Elliott-Family Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Hi We have booked to validate our visas in may next year, :laugh: our dogs will cost £17 per day in kennels (they have never been not even for a night) and a housesitter has quoted us £20 per day to look after house and dogs. This seems like a bargain to me and i feel the dogs would be happier at home, however i have never used a housesitter before and would be interested in your experience of one, either good or bad :wacko: many thanks Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnetic6 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Siamsusie has had lots of experience with this,I'm sure she will give you loads of useful information. Natalie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Hi We have booked to validate our visas in may next year, our dogs will cost £17 per day in kennels (they have never been not even for a night) and a housesitter has quoted us £20 per day to look after house and dogs. This seems like a bargain to me and i feel the dogs would be happier at home, however i have never used a housesitter before and would be interested in your experience of one, either good or bad many thanks Claire x Hi Claire, I think you may be talking about housesitters in the Uk and not Australia is that right because you are talking in pounds.?House sitters shouldnt be charging you anything Claire, and if you are leaving your home for a period of time i.e. 4 weeks of more then they should be paying you for the electricity and gas (but this is your choice). They could be running up hundreds of pounds of service charges and this will add to your expensive trip to Australia. They should be looking after your pets, plants and gardens (you purchase the animals foods naturally) and making sure that the place remains immaculate or certainly in the conditions you left it. Animals to be walked etc. Establish who is coming into your property i.e. only the people you have agreed upon rather than the house sitters's friends and families wanting a cheap holiday. All this has to be agreed upon and it does help if you had someone who could pop by just to keep an eye on things i.e. a neighbour/friend or family. I have interviewed house sitters in the Uk for one of my sons who was abroad for a period of time on work related business as well as having house sitters in both Tasmania and WA. In the Uk it was easier, distance wasnt an object but in Australia it was far more diffuclt to assess who was right for your pets and property. Therefore in the Uk I was discriminatory in terms of they must hold a British passport/Police check, a checkable address and references, they are after all in your home using your possessions and caring for your beloved pets. References can be forged so I was very selective and asked for professional references i.e. a Dr/Lawyer etc/ School Teacher/Bank Manager. I also asked for a bond of approx 500 pounds to cover bills ie telephone/services but this is optional depending who you have. In Australia, I have had been pretty lucky although my last set of sitters who were middle aged, working for a well known insurance health company here in Australia were absolutely dreadful. They had a beautiful house for a year and they did nothing. Thank god there werent any pets to look after!. The word "hillibillies" comes to mind, and I spent 5 weeks cleaning their filth and eradicating their bad karma:cry:.Swear words I didnt know I was capable of saying spurted from my mouth and I think my husband got the message pretty quickly that we have to leave WA otherwise our home was being sold in Tasmania. Luckily right now a couple of Dutch/Australians who have been before and love our house have returned to us and here I sit so comfortable knowing they are respectful of our home/ caring and respecting our wild life and the place will be how we left it. We go home after Christmas! (Woman power lol) Good house sitters means an occupied house and happy pets., mail is collected and dealt with and above all insurance companies are happy that your place isnt left unoccupied. I would be happy to give you some links for home sitters but on no condition should money be parted with Claire. You should be looking for people of the same ilk as yourselves. We have made a couple of sets of excellent friends through having house sitters Claire who will will keep on returning to us but that it should be a two way thing, the housesitter can enjoy your area/home and doing a very worthwhile job, whilst you should be enjoying your trip confident that your home and pets are secure and safe. You have to ensure they are not out to abuse your hospitality by free rent and conditons for nothing back in return. You are wise Claire to start the ball rolling now, good housesitters appear to become booked well in advance, this gives you time to either talk on the phone, skype, email etc and its always good to establish a repore with them before actually meeting up and supervising your pet's reactions to them. Good house sitting agencies will actually give you a contract between both parties for you to download, and house sitting agencies generally dont charge the owners of properties for the introduction. Please feel free to pm me if you require any further info. Best wishes ss x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunkaren Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Just a thought but have you considered a house exchange? Appreciate that it may be difficult with animals in tow though. We did a house swap with a friends daughter when we first ventured to Oz and it worked really well, I am pretty sure there are house exchange websites around - it may be another option that way you don't have to pay and they geta holiday out of it too! Good Luck Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest June Pixie Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I agree with SiamSusie that the house sitters shouldn't be charging you anything - That's just plain cheeky! I have house sat for people in the UK before - never on a long term basis though anything from 1-2 weeks. It gave me an opportunity to visit parts of the UK that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise and was an excellent break for me and my children whilst giving the owners peace of mind. All the houses I sat were because they had pets there to look after whilst they were on holiday etc. I have had cats, dogs, parrots, gerbils and a snake! That wasn't my favourite one. When I holiday now (and pay for it) I always book using cottage (home from home) sites and Owner's Direct as I do prefer the ambiance and homeliness as opposed to a sterile hotel room. PS Your dogs really are gorgeous too - You should have no problem finding a house sitter with those little cuties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott-Family Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 June Pixie - lol - they are cute but little terrers, Thanks for the advice guys, didnt occur to me that people would stay for free, all the sites i have look at on web charge at least £30 per day (uk) Will certainly look into this further, thanks for your comments Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Hi We have booked to validate our visas in may next year, :laugh: our dogs will cost £17 per day in kennels (they have never been not even for a night) and a housesitter has quoted us £20 per day to look after house and dogs. This seems like a bargain to me and i feel the dogs would be happier at home, however i have never used a housesitter before and would be interested in your experience of one, either good or bad :wacko: many thanks Claire x What happens to the dogs when you go to oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest June Pixie Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I suppose you need to be able to trust someone in your home and presumably the website ensures that the people are vetted etc before letting them loose in your property? For me it was a word of mouth affair, I worked for a National company and one of the managers in Devon was going away for 2 weeks and mentioned that he couldn't take his dog with him (USA) I was looking at holiday lets in Devon or Cornwall and jokingly offered to stay at his for free and look after his dog. I had a lovely time and it was a much needed cheap get away that year for me. Since then I have stayed in Oxford, Edinburgh and Yorkshire Dales and never had any problems - All word of mouth. When I go on holiday I get my brother to stay over to look after my house and cats but if I didn't have him I would consider a house sitter. Do you not have any family close by to pop in or even stay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott-Family Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 What happens to the dogs when you go to oz They are coming with us and will do their time in quarantine, im not over the moon about it but would rather that than be without them, at least they will be in Melbourne and we will be able to visit them a couple of times per week Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott-Family Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 I suppose you need to be able to trust someone in your home and presumably the website ensures that the people are vetted etc before letting them loose in your property? For me it was a word of mouth affair, I worked for a National company and one of the managers in Devon was going away for 2 weeks and mentioned that he couldn't take his dog with him (USA) I was looking at holiday lets in Devon or Cornwall and jokingly offered to stay at his for free and look after his dog. I had a lovely time and it was a much needed cheap get away that year for me. Since then I have stayed in Oxford, Edinburgh and Yorkshire Dales and never had any problems - All word of mouth. When I go on holiday I get my brother to stay over to look after my house and cats but if I didn't have him I would consider a house sitter. Do you not have any family close by to pop in or even stay? Hi You sound like the lady i have found, she started doing it more as a hobby but has now retired and is house sitting instead, as you say its a nice way to get to look round the country, I dont have a problem paying her, in fact i would feel more comfortable that we do it as a formal arrangement, it will give me peace of mind. My father isnt to far away but is in poor health and the dogs tho cute are quite high maintenance and i feel a bit much for him to look after, especially for two weeks, Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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