Queensland couple Neil McLean and Gai Reid journeyed to Europe to enjoy some authentic travel, ‘living like locals’. The result? They spent 300 days pet- and house-sitting their way across four countries, spending less than it would cost them to live at home. Plus they started a new business, Village to Villa – and even made a TV series about it!
Can you see yourself pet- and house-sitting in a cute little stone cottage in the south of France, with two delightful working spaniels? Or in a log cabin in the Canadian Rockies, complete with a couple of bounding huskies? Perhaps a neat two-bedroom flat in the centre of London, with just a sweet old cat to care for?
Let yourself dream up amazing locations and go for it.
But before you begin writing and applying for pet- and house-sitting assignments there’s a number of things you will need:
The ideal place to start this process is to check agencies online. Go to google and search for ‘pet and housesitting agencies’. The search will come up with pages and pages of agencies in your own country first, then others.
Below is an extract taken from the “How it Works” section on the website of one such agency, Aussie House Sitters (please note, Village to Villa has no affiliation with any site either in Australia or internationally):
“House owners need someone to look after their house and pets while they’re away. House sitters provide this service in return for rent-free* accommodation. It’s that simple.
“House sitting is becoming increasingly popular, and it’s not surprising. The mutual benefits are literally amazing. In terms of cost alone, a house-sitting arrangement can save both parties hundreds of dollars per week – and that’s only the beginning.”
See the list of pet- and house-sitting sites at the end of this feature to help you get started.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential pet/home owner. What do you think would make them choose you?
Trust. This is the number one issue. Remember, the homeowner is leaving his/her/their home and precious pets in your care. They have to judge your suitability, based on what you say and how you appear in your application. Being trustworthy needs to be at the top or near the top of your list.
Reliability. The homeowner needs to know that you will arrive on the appointed date and time. They’re about to leave on holidays or a trip away of some kind, and a last-minute cancellation from you will throw their travel plans into disarray.
How you’ll look after the animals. Experience with similar animals (dogs, cats, birds and poultry, etc) is crucial. For example, most dogs will need walking and, of course, feeding. Cats are a lot easier. More specialised animal skills are needed for horses and farm animals. You will be made aware of these requirements at the time of application.
Your experience at running a home/property. You may have your own home/property and possess the normal knowledge required to run a home. Security is usually the key issue here.
Basic/specialist maintenance skills. Some homeowners will ask for skills in cleaning, basic gardening, mowing and the like – they may have a pool, for instance. Others won’t require you to do anything beyond watering the house plants! All of this will be listed by the home owner, so you’ll know what you’re signing up for.
This is usually one of the basic things required. The homeowner simply needs to know that you have no police action pending or a criminal background. In most countries, you can apply online and for a fee will have a certificate sent to you. Again, it’s about trust.
A great photo of you/your partner/travelling companion is essential. Imagine you were choosing someone to care for your entire home, contents and precious pets while you were away. You’ll want to get a “feel” for them. A simple video presentation is even better. Just do one on your phone!
So many owners commented on our little video – how they “liked how we looked and sounded,” and could tell we were okay! Once you’re established and have references, it lessens the need for a video.
It’s a great idea to write a general application as a starting point. Once you have the main “body” of it down you can use that as the basis for writing an application that is highly customised to a specific situation.
Go with the basics – who you are, where you’re from, a brief background plus any special skills you may have that would appeal to a homeowner.
You may have animals yourself, so be sure to mention them and how much you love them! Remember to include the names of any animals listed and of course use the owner’s names.
Also offer to connect with the homeowner on Skype, Messenger, Facetime or similar. This is very reassuring to an owner.
The more you reveal of yourself and what you’re about, the more info the owners will have on which to base their final decision – and hopefully choose you.
Example application:
Hello Debra and Stuart, my name is John Smith from Sydney, Australia.
My wife and I are in our early sixties, with two adult-aged children. I am a retired police detective and my wife is a former social worker.
We love dogs. Now we are ‘empty nesters’ and have time to pet and housesit, we are looking forward to the opportunity of caring for your home and lovely looking golden retriever, Max. He looks similar to our GR “Prince” who we had and loved dearly for 15 years.
We are responsible home owners and very house-proud.
Now that we have more free time we decided to explore new places.
We feel well-qualified to take on a pet and housesitting assignment. Naturally we can provide background checks and information about us.
We would be delighted to have a Skype or Facetime call with you, so we can get to know each other a little better.
In most of the sites we have visited, there’s usually a search facility available. Filters allow you to narrow the search to specific regions, countries and dates. This is very helpful when you need to travel/house-sit during specific times of the year.
Here’s the exciting part. Draw up a list of idyllic locations and go for it. There is so much power in just starting. A guided missile makes thousands of course corrections during flight, but nothing happens until it is fired!
Here is a starting point with links to pet and house-sitting sites all over the world. These were chosen at random from a google search. Again, Village to Villa has no association with any particular sites, this is purely a guide for you to get started:
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/united-states/
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitters/united-states/
https://www.housesittersamerica.com/
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting…/united-kingdom/
https://www.housecarers.com/house_sitters_by_city.cfm?ci=london&co=England
https://www.sabbaticalhomes.com/OfferedListings.aspx?…1&house_sitting…
www.luxuryhousesitting.com/search-house-sitters.php?location=United%20Kingdom
www.mindahome.co.uk/House/Sitters
We hope this has been helpful for you – happy house-sitting!
Proudly Australian owned and operated