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It helps if you have at least two written references vouching for your home-care diligence. I got a reference from a friend I house-sat for, and from a landlady. You need to have a clean police record, and it helps if you are a non-smoker. I told my house-sitting agency that I was part Jewish and understood keeping kosher, and I received two very nice “sits” directly related to this.

Home owners often don’t care if you’re gay or lesbian – as long as you’re single. If you are a couple, you should state this to the home owners or agency, and not try to “sneak” a lover in. Some home owners like having a couple in because of the additional security and attention for their pets; others prefer to have just one person.

There is almost always some animal involved, so the more animals you can deal with, the better! I have had to give animals medication and take them to the vet as part of house-sitting. I have also had to deal with exploding plumbing, the home-owner’s relatives showing up unexpectedly, animals escaping and “misbehaving”…

I found that there was a difference between house-sits I got through newspaper ads and house-sits I got through working with agencies. Even though I had to pay to be listed by an agency, I much preferred the ones from agencies, because I had more liability protection, and because the home-owners were obliged to provide vet information for their pets. I always refused to take a house-sit with animals without a vet recommendation and approval to take an animal there in case of an emergency.

Some times of year are better than others for house-sitters. Over ten months of housesitting, I had a two-month period (October and November) where I couldn’t find enough long-term house-sits to provide consistent housing. I had to find a temporary living situation, which was dismal, and not an expense that I wanted at the time. Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation times are hot for housesitters. If you are getting house-sits through an agency, you might be able to line up your sits months in advance.

At the end of ten months, I was burned out, tired of living out of a suitcase and hauling around a milk crate of my own groceries. (You don’t always get to eat their food — and you might not want to!) I relocated to a new town. The money I had saved while housesitting allowed me to buy my own house.

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