the Cost of House Sitters

We traveled on a family vacation for a week and hired a house sitter to watch our house, bring in the newspaper and mail, rotate the lights that were left on at night, water our plants and garden, and just keep the place secure while we were gone. We paid her $200 for the week and also offered her the option of sleeping there or just spending as much time there as she wanted, watching tv or relaxing.

We were most concerned about the security of our house because two neighbors had been robbed during the prior months while they were on extended vacations. We were pleased that there were no issues with our house while we were gone. The house sitter did all of the things that we asked her to do to keep the house looking occupied, and she also did a few extras, like putting out the garbage for pickup, as well as some light jobs like cleaning. The house was in good shape when we returned and she had stacked the mail neatly and done a good job watering the yard and plants. The rate of $200 for the service was fair and worth it for us to have a sense of security while we were away.

It really comes down to hiring someone that you can trust and strictly limiting who you allow them to have in your house while you are away. We did not set a lot of rules, but prohibiting anyone else from coming inside is something that everyone should do no matter how well you know the sitter. Also, call to check in a few times during the week so that the sitter knows you are paying attention.