House Sitting Business

A house-sitting business can be successful if managed properly and operators have a strong sense of ethics and professionalism.  People care about their homes and while they’re away, they want to make sure that their property will be looked after.  This means picking up the newspaper and mail so that it doesn’t become a target for burglars.

 

Some homeowners will usually ask a friend or relative to look after their house, but there are instances where property owners will be away for an extended period and need services performed such as cleaning, tending to the garden, watering the plants and looking after the pets – tasks that a friend or relative may not be able to provide everyday. This is where a house-sitting business can be lucrative.

Practically no investment required if you do the house sitting yourself, but if you want to set up a house-sitting agency where you look for house care providers and match them with homeowners, you may need communications equipment (telephone, Internet, pager) and staff.

Housekeeping skills, troubleshooting skills (general appliances, pool, heating, water tank, alarm system, etc), time and task management skills, knowledge of pets.

The ideal person for a house-sitting business is one who is tidy and meticulous, likes to organize and arrange things in a home, is dedicated and serious about what needs to be done for a house.  Must be a green thumb and pet lover.

Five years ago, weekly rates for house-sitting ranged from $125.00 to $250.00 depending on the house-sitting package agreed upon by client and provider.  Some house sitters will agree to a daily rate or a per visit rate (usually between $20.00 to $35.00, depending on geographical zone and if it requires long distance travelling).  Some house sitters also combine pet sitting with house sitting services, and the rates would be higher.

House-sitting opportunities are numerous, especially if you target retirees and frequent travelers.  Young, upwardly mobile executives are also potential customers.

If successful, you could have as many as 50-100 house sitters on call as an agency.  Average length of house-sitting is 7-10 days.

You could speak to a few house sitting or pet sitting agencies in your area that might be willing to give you tips and leads.  Search google and enquire with house cleaning services.  They might know of property owners looking for house-sitters on a long term basis.

Speak to your local parish and to senior organizations.

Contact the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and ask them if any of their members have asked about house sitting services.

Prepare your services package.  It should include the following:

a) A description of services you can provide.  Be very specific.  For example you can say, house-sitting services consist of:  picking up newspapers and mail, daily visits, inspection, cleaning, repairing, gardening, etc.  You have the option to offer one or two or even multiple services.

b) Provide your rates for each service.  Find out how much others are charging in your neighborhood so that you do not price yourself out of the competition.  What you can do is look at the yellow pages and call, pretending you want to know what their house sitting rates are.

c) Decide if your service will include home stay-ins or just visits.

d) If you want to service a lot of people and you are thinking of setting up an agency and will be needing people, advertise your agency in campuses.  Usually students looking for some extra cash will perform some duties for you.

e) You must arrange a personal meeting with the customer and take down notes about his property (each home is run differently), the urgent tasks that need to be done and who to contact if something goes wrong (a pipe bursts, the pool’s filter is not working, a pet becomes ill, etc).

f) If you’re thinking of hiring sitters, let them file an application, do a credit check on them and interview them.  Find out as much as you can about their habits (smoking, driving, hygiene, etc) and check their references as well. Don’t hire a sitter if you’re not 100% comfortable.  Go with your gut instinct.

Look in the Yellow Pages to get an idea of how many house sitting agencies operate in your city.

Some business experts say that if you operate solo, the income you earn may not be that lucrative, but if you start a referral agency, then the earning potential is greater.  If you want to run an agency, seriously consider the idea of getting bonded or insured.

Read these interesting articles: http://www.publishingcircles.com/house_sitting_business.html.