My name is Jo and although I am no longer a house sitter I thought I’d write and share my house sitting experiences with you. My partner and I first learned about house sitting from family and friends and I thought it sounded like an ideal way to save money on accommodation so we decided to give it a go.
We both work full time so are restricted to the southern suburbs of Melbourne within reasonably commuting distance of our jobs. I suppose we house sat and were members of Mindahome for about six months and during that time took on around six positions from Brighton to Edithvale. All jobs included pets, some of whom were hard work while others were great fun.
There were three main things that made a stay more special then others. First, the home owners; if they were laid back and trusting of you, it made you feel more welcome in their home. The second was the pets. We become quite attached to many of them by the end of the stay. And thirdly it was great when we were lucky enough to get a really nice place that had something special, like a jacuzzi or pool, that the owners didn’t mind us using with friends. All the home owners appreciated us keeping in touch by email and occasionally we would send them photos of their pets.
As we were house sitting in familiar places there wasn’t much sightseeing to do but, because of the dogs, we did go much more often to beaches and parks than we normally would have. One particular sit close to the city allowed us to dine out at many different restaurants and experience Melbourne’s wide range of foods from different countries.
In general what we liked most about our house sitting experience was the money we saved, enjoying lovely homes like a little holiday and looking after the pets. What was less fun were pets that were difficult or misbehaved and packing and unpacking between stays.
Although we no longer house sit because of work commitments and lifestyle its certainly been a great experience and something I wouldn’t hesitate to do again if circumstances change.