House-sitting and caretaking

07-28-2002

Joan McGinnis wrote us recently on the subject of house-sitting and vacations. She and her husband were interested in finding someone who has a house or apartment in a scenic location and who might be looking for a responsible couple to look after it for a few weeks or months while the owner was away.

Depending on who you are and where you want to go, house-sitting is a definite possibility.

Generally, two types of property owners are interested in having someone stay in their domiciles while they are away.

People who have a second home that they may use only a few months a year might like the idea of having the place occupied in their absence, a factor which has become of increasing importance in this post-9/11 age of security.

And people who are going away from their home for a time, ranging from a few days to a few months, might prefer to find a responsible person to take care of their pets, plants, mail or other light domestic responsibilities.

House-sitters enjoy rent-free accommodation, as well as the numerous other benefits of having a comfortable base to use in an interesting place, and they often get a small stipend to cover any extraordinary household expenses. Generally, they pay for utilities, phone and fuel consumed during their stay.

In addition to older and retired couples, prospective house-sitters include graduate students and academics, along with military personnel and business people on temporary assignments.

At this point, it's important to distinguish between house-sitting, a generally cost-free exchange, from caretaking, a situation in which the property owner is looking for either a longer-term arrangement or one that involves more comprehensive custodial responsibilities, such as cutting the grass and cleaning the pool to tending the herd and garden. In exchange for the heavy lifting, caretaking often involves a salary in addition to the free accommodations.

When done right, either option can be a win-win proposition for both parties. The trick is, of course, doing it right, and that starts with matching the sitter with the "sittee."

Although numerous homeowners in this country try to find someone to house-sit, much of that searching is conducted through informal channels of friends, family, neighbors, church or workplace associations. Professional house-sitting services also are listed in local yellow pages, but those services require fees.

A number of national and international house-sitting organizations have evolved in recent years to bring interested parties together.

The Caretaker Gazette is one of the oldest. Now in its 20th year, this magazine is published six times annually. A recent edition contained more than 120 listings, most for caretaking situations, but also including opportunities for house-sitting and home swapping, as well as classified ads of individuals and couples looking for particular situations and locations. Property owners can buy ads and prospective seekers place classifieds.

They include enticing listings such as: "Dreaming of retiring in the Caribbean? Here's your chance to try it on Roatan Island, Honduras. Live rent-free from May 20 through September, during owner's absence. Small, cute, remote island home, with all amenities, sits on three acres overlooking beautiful Port Royal Harbor. Duties include being there and being handy with the complex solar system, generator, and cisterns. Must give loving care to golden retriever and tabby cat. Must pay for generator gasoline and propane (approximately $75 per month). Rental vehicle available. "

Caretaker Gazette publisher Gary Dunn said that, on average, 75 percent of the situations are in the United States, while 25 percent are foreign. They are in country, city and resort locations and tend to be located in those areas where the housing is the densest: New York, Florida and California.

The magazine's Web site shows up-to-date listings, caretaker profiles and other useful information. Subscriptions are $29 for 1 year, $49 for 2 years and $69 for 3 years. Display ads start at $65 per issue, while classifieds run 65 cents per word per issue.

For information: 1-715-426-5500 or www.caretaker.org.

Another United States-based organization is www.sitters4hire.com, located in Bellevue, Wash. (1-425-269-8488). It charges both prospective sitters and property owners $10 for a listing, which stays on the searchable Web site for up to one year. The site operator, Randy Harris, says he has assembled more than 1,900 listings in the two years since he started the service.

A Canadian company, the House-sitters, offers a variety of services to homeowners across Canada. It finds and screens prospective house-sitters to fulfill them on a paid basis. For information, visit www.housesitters.com or call 1-416-947-1295.

Two Australia-based Web sites, www.housesitworld.com and www.housecarers.com, charge $29 for annual listings and include dozens of house-sitting situations, primarily in England, Australia and New Zealand.

The Web site www.sabbaticalhome.com offers a free service to match academics either looking for someone to occupy their homes while they are away on sabbatical, or to find short-term situations for academics going on sabbatical.

Most of these services, it is important to note, make no attempt to do more than put interested parties in touch with each other, neither evaluating situations nor screening candidates. That is left up to the individuals involved, which obviously entails diligence on both parts.

That raises a host of potential questions, from privacy issues and personal references to drawing up agreements of understanding and securing liability insurance. It's a lot for a novice to take into account, and the process requires a great deal of trust on both parts.

Fortunately, another Web site offers an excellent overview of the concerns and steps to address them. It can be found at www.access2000.com.au/guides/startup/startup_66.htm

So if you're interested in the idea of having a free home away from home or having someone stay in your home while you're away, know that success takes time, persistence and luck, but ample resources are available.

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