Has Anyone Used TrustedHousesitters?

[Eastbayboy]

We are planning a three week trip and need someone to house sit our two small dogs. We have moved recently and our long time sitter is too far. So we have looked into TrustedHousesitters. I read that they have insurance that covers damages, theft and liability. They are also bonded. There is no charge from them but they have free boarding until you return. There is also a lot of local people who do this which is quite strange since they live so close. I am interviewing a few this coming weekend to get the story of why....

I did join TrustedHousesitters and the response has been fantastic. They are retired, semi retired, younger ones, single and also couples. The variety goes across the board. We have never explored this path but the reviews are always position both sides.

So if you have used such an service let me know of your experience with the process and the end results.

Thank you for your responses!

 

[jimnjana]

It is awesome. Some suggestions...read the reviews of the perspective sitters, be very detailed in your description of expectations and provide plenty of information about your area. We would shy away from locals that want to sit...unless they had a very good review history.

 

[savory]

We were on Trusted House Sitters but were not called. We did sit once on Trusted Pet Sitters. We had other house sitting jobs but got them in other ways.

I thought the site is OK as I think I would hire us (DW)to be a house sitter I thought the competition was pretty good on that site.

 

[tb001]

I can see locals doing it either to establish good reviews on the site or more likely because they’re in a shared living situation and want a little bit of a break from roommates. We had a woman in her 60s housesit for us. She lived in a two bedroom condo with a roommate. She was over the moon to spend a week in a house with a pool!

 

[Eastbayboy]

We would shy away from locals that want to sit...unless they had a very good review history.

I do understand your concerns much like me.

TB001 suggests that they are running away from their roommates I can also see that as an argument since I can relate when I had roommates when I was young!

It seems from what all you say, that it is good way to get a house sitter but be diligent. I did have a “Professional House Sitter” come by and she quoted me $95 a day x 21 days = not eating on our trip! Lol

I love my pets but it does put a crimp on traveling. If this works well it will give us an option and rest assure that we can have more vacations.

Thanks guy!

 

[candrew]

DW & I have been members of TH for over 3 years now. We occasionally house sit ourselves and also have need for house sitters when we travel. As long term travelers who are away for months at a time (and no pets to look after) we typically have many prospective applicants to choose from. The experiences from both sides have been a win-win.

As a previous poster indicated, carefully look over each sitter's reviews. Be very specific in terms of setting expectations. Applicants will typically have both "reviews" and "references" on their profile page. Reviews are from TH member homeowners for whom the applicant has performed a house sit. References can come from anyone - so be careful about selecting an applicant based on that criteria only. OTH, having references without any reviews sometimes means that the applicant is new and looking for that first house sit. All of us on TH have been in that boat - including DW & I - so don't let a lack of reviews be a deal killer, either! TH encourages new members to seek out local house sits in order to build their resumes.

Trust your instincts.

 

[jimnjana]

I do understand your concerns much like me.

TB001 suggests that they are running away from their roommates I can also see that as an argument since I can relate when I had roommates when I was young!

It seems from what all you say, that it is good way to get a house sitter but be diligent. I did have a “Professional House Sitter” come by and she quoted me $95 a day x 21 days = not eating on our trip! Lol

I love my pets but it does put a crimp on traveling. If this works well it will give us an option and rest assure that we can have more vacations.

Thanks guy!

We shy away from locals because of our previous experience with owning vacation rentals. Our pets love our trusted housesitters. We've had one couple sit for us 5 or 6 times and have had at least 4 other sitters. Do your due diligence and also we usually have them come in either the night before or several hours before we go. That way we can show them around the house and local area. Highly recommend doing Skype or similar call so you can show home and pet. We have a German shepherd dog and while she is a big baby she can be intimidating to some. We were paying 35 per day for housesitter. Savings add up fast.

 

[Rianne]

We've not used a service, but college students we knew. We'd stock the refrigerator, encourage them to have friends over. Our dog loved them. We'd be gone for 3+ weeks, come back to a clean house and happy puppy. Never an issue or complaint from neighbors. Not sure I'd trust a service where I didn't know the sitter.

 

[candrew]

We've not used a service, but college students we knew. We'd stock the refrigerator, encourage them to have friends over. Our dog loved them. We'd be gone for 3+ weeks, come back to a clean house and happy puppy. Never an issue or complaint from neighbors. Not sure I'd trust a service where I didn't know the sitter.

I'd say your level of trust far exceeds that of anyone who uses a service like T.H.

 

[Rianne]

I'd say your level of trust far exceeds that of anyone who uses a service like T.H.

You don't think they'd have friends over? Our philosophy, get it out in the open (we weren't born yesterday). Maybe we were lucky and had respectful, intelligent kids. We paid them well and they house/dog sit for us many times. It was a personal experience.

 

[Eastbayboy]

DW & I have been members of TH for over 3 years now. We occasionally house sit ourselves and also have need for house sitters when we travel. As long term travelers who are away for months at a time (and no pets to look after) we typically have many prospective applicants to choose from. The experiences from both sides have been a win-win.

As a previous poster indicated, carefully look over each sitter's reviews. Be very specific in terms of setting expectations. Applicants will typically have both "reviews" and "references" on their profile page. Reviews are from TH member homeowners for whom the applicant has performed a house sit. References can come from anyone - so be careful about selecting an applicant based on that criteria only. OTH, having references without any reviews sometimes means that the applicant is new and looking for that first house sit. All of us on TH have been in that boat - including DW & I - so don't let a lack of reviews be a deal killer, either! TH encourages new members to seek out local house sits in order to build their resumes.

Trust your instincts.

Candrew, if there who is any damage or something is missing, how was that addressed. Is TrustedHousesitters responsible or is it the house-sitter themselves?

 

[candrew]

Candrew, if there who is any damage or something is missing, how was that addressed. Is TrustedHousesitters responsible or is it the house-sitter themselves?

The short answer is, it depends. We do live in an imperfect world and under the best of circumstances sometimes accidents happen.

In most cases, homeowners will put away any items of significant/sentimental value. During our most recent house sit, we accidentally broke a couple of dinner plates. The dinnerware that the homeowner left out for us was a mismatched set, so we replaced the two we broke with a couple of plates from a local store. The homeowners didn't expect us to do that, but appreciated our effort and gesture just the same.

Trusted Housesitters does have an insurance backed guarantee that covers member homeowners during any house sit confirmed through their site. It includes:

Property damage — This covers accidental and malicious damage to property during a house sit. It protects household goods and valuables.
Theft — If something goes missing, you're covered.
Public liability — This covers you in case the sitter has an accident in and around your property.

OTH, an ounce of prevention on the homeowner's part is in order. Secure your valuables. Put away items of sentimental value. Don't leave your finest china, crystal stemware and silver out. Do "show and tell" with your house sitter(s) prior to departing making sure to instruct them on do's, don'ts and how to safely operate appliances, etc. And make sure to have a means of communication, i.e. text messaging, WhatsApp, messenger, and an assurance that you'd rather have a stupid question asked than have to deal with the unintended consequences of otherwise good intentions.

 

[GrayHare]

Property damage — This covers accidental and malicious damage to property during a house sit. It protects household goods and valuables.
Theft — If something goes missing, you're covered.

Such insurance sounds nice, and is well meaning, but I have doubts about its actual value. For example, how does one prove for making a claim that the chair wasn't broken before the housesitting began, or that the missing $1 million in small bills was indeed present before the housesitting?

 

[candrew]

Such insurance sounds nice, and is well meaning, but I have doubts about its actual value. For example, how does one prove for making a claim that the chair wasn't broken before the housesitting began, or that the missing $1 million in small bills was indeed present before the housesitting?

One could argue that the same would hold true if filing a claim with their traditional homeowner's insurance. And as you suggest, the insurance may end up providing more feel-good assurance for the homeowner than it does coverage. No one really knows how good any insurance policy/carrier is until they file a claim.

Just like anything else in this life, the best insurance starts with prevention. In the case of having someone look after their home and pets while they are away, it is the wise homeowner that will minimize their exposure by taking sensible, precautionary measures.

 

[Eastbayboy]

The short answer is, it depends. We do live in an imperfect world and under the best of circumstances sometimes accidents happen.

In most cases, homeowners will put away any items of significant/sentimental value. During our most recent house sit, we accidentally broke a couple of dinner plates. The dinnerware that the homeowner left out for us was a mismatched set, so we replaced the two we broke with a couple of plates from a local store. The homeowners didn't expect us to do that, but appreciated our effort and gesture just the same.

Trusted Housesitters does have an insurance backed guarantee that covers member homeowners during any house sit confirmed through their site. It includes:

Property damage — This covers accidental and malicious damage to property during a house sit. It protects household goods and valuables.
Theft — If something goes missing, you're covered.
Public liability — This covers you in case the sitter has an accident in and around your property.

OTH, an ounce of prevention on the homeowner's part is in order. Secure your valuables. Put away items of sentimental value. Don't leave your finest china, crystal stemware and silver out. Do "show and tell" with your house sitter(s) prior to departing making sure to instruct them on do's, don'ts and how to safely operate appliances, etc. And make sure to have a means of communication, i.e. text messaging, WhatsApp, messenger, and an assurance that you'd rather have a stupid question asked than have to deal with the unintended consequences of otherwise good intentions.

Candrew would you be available for a house sit!

Again I find such a breath of knowledge on this site. Common sense in communication, putting valuables away, making sure the house sitters fit. Oh I forgot, buy paper plates!

Your post does give us a path to follow. Thank you!

 

[Scuba]

I’m curious why people avoid local house sitters. I’ve always heard starting locally is the best way to build experiences and positive reviews. We haven’t tried it yet because we have our own pet, but are interested in joining and trying it when our dog passes on.

 

[PandaBear]

When our daughter finished grad school and was living with us while doing an internship, she had a few housesitting gigs. She enjoyed getting away from our house (as we did as well ??) so I can see why locals may enjoy housesitting.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I had a friend that did pet sitting locally. She lived in a studio and enjoyed being in a house and the animals. I wouldn’t avoid the locals. We only use people we know very well.

 

[Aerides]

Having browsed around the trusted sitters site based on this thread, it does seem to be a great option for those who don't have someone they know nearby. I really like the vetting - both by a background check the sitter can pay for in advance, and the reviews of course.

If I were single and looking to travel around the country inexpensively, going around and staying where people had a cat they wanted looked after sounds like a great way to do it. And yes even doing it locally for a change of scenery, maybe a home with a pool in the summer, or close to the beach, etc.

 

[bearkeley]

We too have had a lot of success with them as housesitters over the past 5 years. We’ve been able to travel easily for 5-7 months out of each year by housesitting for 4-6 weeks in Australia and the US. Some opportunities (location, use of car, duration, etc) are very competitive, so we have taken a lot of time crafting custom applications for the house sits...others, we won’t even consider at all.

I would second candrews post as well as others about thoroughly vetting people. We would FaceTime with prospective homeowners (our way to see the home and pet) and also do our due diligence. So, if I were to leave my home, and more importantly our four legged family members with strangers, I would thoroughly vet them. I would also search the database and offer the opportunity to people you believe would fit your requirements (clearly there’s at least two FIREd sitters out there you can probably trust) [emoji3].

We are landlords so we are extremely aware of what people can do to a home. However, if you have pets, and believe they would highly benefit from staying home, then we would highly recommend this site. Good luck!

 

[Eastbayboy]

Thank you Aerides and Bearkely for your experiences. I am having two sitters come over today and another on Tuesday to interview them and see how they my dogs react to them and to see if they fit as a house sitter for my home.

As of today, I received 17 applications for house sitting. I will report back to give all of you the results of the final decision and why.

Again thank you for your help!