HouseCarers Review | How it Works & What To Expect

What: HouseCarers connects homeowners with house sitters who are willing to watch pets and plants in exchange for free accommodations

Expected pay: None

Husl$core: $$$$

Commissions and fees: $50 annually (for sitters); homeowners list for free

Where: Worldwide

Requirements: NA

HouseCarers Review:

HouseCarers connects homeowners with house sitters from all over the world. With this site, house sitters watch pets and take care of homes in exchange for free accommodations, not pay. This 20-year-old site aims to assist affordable travel, not employment. And, because its house listings are international, the site does not want to run afoul of restrictions that often prohibit paying non-residents to work without a Visa.

Why house sit for free? Free accommodations in a city that you want to visit are valuable. Homeowners, who can list their homes for free, also get a valuable service. This makes the site a win-win for both homeowners and sitters.

There are two ways to get housesitting jobs. You can post a profile and hope that a homeowner will contact you; or you can search the site for sits that you want.

Not Airbnb

However, the site is lax about requiring photos and details about the house that you’ll be staying in. Details about what’s required of sitters are also lacking in many cases. Are you watching over a six bedroom mansion and need to mow an acre of land to fulfill your end of the bargain? Or are you staying in a tiny apartment with a cat? Some “house sitter wanted” advertisements provide copious details and photos. Others offer only vague descriptions.

Since you’re doing a job in exchange for accommodations, that seems like an oversight to be missing so many of the details. However, the site anticipates that sitters and homeowners will work out the details through additional contact.

Recommendations

There are numerous sites that allow you to list your home — or your services — for house sitting. Most charge fees ranging from $50 to $150 for sitters. Some also charge homeowners. HouseCarers sitter fee of $50 annually is among the more reasonable. We also like the fact that it’s not automatically renewed. As one of the oldest house sitting sites, it also has plenty of sits to choose from all over the world.

If you’re interested in a domestic house sitting arrangement, also consider House Sitters America. If you’re after international house sits, also sign up with Nomador and, possibly, TrustedHousesitters. For those who want to get paid for house sitting close to home, we’d recommend Rover.