Anyone used/heard of Housecarers or Trusted Housesitters?

[alexadeparis]

Hey just learning about these two rival websites. Apparently Housecarers is the original and Trusted Housesitters is more recent.

Sounds like the concept is you can have someone come stay at your house and watch your pets for a low cost in exchange for them getting to stay there free. Like a home swap but with pet care. So subject to someone looking to go to where you live during that time.

Has anyone actually used either of these? Its a tempting offer to get low cost pet care, the websites say they "vet" the sitters, but is that a full background check of the people, or just some quick search to make sure they aren't a murderer?

Thoughts?

 

[VacationForever]

I am super paranoid about liabilities and potentially, wage and hour issues, i.e. labor law (not true independent contractors), and hence have not and will not go this route. Just like housecleaners, I only hire through a company who is an employer. I know many people feel that the risk is low in both cases.

 

[bjones9942]

I belong to a couple of house sitting groups on Facebook. At one point I thought I might enjoy doing a little house sitting (it usually involves pet sitting as well) while traveling, but a couple of things put me off of it. First, these groups charge fees on each side. I know they are in business to make money - but for something that I was iffy about I didn't want to fork out a fairly substantial amount of money. Then there were the stories of nightmare home owners, and their conditions and expectations (and in some cases hidden webcams). Some home owners actually tell the house sitter that they'll be responsible for utilities. Sorry, if I'm going to make sure your home is taken care of and your pets as well - you'd darn well be covering the basics. The final thing was that almost all of the listings I was able to see were in locations that would require a vehicle. I'm fine with buses and an occasional taxi - but I don't want to be someplace where I would need a car.

I don't believe the groups I looked into did any kind of background check - it seems to me that getting the membership fee was their way of weeding out people who weren't committed to doing the job. There's also a rating system for home owners to rate the sitters and sitters to rate the home owners. I didn't get as far as seeing if insurance was included for both parties, nor do I remember what the signup contract says about liabilities and responsibility when there's damage.

So I decided staying in hostels and airbnb's is best for me. On the other side - I don't think I'd ever be comfortable letting someone stay in my place without me being there. So automatic watering systems for my plants and an occasional drop-in from a friend works for me.

 

[alexadeparis]

Yeah i am thinking it would be weird to have a stranger in the house but the one website says you get their profiles so you have info on them and can choose or deny anyone you want. I used to have a reliable person but then they flaked out on me less than a week before my month long trip to Hawaii, which left me stressing out and scrambling for a last minute replacement. My husband was threatening to cancel the entire trip which would have cost me thousands of dollars wasted. Now we are moving so even if I wanted to go back to the old house sitter I couldn’t.

 

[isisdave]

DW and I are Trusted Housesitters and are currently on, I think, our 29th sit. This one's near Vail. Most of them have been in Europe, and it enabled us to stay in Europe months at a time, which we could never have afforded otherwise.

From the sitters' point of view, you get to stay in generally nice houses for free. You meet nice people, and nicer animals. Sometimes the hosts lend you their "dog car" to take Fifi to her favorite park or beach. One nice thing is that you get to go to places you'd never heard of, or at least never would have picked. Like Hastings, England for Guy Fawkes day and the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, which was not actually in Hastings but a 10-minute train ride to a town now called Battle. Their home is a 16th century building that had been an inn and was now a B&B.

From the pets' point of view, they get to stay home and continue their routines. For an older animal, this is no little thing. They eat the food they always eat, and don't get intestinal problems when the kennel staff gives the wrong food by mistake.

From the owners' point of view, they know their pets are getting close personal attention. We send photos or videos every other day or so. In Britain particularly, some folks have three dogs, and usually one is old, so kenneling them would cost 100 pounds a day. Their home remains occupied and emergencies are forestalled.

Trusted Housesitters offers background checks, but the best assurance is the reviews clients leave. After you have four or five, it gets easier to get assignments. I do think the price is a little high for the pet owner, especially if you expect to have your pet sat only once, but I buy a lot of stuff I think is overpriced, so maybe that's just the way I think. If you travel a lot, it's a deal, and if you live in an attractive town, you can usually get a sitter on short notice. For sitters, it's a deal, as it's only about the price of one night in a hotel.

DW is a photographer and we usually take and leave a bunch of digital photos when we're done. Sometimes we make dinner for the returning hosts. Sometimes they do that for us on arrival day. We have made many friends from doing this.

We usually have a video chat before the commitment, and sometimes during the sit. Hosts have their friends and neighbors pop in and introduce themselves sometimes. We've never had a bad experience, although sometimes the home isn't as clean as you'd wish.

It is true that some folks think "I'd never have strangers in my house!" and there's nothing wrong with that, either. Folks are different, and we embrace that.

You can ask me more questions here or by PM.

 

[alexadeparis]

DW and I are Trusted Housesitters and are currently on, I think, our 29th sit. This one's near Vail. Most of them have been in Europe, and it enabled us to stay in Europe months at a time, which we could never have afforded otherwise.

From the sitters' point of view, you get to stay in generally nice houses for free. You meet nice people, and nicer animals. Sometimes the hosts lend you their "dog car" to take Fifi to her favorite park or beach. One nice thing is that you get to go to places you'd never heard of, or at least never would have picked. Like Hastings, England for Guy Fawkes day and the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, which was not actually in Hastings but a 10-minute train ride to a town now called Battle. Their home is a 16th century building that had been an inn and was now a B&B.

From the pets' point of view, they get to stay home and continue their routines. For an older animal, this is no little thing. They eat the food they always eat, and don't get intestinal problems when the kennel staff gives the wrong food by mistake.

From the owners' point of view, they know their pets are getting close personal attention. We send photos or videos every other day or so. In Britain particularly, some folks have three dogs, and usually one is old, so kenneling them would cost 100 pounds a day. Their home remains occupied and emergencies are forestalled.

Trusted Housesitters offers background checks, but the best assurance is the reviews clients leave. After you have four or five, it gets easier to get assignments. I do think the price is a little high for the pet owner, especially if you expect to have your pet sat only once, but I buy a lot of stuff I think is overpriced, so maybe that's just the way I think. If you travel a lot, it's a deal, and if you live in an attractive town, you can usually get a sitter on short notice. For sitters, it's a deal, as it's only about the price of one night in a hotel.

DW is a photographer and we usually take and leave a bunch of digital photos when we're done. Sometimes we make dinner for the returning hosts. Sometimes they do that for us on arrival day. We have made many friends from doing this.

We usually have a video chat before the commitment, and sometimes during the sit. Hosts have their friends and neighbors pop in and introduce themselves sometimes. We've never had a bad experience, although sometimes the home isn't as clean as you'd wish.

It is true that some folks think "I'd never have strangers in my house!" and there's nothing wrong with that, either. Folks are different, and we embrace that.

You can ask me more questions here or by PM.

Do you have to pay each time you order a swap or just once per year? The website made it seem like it was a yearly unlimited fee.

 

[easyrider]

DW and I are Trusted Housesitters and are currently on, I think, our 29th sit. This one's near Vail. Most of them have been in Europe, and it enabled us to stay in Europe months at a time, which we could never have afforded otherwise.

From the sitters' point of view, you get to stay in generally nice houses for free. You meet nice people, and nicer animals. Sometimes the hosts lend you their "dog car" to take Fifi to her favorite park or beach. One nice thing is that you get to go to places you'd never heard of, or at least never would have picked. Like Hastings, England for Guy Fawkes day and the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, which was not actually in Hastings but a 10-minute train ride to a town now called Battle. Their home is a 16th century building that had been an inn and was now a B&B.

From the pets' point of view, they get to stay home and continue their routines. For an older animal, this is no little thing. They eat the food they always eat, and don't get intestinal problems when the kennel staff gives the wrong food by mistake.

From the owners' point of view, they know their pets are getting close personal attention. We send photos or videos every other day or so. In Britain particularly, some folks have three dogs, and usually one is old, so kenneling them would cost 100 pounds a day. Their home remains occupied and emergencies are forestalled.

Trusted Housesitters offers background checks, but the best assurance is the reviews clients leave. After you have four or five, it gets easier to get assignments. I do think the price is a little high for the pet owner, especially if you expect to have your pet sat only once, but I buy a lot of stuff I think is overpriced, so maybe that's just the way I think. If you travel a lot, it's a deal, and if you live in an attractive town, you can usually get a sitter on short notice. For sitters, it's a deal, as it's only about the price of one night in a hotel.

DW is a photographer and we usually take and leave a bunch of digital photos when we're done. Sometimes we make dinner for the returning hosts. Sometimes they do that for us on arrival day. We have made many friends from doing this.

We usually have a video chat before the commitment, and sometimes during the sit. Hosts have their friends and neighbors pop in and introduce themselves sometimes. We've never had a bad experience, although sometimes the home isn't as clean as you'd wish.

It is true that some folks think "I'd never have strangers in my house!" and there's nothing wrong with that, either. Folks are different, and we embrace that.

You can ask me more questions here or by PM.

That is a pretty nice deal.

Our trusted pet sitters are family and friends. The one time we left Rex at a pet boarding place he ended up with pink eye so we try hard not to go that route.

Bill

 

[AnnaS]

DW and I are Trusted Housesitters and are currently on, I think, our 29th sit. This one's near Vail. Most of them have been in Europe, and it enabled us to stay in Europe months at a time, which we could never have afforded otherwise.

From the sitters' point of view, you get to stay in generally nice houses for free. You meet nice people, and nicer animals. Sometimes the hosts lend you their "dog car" to take Fifi to her favorite park or beach. One nice thing is that you get to go to places you'd never heard of, or at least never would have picked. Like Hastings, England for Guy Fawkes day and the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings, which was not actually in Hastings but a 10-minute train ride to a town now called Battle. Their home is a 16th century building that had been an inn and was now a B&B.

From the pets' point of view, they get to stay home and continue their routines. For an older animal, this is no little thing. They eat the food they always eat, and don't get intestinal problems when the kennel staff gives the wrong food by mistake.

From the owners' point of view, they know their pets are getting close personal attention. We send photos or videos every other day or so. In Britain particularly, some folks have three dogs, and usually one is old, so kenneling them would cost 100 pounds a day. Their home remains occupied and emergencies are forestalled.

Trusted Housesitters offers background checks, but the best assurance is the reviews clients leave. After you have four or five, it gets easier to get assignments. I do think the price is a little high for the pet owner, especially if you expect to have your pet sat only once, but I buy a lot of stuff I think is overpriced, so maybe that's just the way I think. If you travel a lot, it's a deal, and if you live in an attractive town, you can usually get a sitter on short notice. For sitters, it's a deal, as it's only about the price of one night in a hotel.

DW is a photographer and we usually take and leave a bunch of digital photos when we're done. Sometimes we make dinner for the returning hosts. Sometimes they do that for us on arrival day. We have made many friends from doing this.

We usually have a video chat before the commitment, and sometimes during the sit. Hosts have their friends and neighbors pop in and introduce themselves sometimes. We've never had a bad experience, although sometimes the home isn't as clean as you'd wish.

It is true that some folks think "I'd never have strangers in my house!" and there's nothing wrong with that, either. Folks are different, and we embrace that.

You can ask me more questions here or by PM.

Wow - sounds like a nice little job/adventure if one can pick up, travel to places outside of their home/state. So you and your wife both go to one house to sit? You get to experience many places.

I am also curious if you have to pay a fee - a yearly fee? or a fee for each house sitting and they don't mind you go as a couple?

Takes a lot of trust. I could never have strangers come in - but it all sounds interesting. The cameras get me worried. Some homeowner was just on the news for getting caught having cameras in his Air BnB properties .

Thank you for sharing.

 

[isisdave]

It's a yearly fee. And you can get a couple of extra months for referring either sitters or hosts.

They expect couples. This time we even have our own dog with us, which is not usually part of the deal, as some dogs don't welcome visitors. But it's going well, despite the 5:1 weight difference (ours is the 9-pounder).

There are indeed Facebook groups that facilitate the same thing. I watch one that promotes sitting in Central and South America, particularly for longer sits. I believe that one doesn't have fees. A lot of the sitters are young people, single or couples, traveling the world.