled in to our second house sit in Birmingham. We were booked on a TEFL classroom course to compliment our online study and needed somewhere with easy access to the city centre.

The kittens in our care

Once again we found a great house sit. This time we were in a well equipped, renovated Victorian house in Sutton Coldfield, where we spent a week pet sitting for two beautiful kittens. We’d arranged this pet sit from Houston, where we conducted an interview with the home owners over Skype. This is a great way to “meet” the home owners and reassure them of your credibility.

How did we get our house sitting assignments?

We found both of our UK house sits with very little difficulty through www.housesittersuk.co.uk (Use code HSMAG15 for a special 15% discount we’ve negotiated through our magazine).

They have a great website and a very good contact management system. Their charge is only £ 29.00 for an annual subscription (updated 2020) – well worth it when you consider we saved four weeks of hotel and rental charges amounting to well over a thousand pounds!

House Sitters UK Website

And, we saved even more by being able to buy and cook our own food. We also benefited from free WiFi and free utility bills. But the biggest advantage was to be able to live in a homely environment for our stay back in the UK. Having our own space to study and prepare for our TEFL examinations was invaluable. Much as we wanted to spend all our time with family and friends, we knew that we’d never focus on our studying!

House sitting is a wonderful opportunity to get free accommodation while providing a valuable service to pet owners. It’s a mutual exchange and one that we will continue to promote and use over the next few years as we continue our amazing world travel adventure!

You can see our house sitting profile page by clicking here.