House Sitting: How to Get Started as a Housesitter

I receive many emails and letters from prospective house sitters asking what they need to do or know to prepare themselves for their first housesitting position. Here are several tips that will help you apply for a house sitting position and succeed as a housesitter. Whether you're a house sitting veteran or beginning the search for your first position as a housesitter, hopefully you will find something useful here:

1. Read the housesitter positions advertised in The Caretaker Gazette very carefully and make sure the assignment is right for you. If you don't think that you are interested in an assignment, please do not waste your time or the homeowners' time by applying for housesitting assignments that you don't think you will accept.


2. Read the details for each housesitter assignment in The Caretaker Gazette and if the property owner asks you to email, fax or mail your resume and references - then do exactly that. If it is not included in the ad, please don't ask us a property owner's email address, telephone number, or other contact information, because we don't have the homeowner's permission to release it.

3. If you are a prospective housesitter and you decide that you would like to run an ad about yourself in The Caretaker Gazette's Situations Wanted section, be sure to include relevant information about yourself - including background, experience, special skills and talents, etc. Be sure your ad includes at least one way (e.g., email address or phone number) for property owners to contact you. If you are interested in a high-end or estate position, you can target your ad to reach our thousands of affluent families and prominent subscribers who utilize The Caretaker Gazette to find qualified housesitters, caretakers and estate managers for their properties.

4. As soon as you feel that you are ready and able to accept an assignment, and your resume and references are in order, please respond to the property owner's ad with exactly the information they are asking for, and do not include additional information unless they have asked for it.


5. Have a one-page resume prepared and ready to send out immediately. The property owner will let you know if he/she wants your resume sent via email, fax or printed out and sent through the mail. Include all pertinent information but keep your resume simple and to the point. Be sure that everything on your resume, especially your contact information, is up-to-date.

6. Have a one-page list of your references prepared and ready to send out immediately - either via email, fax or a printed copy sent through the mail. Anyone who has a clean background, common sense, positive references, and is in good health can be a housesitter. If you have never been a housesitter, your reference list will not include the names of homeowners but will instead include professional references: your employer, doctor, attorney, landlord, etc.

7. Some questions to ask when you are contacted by the homeowners: ask them if they have ever had anyone housesit their home in the past and, if so, request written details of the duties, responsibilities, whether bonding required, animal/pet care, utility payments, garbage collection, emergency contacts, how they would like to keep in touch with you while they are away, etc.

8. After you and the property owner have reached an agreement about dates, responsibilities, compensation, etc., both you and the property owner should sign a written agreement that includes all of the details about the house sitting assignment.