House Sitter

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Topic Author
DireWolf
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 4:53 pm

House Sitter

Post by DireWolf »

We are going to have a family friend stay at our house for 2 weeks while we are on vacation. Although she only lives a couple miles from us, we will have her stay at the house because we have pets. She seems excited about it, mostly because our house is "a lot nicer" than hers (her words, not mine).

She hasn't requested any compensation, but my wife and I feel we should give her something.

What do ya'll think is fair compensation for 2 weeks of house/pet sitting?
Hilda
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:35 pm

Re: House Sitter

Post by Hilda »

Family friend = mature, responsible person? Right?

I have had two different house sitters over the years. I paid them both the same (a rate per dog) but the one house sitter ended up costing me literally thousands of dollars (a $6,000 vet bill in one instance, and I'm embarrassed to say that that wasn't the only multi-thousand dollar incident) due to careless mistakes she made. She was a high school girl that went to my church, so it was a little tough to "un-employ" her.

But alas, necessary. My new house sitter is a woman in her thirties and she is a dream. I don't worry about my dogs (or my house or anything else) while we are gone. The rate I paid was $5.00 per dog - when I had ten in my show kennel, it was relatively good (easy) money for her. I now have three oldsters and when we go on vacation this summer, I will be embarrassed to pay her only $15 a day. Especially when boarding kennels around here charge $22 - $28 per dog for large dogs. So I dunno.

The main thing is the responsibility factor. Plus the fact that my house sitter loves my dogs.
Topic Author
DireWolf
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 4:53 pm

Re: House Sitter

Post by DireWolf »

We have 2 cats that are super low maintenance (except for changing the litter box every few days). She is very mature and responsible (i.e. has a good job). She would do this for free... we just feel like she should get something... but we're not sure how much... so I'm just asking for some opinions.
HornedToad
Posts: 1130
Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 12:36 am

Re: House Sitter

Post by HornedToad »

Get her a ~$100-$150 gift card to the spa. Even though it's low maintenance, it's good peace of mind and also keeps your house from burglarized/etc.

That way she can go enjoy herself afterwards and it's not like you are paying her directly since it's a family friend.
vveat
Posts: 397
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:24 pm

Re: House Sitter

Post by vveat »

We used our babysitter last summer to do petsitting for 3 weeks - to come twice a day, some evenings sleep over, feed, walk and play a bit with our dog and a cat. We offered her $10 an hour (a bit less than what she gets for babysitting our 2 kids), and left her to write down the hours each day, I think it all added up to $25 per day or so
camiboxer
Posts: 245
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:52 am

Re: House Sitter

Post by camiboxer »

I own a pet sitting company. Of course I have overhead to cover but to give you an idea of costs....(I charge slightly above the national average).
For home with cats only...
Cost would be $85.00 for an overnight and at least 10 hours. Typically from 10pm through 7am. If any additional visits were required during the day that would run you another $20/visit. I would feed cats & medicate if needed, scoop/change litter box, bring in mail/newspapers/packages, take out trash, adjust lights/window coverings, water indoor and outdoor plants including gardens if needed.
Again, I have overhead to cover (insurance, bonding, advertising, pet first aid/cpr certifications, etc...) and don't expect someone who doesn't do this for a living to be paid the same.
Hopefully it all works out for you and your cats.
carolc
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:45 am
Location: New Hampshire seacoast

Re: House Sitter

Post by carolc »

We have 2 cats as well and pay our house sitter $20./day. She also brings in the mail and waters plants.
It is piece of mind having someone stay in the house when we are gone.

carolc
stan1
Posts: 14246
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:35 pm

Re: House Sitter

Post by stan1 »

Another option would be a nice dinner together after you return along with something from the place you are visiting.
Warning: I am about 80% satisficer (accepting of good enough) and 20% maximizer
Nukeboilermaker
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:49 am

Re: House Sitter

Post by Nukeboilermaker »

I usually take the house sitter on a shopping spree to LOAD up the house with whatever food, drink, booze they want. I usually leave some cash for ordering pizza or gas if they have a longer commute than normal. I think we usually pay $15-20/day or as we see fit. We have a black lab and 3 cats. It's likely $20-40/day for boarding the dog alone.
WhyNotUs
Posts: 2610
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 11:38 am

Re: House Sitter

Post by WhyNotUs »

$20 per day for a dog and cat (low maintenance) here for an acquaintance. Rates vary depending on effort required the person's situation.
I own the next hot stock- VTSAX
Hikes_With_Dogs
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: House Sitter

Post by Hikes_With_Dogs »

I use Rover.com (not affiliated) to book doggie/house sitters. I have 3 dogs and the woman I usually use charges $60/night.

That's probably too much for a friend who is doing you a favor, but I'd do at least $150 GC and maybe a small gift from your trip.
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dratkinson
Posts: 6116
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:23 pm
Location: Centennial CO

Re: House Sitter

Post by dratkinson »

Submitted for what it is worth.

I've house sat for my adjacent neighbors for >10 years---pets, plants, mail---for a week at a time. Just assumed it was a part of being neighborly, because this is what we did growing up in the south. This is the first I've thought about being paid for this service. (I have received small gift cards and baked goods as "thank you" gifts for a week's work.)

Just being neighborly, I'd send a daily house-status (report by exception) email, so they could keep tabs if they desired to.



On my last house-sitting occasion, an unused/known-bad secondary front door lock failed and I was locked out of the house on upon leaving the first day. Didn't discover problem until evening of second day. (Pets had plenty of food/water.) Problem solution required finding a locksmith who, after exhausting all other methods, had to drill out the lock, and my matching/replacing a ~50-yo lockset... which I successfully did. It took some looking, but I was able to use the "4-days until owner returns, this is not an emergency situation" to my advantage to get a locksmith for <$100. Woo Hoo!

I had everything fixed by the evening before my neighbors were due back.

When neighbors returned from their week-long Mexican resort vacation, they were annoyed and demanded "... tell me what you've done to my house or I'll call the sheriff on you." After a shocked, pregnant pause on my part, I calmed myself enough to tell them everything they wanted to know was in their emails. Start there.

As I'm a firm believer in "words can be used to hide the truth, but actions always reveal the truth", I was greatly surprised by their revealing unfriendly, unneighborly reaction. I was allowed to *eat the locksmith and replacement lockset charges as part of my "assumed house sitting responsibilities". Their belated small gift card was rejected as an insult.
  • *If I must seek legal action to get repayment, then both it and they are not worth the additional annoyance. Cheap lesson learned.
I now believe house sitting should be a contractual obligation, with clear responsibilities for both parties. No more "being a good neighbor" bs for me.
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
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