House sitting…hmmm
Pets/house sitting is a service where one maintains a home, property, and pets in exchange for free accommodation. House sits can vary from a few days to a few weeks or in some cases years while homeowners are traveling or working in another area. The appeal of housesitting for homeowners is the peace of mind knowing their pets will remain in their home and be well cared for with the pets’ routine undisrupted. Some house sits require yard work maintenance or minor repairs as well. House sitting appeals to potential house sitters because it offers free accommodation and the ability to live as a local.
While viewing Youtube travel videos, I discovered the “art” of house sitting. I was looking for ways to travel especially overseas and save money. I discovered established and recommended housesitting sites such as Trusted Housesitters and Mind My House. I learned as much as I could about house sitting locally and overseas along with setting up a professional profile. My partner Scott is artistic and knowledgeable about web design, so it made sense that he would set up our profiles on both Trusted Housesitters and Mind My House.
We Love Animals
We are both animal lovers and have been homeowners, owned rental properties, so we understand the responsibilities that come along with caring for animals, home and property. Scott owned land in the Tucson area and raised chickens, pigs, horses, dogs and cats, and their puppies and kittens, as well as having a keen desert sense with Quail, Javelina, snakes and Gila monsters. Also, he is handy with minor repairs around the home. Scott is educated and experienced as an urban planner and landscape architect, so he has extensive knowledge of various plants and maintenance of healthy plants and garden. I have a background as a nurse practitioner in the medical field. Although I am not a veterinarian, I am comfortable giving medications and shots to sick animals. These qualities are appealing and marketable for housesitting.
Setting Up Our Profile
After our profile was set up and we were happy with the layout, photos, and narrative we embarked on exploring area house sits. I thought it would be a good idea to get some experience with a local housesit or two because we know the area and to get a better idea of what the housesit would entail.
Sophie and Finn
We were invited to do a housesit in the North Scottsdale area in mid-September for approximately two weeks. This was a nice housesit to do as our first because we were very familiar with the neighborhood and would be managing Sophie and Finn, two friendly indoor cats.
The homeowner is a lovely retired woman who travels a fair amount and had used housesitters in the past.
She had extensive and detailed notes on caring for her cats as well as veterinarian information and information about her home/neighborhood. She requested that we meet in person for a coffee just to chat and make sure we were all on same page and agreed to the housesitting and caregiving responsibilities. We were chosen for the housesit and the homeowner left for a nice vacation to the French countryside with a tour group.
Sophie and Finn, female and male, are beautiful long-haired, well behaved indoor cats. Both are shy, and were slow to warm up to us, but very sweet and low maintenance. Sophie has some health issues with thyroid and low potassium levels. I gave her medication twice daily: topical ointment massaged into her ears and a gel mixed into her food.
Along with normal chores of keeping a home tidy and indoor plants watered, we enjoyed communicating with Rebecca on how things were going and how Sophie and Finn were doing, along with sending photos of the two. We kept an eye on the outdoors, especially when some wind or rain threatened or occurred, got the trash and recyclables out, picked up the mail, as well as keeping an eye on the irrigation system, outdoor lighting, plants, furniture and grill.
We were not required to do much maintenance of the house or yard work as the homeowner had a cleaning crew that came once weekly and a gardener. Scott and I are clean, non-smokers and organized and like to live in a clean environment, so picking up after ourselves is part of our routine.
So, Maybe We’ll See if We Can Sit and Care for Other Pets…
Our first assignment was exceptional. I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better break-in assignment and comfortable home with sweet, low maintenance pets.
The home was a lovely three-bedroom two bath ranch style well appointed, comfortable and tastefully decorated. The backyard was landscaped beautifully with soft synthetic turf, drought tolerant, flowering shurbs and cacti, and shade trees, along with cozy patio furniture and a state-of-the-art grill at our disposal. We also had use of the community pool and fitness center which had the look and feel of a small country club. Shopping and restaurants are nearby with many more a short drive further. Hiking, biking, swimming and golf to name just a few activities are all very close.
