Imagine being able to spend a few weeks on an island in the Caribbean, passing your days sightseeing or sitting by the pool. Now imagine that the house you stayed in didn’t cost you a dime.
That’s the promise of housesitting: the chance to enjoy free accommodations in potentially exotic locales. For retirees with no job to tie them to any one place, it may seem like an appealing way to travel without paying for pricey hotels or rentals.
“It’s definitely manageable and a great opportunity,” says Nicole Ellis, a certified professional dog trainer and pet lifestyle expert for Rover, a platform that connects pet owners with pet sitters.
Serial housesitting or pet-sitting — that is, moving from one sitting gig to another — could help seniors reduce their housing costs, but people should be realistic about their ability to find back-to-back jobs. What’s more, housesitting and pet-sitting aren’t for everyone.
[READ: Work-From-Home Jobs for Retirees.]
Basics of Housesitting and Pet-Sitting
Housesitting and pet-sitting involve staying at someone else’s home while they are away for vacation, work or another reason. Despite the two terms, most housesitting jobs involve pet-sitting as well.
Most housesitting jobs are also unpaid. “I’m getting a free place to stay, and they are getting free help,” explains Sam Saenz, a travel blogger at Eat Well. Adventure Often.
The details of housesitting arrangements vary, but generally sitters need to arrange their own transportation to the house and pay for their own food while there. Hosts typically have linens, kitchenware and other household essentials available to sitters. When it comes to transportation while housesitting, hosts may or may not offer the use of their car.
Housesitting and pet-sitting jobs can be found internationally, and some people become full-time nomadic housesitters, according to Kari LeMay, a travel blogger at Achieve Your Bucket List. They move from location to location, staying at Airbnbs or visiting family members between sits.
However, retirees would be well-advised to test this lifestyle before committing. Before selling your house and booking tickets across the globe, be sure you’ll enjoy housesitting and pet-sitting.
“Maybe when you’re starting out, you want to stay closer to home,” Ellis says.
[READ: 8 Ways to Make Extra Income in Retirement]
Where to Find Housesitting Jobs
Several websites specialize in connecting housesitters to homeowners. These include:
— Nomador
— Rover
— Country-specific sites such as House Sitters America and Kiwi House Sitters
TrustedHousesitters is arguably the largest site in this realm, with housesitting opportunities throughout the globe. Nomador is also a global site, but most of its listings are in Europe.
Expect to pay for a membership to apply for housesitting positions on these platforms. Prices range from $29 per year at MindMyHouse to $259 per year for a premium plan at TrustedHousesitters. Depending on the website, that fee may provide users with access to support services and liability insurance.
Rover is the outlier on the list above. There is no fee to join the site, and sitters through Rover are paid for their work. The website then collects a service fee of up to 25% on the earnings of sitters.
Typically, LeMay says, “Once (housesitters) know where they want to be, then they look for pet sits.”
With the exception of Rover, users can browse listings for housesitting jobs and apply online. On Rover, users create a profile listing their services. Then homeowners search for profiles of potential sitters and contact them directly.
As with other jobs in the gig economy, success can depend on good reviews and a proven track record. That means you may need to start out sitting only during the summer months and over holidays until you build up a clientele to sustain year-round work, Ellis says.
Perks and Pitfalls
The main perk of housesitting and pet-sitting is clear: free housing. If you use a site such as Rover that pays sitters, you could make a little money too.
Since accommodations are often a significant travel cost, retirees can find it more affordable to see the world if they are pet-sitting. Depending on where they primarily reside, they may be able to rent out their home as a vacation rental to make some additional money.
Once you feel confident that you enjoy housesitting and can find work regularly, you may want to consider selling your primary residence. “You might still run into times where you have to pay for housing,” LeMay says. However, experienced sitters can schedule jobs with relatively little downtime in between.
Of course, that means moving regularly. Housesitting and pet-sitting gigs may last only a few days to a few weeks. Some retirees may enjoy that change of scenery, while others may quickly tire of having to pack and travel every week or two.
If traveling to other countries to housesit, be aware of any visa requirements and restrictions. Even if you aren’t being paid, telling an immigration official that you are there to housesit could get you denied entry if you don’t have a work visa.
Not all housesitting jobs go as planned. Saenz has a cautionary tale about a housesitting job she took in the Bahamas.
She arrived to find the house dirty and the large dogs unruly. They broke an exterior door, and then a storm came through, which knocked out the power and resulted in no water being available for four days. There was a delay in getting assistance from family members on the island, and Saenz had access to only a bike.
“It was just really stressful,” she says.
When she arrived home, she received an unhappy message from the homeowner saying they expected more photos of their dogs and were disappointed that Saenz left a vacuum out. For the free housesitting service she provided, Saenz felt as if the homeowner had unrealistic expectations.
[Read: Where Retirees Can Buy a Home Overseas for Under $100K]
Tips for Success
For successful housesitting experiences, experts suggest the following:
— Ask questions. Successful housesitters understand the importance of good communication. “They’ve learned to ask a million questions,” LeMay says. Those can include everything from whether a car will be provided to what tasks are required to what the neighborhood is like. Saenz declined one pet-sitting job when she learned the homeowner had a camera in the living space to check whether she was sitting with the dog.
— Set expectations. If you are being paid through a site such as Rover, you may have more responsibilities than someone housesitting for free. Still, make sure everyone is on the same page as far as what duties will be performed during the stay. Retirees who plan to be out sightseeing or exploring during the day should also make sure owners know how many hours they expect to be home with pets each day.
— Trust your gut. Most housesitting jobs include a video call between the sitter and homeowner. During this call, ask the homeowner to walk around the house and provide a tour. While photos may be listed online, they could be old or staged. Ask to see the pets and outdoor areas as well. If anything feels off or doesn’t seem like a good fit for you, trust your gut and decline the sit, LeMay advises.
Serial housesitting and pet-sitting isn’t for everyone, but if you are flexible, enjoy a regular change in scenery and have a passion for pets, this is one way to stretch your travel dollars and potentially reduce your housing costs.
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Make Your Retirement Savings Last With Serial Housesitting originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 10/28/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
