House sitters are people who accept the opportunity to swap free accommodation in return for looking after a person’s property. If you are on the road, working as a digital nomad or travelling extensively, then house sitting could be the solution that you need if you want to save money on your travels. You can house sit for any length of time that suits you and your timing – some house sits can and do last for months! House sitting involves keeping a property safe and generally, your presence in the house is what does that rather than being vigilant with a baseball bat!
You’ll put out the trash, water the plants and maintain the general upkeep of the property, including using the best battery powered snow blower to keep the driveway clear through the winter. Some people love to leave their homes for a season at a time, so you could then look after the place for them so they come back to a comfortable house with a cleared drive and flowing pipes. No one wants to deal with frozen ones when they come back from a much needed vacation! So, what makes for a great house sitter? Let’s look at the top skills you’ll need for it.
- You are responsible. When you accept the role of the house sitter, it’s exciting because it means that you can take your travel budget to the next level. But when you accept that role, it comes with a lot of responsibility because you’ll be tasked with taking care of a home that’s not yours. It’s not like an Airbnb or a hotel. But with a house sitting position, you’ll be the one keeping the property clean and well maintained. You have to be able to prioritise safety, security and cleanliness which means you won’t be able to throw big parties. Obviously as someone who’s travelling around just trying to get to know local areas, house sitting is going to be the perfect way to do that because you will maintain that responsibility so that you get good reviews. That way you can keep house sitting no matter where you are in the world.
- You have to be professional. To be successful at house sitting, you have to maintain a strong element of professionalism. Of course, you can kick back and enjoy your stay because that’s what you’re going to be doing when you travel, but you are interested in somebody’s home. It’s your role to make sure it continues to run smoothly, which is why we mentioned things like cleanliness and snow blowing the front drive. The whole idea is to have a home away from home in a new location, so adopting that professional mindset towards it is a good skill to have.
- You must be respectful. When you’re house sitting, you are staying in somebody’s home. The feeling of being in a home rather than a hotel is one of the best things about house sitting. But if you’re going to treat it like a hotel, as if housekeeping is going to come in and clean up after you, then house sitting really isn’t for you. You have to be respectful of the surroundings that you’re in because you’re going to be the one cleaning up after yourself and making sure that the property is in a good condition when you hand it back.
- You should be adaptable. There’s plenty of information given to you about your house sit before you even apply, but things can look very different in the cold light of day. Sometimes postings won’t line up to what you expect when you arrive, so you have to be able to adapt to those potential situations. It’s an important skill to have, after all.
- You should be social. It’s very rare that you’ll take on a house sit where you don’t meet the hosts of the house beforehand. Some hosts like to be able to take over and show you around and give you a rundown of their expectations while you’re staying at their home. You won’t usually have that with a hotel or an Airbnb, you’ll simply use a key box to check in. It’s nice to be able to greet the hosts and get involved in any social situations with the neighbours.You can live like a local whilst you travel.
- You should be pretty flexible. Setting up a house sitting profile online is a great way to capture some house sitting opportunities. You should be flexible about areas though because even though you are travelling you don’t want to limit yourself to just the popular areas you see on TV. You want to enhance your travel capabilities and expectations. That way, you can broaden your geographical horizons where you can. You can even expand your date ranges if you’re flexible with your actual travel plans. This will open up some fantastic opportunities that you may not have had previously.
- You should be pretty organized. A successful house sitting requires active organization skills, and that means that you have to combine the house expectations from the host along with your own. If you’ve planned to arrive on the wrong date, it can throw all the plans up in the air because you have to respect the plans of the people that you are house sitting for. You don’t want to be known as a disorganised sitter because house sitter hosts will be the ones to give you reviews and that can inform whether or not you continue to house sit after your first job
- You should be a proactive problem solver. Every day, you should be taking proactive steps to be good at what you’re doing. Yes, you’re travelling and yes, you’re working away, but you still have a responsibility to look after the home that you’re sitting in. Check with the hosts to see whether or not there are any existing problems that you should be aware of, or if there are any things you’re not allowed to do.
