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Many of us have house-sat before for friends or family to watch over their property or care for pets while theyโre away on vacation, and chances are we did it for free.
However, you may not know that there are websites and services to connect you with paid house sitting jobs!
Paid house sitting jobs are one of the easiest ways to make extra money, because you already have the skillset you need!
Typically, house sitters are responsible for the following duties:
- Cleaning the property
- Opening and/or forwarding mail
- Receiving deliveries
- Answering calls and taking messages
- Looking after pets
- Watering plants, lawns and gardens
- Light landscaping (mowing lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow)
- Ensuring security of the property
- Paying for utilities
In other words, itโs all the tasks that make up daily life, so no special training is needed.
Table of Contents
Keep in Mind
Home sitter jobs generally fall within two categories: paid housesitting jobs and rent-free housesitting jobs. Weโll describe the best places to find jobs from each category.
To begin with, letโs look at places to find paid house sitter jobs.
Want to easily and quickly make some extra money? Click here to learn more!
Where Can You Find Paid House Sitter Jobs?
1. Care.com
Care.com is a resource that connects individuals and families with caregivers. Getting started with Care.com is easy, all you have to do is register with their website, fill in a profile, and then start applying for jobs.
How Does It Work? You set your own rate for the services you provide, so do some research and see what others are charging for similar services. Depending on the job, rates tend to vary from $15-50 an hour. You can find pet care, senior care, housekeeping and house sitting jobs through care.com.
Good to Know: Though most of the listings on care.com are for more skilled caretaking jobs, positions which require housesitting do appear regularly. Check back often and see what kinds of positions are available.
2. Indeed
Indeed.com is another job posting website that is great for finding paid home sitting jobs. Create a profile with your resume and personal information and search for house sitting jobs in your area.
How Does It Work?
Use the websiteโs search function to filter for house sitting jobs nearby. For instance, a quick search of the Boston, MA area turned up a number of pet sitting and live in house sitting jobs.
Good to Know: For reference, one such job offered $40 – $60 per day for house sitting and pet care from 8pm to 6am Monday through Sunday.
3. Rover
If you have a soft spot for manโs best friend, Rover might be one of the best paid house sitting jobs for you. Rover caters to dog care, offering a variety of dog-related services such as dog boarding, walking and doggie day care. In addition, Rover offers to connect dog owners with dog and house sitters through their website and smartphone app.
How Does It Work? Register as a sitter for free and once your account is approved, you can start offering your services. List your schedule and rates, then clients can reach out to you to request your services. Rover offers 24/7 support, including vet services, for sitters, so you donโt need to worry about an emergency occurring while youโre caring for a four-legged friend.
Pro Tip: Looking for more ways to make extra cash? Here is your ultimate guide to easily making more money.
4. Caretaker Gazette
The Caretaker Gazette is a newsletter and online resource for findings live in house sitting jobs and caretaker jobs in the US. The Gazette is a great resource for anyone looking to break into house sitting and home caretaking, as in addition to job postings, the newsletter includes advice and information for caretakers and homeowners.
Good to Know: The Gazette lists an interesting and diverse range of housesitting positions that will appeal to adventurous types. There are jobs on farms and ranches, in remote parts of the country, and in bustling cities. Whether youโre country bumkin or a city slicker, there is an opportunity to suit your tastes. The Gazette has listings from nearly every state in the US and from around the world, so chances are youโll be able to find something nearby that sounds appealing to you. Their website also has caretaker profiles, which you can study to get a good idea of what sort of caretaker is successful on their platform.
How Does It Work? A membership to the Gazette isnโt free, with online-only access starting at $29.95 per year but considering how many exciting job opportunities are on offer, it seems like a reasonable rate.
5. Sulekha
Sulekha.com is an online classified platform, connecting people and businesses with local services. There are a variety of interesting paid house sitting jobs and pet sitting jobs available through this site. Sulekha also aggregates searches from other job posting databased throughout the web, giving you the best possible selection of jobs available in your area.
How Does It Work? Sulekha is available in the form of iOS and Android apps as well, giving you access to thousands of jobs through your mobile device.
6. Craigslist
Craigslist.org is the most famous classified site on the internet, and itโs been around for years. Craigslist can be an excellent resource for finding live in house sitting jobs, as well as other home services like pet care.
Keep in Mind: Craigslist can be a bit hit or miss, as the site is notoriously overrun with spam content and scammers, so use your common sense and street smarts when using this site. Your mileage may vary, but craigslist has been connecting people with products and services online for years, and if youโre lucky you can find a great housesitting opportunity on this site.
7. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook has proven to be a very popular platform for local buying and selling in recent years, and it can be a great way to find paid house sitting jobs in your area. Log into Facebook and click on the โMarketplaceโ button on the left side of the user interface to get started.
Good to Know: Search for sitting jobs in your area or post an ad for your own sitting services. See what rates others are offering if youโre not sure how much to charge. Share your posting with your network of Facebook friends and post to groups to get your name out there to find paid house sitting jobs nearby.
Rent-Free Housesitting
While nothing would be better than getting paid to stay in a lovely house, these jobs arenโt always easy to come by. A majority of the housesitting jobs online are not paid house sitting jobs, but instead offer you free room and board in exchange for your services.
Good to Know: For a lot of people, staying in a beautiful home or apartment for free is just as good as getting paid. As rent or mortgages are typically the biggest expenses in most of our lives, the thought of living rent-free is especially appealing.
8. HouseCarers
HouseCarers is one of the most trusted and well-established sites for finding housesitting jobs online, connecting thousands of house sitters with excellent housesitting opportunities. To become a sitter for HouseCarers youโll need to register and create a profile. In order to register youโll need to pay a $50 annual fee.
Keep in Mind: If you arenโt sure about whether or not HouseCarers is right for you, you can register for a free account. With this account you can create a profile and choose the areas your interested in house sitting.
- When you do this, your profile will be automatically e-mailed out to all the homeowners in those specified areas. Homeowners can contact you and offer you housesitting jobs.
- The catch is that you canโt reply or accept jobs unless you register for a full paid membership, but this is a great way to test the waters and see whatโs available before you commit.
- Whatโs more, HouseCarers has an attractive referral program, which may be appealing if you have friends or relatives who are interested in becoming house sitters themselves.
- If you the person you refer signs up for a paid membership, youโll both receive an additional 6 months of paid membership for free. In addition, for each referee youโll get one referral point.
- The more referral points you have, the higher your sitter profile will appear in sitter searches.
With the option of creating a free account, there is nothing to lose.
9. House Sitters America
House Sitters America has helped connect tens of thousands of house and pet sitters over the years, and they claim to be the #1 pet and house sitting site in the US. House Sitters America charges an annual fee of $30 to register as a sitter. Once your payment is processed and you have created a profile, you can begin browsing the siteโs database of sitting opportunities until you find something that looks good for you. In addition, your sitter profile is listed in a database which is viewable to homeowners. If a homeowner likes what they see in your profile, they can read out to you and offer you a job directly, even if they donโt have a sitting ad currently posted on the site.
How Does It Work? When a homeowner reaches out to you, the House Sitters internal messaging system gives you a direct line to that homeowner. You can then discuss the details and terms of your sitting directly. After your sitting is completed, you can request for the homeowner to leave you a review. Reviews need to be approved by you before it appears on your profile, so you donโt have to worry about an unfavorable review attached to your profile.
10. Trusted HouseSitters
If you love animals, Trusted HouseSitters is the sort of housesitting site youโre looking for. Trusted HouseSitters is a housesitting service which connects sitters with individuals and families who need someone to look after their pets while theyโre away. As a sitter for Trusted HouseSitters youโll be able to stay in the home for free while looking after the pets.
How Does It Work? To register with this site, youโll need to fork up a rather costly annual fee of $119.00. This might be a deal breaker for some but given the wide variety of sitting jobs on offer, it may be worth the price. Trusted HouseSitters boasts listings from all over the US and around the world, so for those with equal parts wanderlust and love of animals, this could be the ideal option.
- You might be wondering: what happens if an animal has a medical emergency while under my care? Well, donโt worry because Trusted HouseSitters has you covered.
- They have a 24/7 emergency hotline with vet assistance, so youโll have the help you need in case of any emergencies with the animals.
- Like most housesitting sites, the process for getting started is straightforward: create an account, search for listings, apply, and start your housesitting adventure.
Good to Know: Trusted HouseSitters has a free membership option, which will let you create a profile and browse listings, but if you want to apply for jobs and communicate with homeowners, youโll need a paid account.
With sitting options in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and the UK, youโll have the chance to sit in some truly exotic and unique places.
11. Mind My House
Mind My House is a global housesitting matchmaking service that boasts the lowest membership fee of any other housesitting site. For only $20 a year youโll have access to their comprehensive database of sitting jobs.
How Does It Work? As the with other sites listed above, sitting jobs from Mind My House provide free-rent in lieu of payment. What comes with a paid membership? Mind My House offers a good variety of useful services for your money. The membership gives you access to their database of listings, letting you save, filter and search for the listing thatโs right for you. You can also set up e-mail alerts for when new listings become available in your area.
Good to Know: The site also offers templates for sitting contracts, checklists and has a detailed FAQ to help address any issues that may arise.
Youโll also receive the Mind My House monthly newsletter, with news, updates and featured listings.
12. Nomadoor
Nomadoor is another online listing for connecting homeowners with sitters around the world. Nomadoor offers free accommodation to house sitters in exchange for their services.
How Does It Work? The annual fee for Nomadoor is $89, making it neither the cheapest nor the most expensive on our list. There is also a free account option. With a free account, users can create a profile, browse selected listings and make up to 3 applications for housesitting. With the paid account, youโll receive access to the complete database of listings, be able to make unlimited applications and be placed higher up in the sitter search for homeowners.
Good to Know: Both free and paid members can sign up for email alerts from their region of choice. If thereโ a location youโve always wanted to visit, set up an alert so that youโll be notified as soon as posting appear. As you can create an account and start applying for free, there is no reason to not give it a try today.
13. Luxury House Sitting
LuxuryHouseSitting.com boasts a database of thousands of luxury house sitting jobs in exotic locations around the world. For an annual fee of $25, sitters can view their listings in the United States, Canada and internationally.
Keep in Mind: Their site features a convenient map presentation of available house sits, so users can see in which countries there are listings available at a glance. Luxury House Sitting also has a comprehensive sitter review system, whereby homeowners can leave detailed feedback on the sitter and give an impression of their overall experience.
How Does It Work? The site operates much like its contemporaries: create a profile, browse and apply for jobs, sit houses. The site offers a 60-day money back guarantee if you decide to register as a sitter and change your mind, so there is little risk to giving it a try.
Give it a try and what luxury house sitting jobs are out there for you.
14. House Sit Search
House Sit Search is a search engine for house sitting jobs. It aggregates search results from many of the services listed above such as Trusted House Sitters and HouseCarers.
Good to Know: While the site doesnโt offer jobs on its own, itโs free to use and can help you save time by searching across several different house sitting providers at once.
15. Mapahub
Mapahub is a website that helps travelers connect with others nearby. While this service isnโt specifically targeted at house sitting, it has proven to be a very popular platform for locals to connect with house sitters in their areas.
Good to Know: As a lot of would-be house sitters are travelers and โnomadsโ, a service like Mapahub may be a worthwhile investment, both for finding housesitting jobs and connecting with other like-minded travelers.
Mapahub costs a very reasonable $1 per month, and you can have a 30-day free trial if you want to give it a try first.
Final Thoughts
This concludes our survey of the best places to find paid house sitting jobs. With so many options out there, you can surely find an exciting house sitting job that suits your lifestyle.
Have you ever sat houses before? What was your experience? What is your dream house sitting location?
Leave a comment below and share your experiences!
Author:
Logan is a practicing CPA and founder of Choice Tax Relief and Money Done Right. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.