scumpy

I'm a (youngish) retired federal law enforcement agent, female, with experience in pets, houseplants, security, keeping in touch on the internet, and home ownership. I lived in San Francisco for five years and will go back there to house sit in a heartbeat, for free, might even pay my own way down there from Seattle/Vancouver area. I might also house sit in Seattle or Vancouver for free just to have the opportunity to explore the area more. I live between the two cities now. If I could talk the husband into coming with me, he's a retired carpenter and has a hard time stopping himself from doing minor repairs on people's homes when we visit.

So, perhaps I ought to ask - those of you who hire housesitters, how do you go about finding them?

luna

I have no pets, but I do have houseplants, and balcony planters with flowers/vegetables in the summer, and live in an apartment with irresposible and incompetent caretakers, so I hire a housesitter when I go away. I found the company in the Yellow pages. My sitter is licensed, binded and the company is insured; she comes when I want (usually every 2 days), picks up mail, waters plants, moves the curatins around, sits on the balcony and reads a book for a while - makes the place look lived in and keeps an eye on things. Her company charges CDN $10.00/visit.

Marilyn

scumpy, I've just put you on my list for our next trip. Are you serious? We live in West Marin -- out in the woods, but about 45 min from the GG Bridge.

Marilyn

PS Please DO bring your husband with you. There is plenty for him to do!

KatieH

My husband and I have talked about house sitting in areas we would like to visit since he retired. We just don't know how to go about making contact. We would especially like to house sit in the San Diego/LaJolla/Coronado area. We are professionals and could provide good personal references. If someone wanted to run a police background check on us, that is fine. We love dogs, but can't do cats - allergies. For the right spot, we would sit at no charge. If anyone is intereste, email me.

scumpy

Marilyn, I just got back to this thread. Yes, I was serious. But I'm also the one who is spending the winter in Cyprus, so we won't even think of getting down to your area before about March, maybe February.

I was trying to think where 45 minutes from the Golden Gate bridge would be in West Marin, and then I remembered it may not be far in miles, but the 45 mins. is in twisting, slow roads. I'll send you an e-mail.

Marilyn

OK Scumpy, I'll wait to hear from you.

VictoriaK

We live with two dogs, and it is much less expensive to have someone come to our house than to board them. Our neighbor has spoiled us for the seven years we've lived in our house, and will only accept sweets from our foreign destination as "payment" for letting our dogs outside and picking up the mail. He is retired, and simply likes having "a little something to do," as he puts it.

However, our oldest dog is ill and is on medication. For our upcoming trip this week, we have hired a vet technician to come by once a day to administer meds and assess our dog's health condition (not cheap, but the savings come in the form of peace of mind). A friend's au pair will be spending the evenings with the dogs ($150 for ten evenings),in addition to our neighbor coming over in the morning. A brief voicemail left for us every day will help with the worrying.

For us, this is the best solution. Our house will not be empty, the dogs will be in a familiar environment, and our friend's au pair gets to earn a few dollars for hanging out at our house in the evenings.

scumpy

Marilyn, sent you an e-mail last night. Told the husband this morning about contacting you, and that I mentioned he does small repairs on people's houses. He said make sure to say that is ONLY if they have tools. Some people don't have tools apparently, can't make repairs without tools.