Benefits for Sitters

House & Pet-Sitting encompasses far more than receiving free accommodation. Here’s a list of what we get from it.

1. We don’t pay accommodation costs in some of the most expensive cities in the world.
2. We get to stay in more comfortable accommodations than we typically choose or can afford.
3. We also save on food and often transport costs – self-catering & staying close to attractions.
4. We get a regular dose of fur baby love.
5. We feel good about helping other people to have a stress-free holiday.
6. We get to explore the destinations at our own pace.
7. We get insider tips to make our stays more enjoyable.
8. We aren’t subject to the bad habits of other guests.
9. Compared with a campsite or hotel room, we usually have a comfortable, well-equipped work area.
10. We can top and tail our other adventures without increasing costs
11. We make new friends by house-sitting overseas

There’s a lot more detail on the benefits as well as some of the drawbacks in The Housesitter’s Roadmap.

International House Sitting Platforms

In this section, I’ve listed the most popular house and pet-sitting platforms where you can find sits worldwide. If you want to learn more, we’ve included a section comparing them all in The Housesitter’s Roadmap, Plus, you’ll get a bonus guide with generous discounts that could save you over $230 USD!!

Trusted House Sitters – Both sitters & homeowners pay a membership fee and then a small per-sit fee. THS has the largest selection of sits and sitters but is also the most expensive, especially with their new per sit fee. We are members and get the majority of our sits through them.

1. Use THIS LINK to join Trusted Housesitter’s  for free and explore what’s on offer.

2. If you decide to join, use the DISCOUNT CODE TRUSTED15 at checkout to get 15% off any NEW THS membership. It includes:

• House sitters
• Homeowners, and
• Combined Memberships.

Save up to 60 USD!

House Carers—This site is one of the oldest platforms (since October 2000). It’s way cheaper than THS, and you can have a free trial. But it also has far fewer listings and sitters. If you sign up with the link above, you’ll get an extra 6 months on your 12-month membership.

HouseSit Match—Both sitters and homeowners pay a small membership fee. It is an international platform, with a focus on the UK, Australia, and Europe and is smaller and more personalized than THS. There is reportedly a much higher chance of getting sits than on some of the other platforms.

If you decide to join, use COTB50 at checkout for a 50% discount

Nomador – Nomador has undergone a major upgrade in the past few years. Both sitters & homeowners pay a membership fee. Quite a lot of European and long-term sits. If you decide to join, use WelcomeBug15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Mind My House – Free for homeowners. One of the cheapest sites for sitters.

Found the right platform? That’s one piece of the puzzle. The House Sitter’s Roadmap covers the rest, building a profile that gets you chosen, applying well, and handling the sit itself, so it becomes part of how you travel for years, not just a one-off trip.

Country-Specific House & Pet-Sitting Platforms

The following platforms are specific to one country or region.

USA

 Housesitters America – Free for homeowners. Free to browse. Good search filters. Reasonably priced. If you decide to join use COTB15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

UK

Housesitters UK  – Free for homeowners. Reasonable price. Free to browse. If you decide to join use COTB15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Australia

Aussie House Sitters – Free for homeowners. The greatest number of housesits in Australia. The site is free to browse. It gives cheaper rates for renewing members. If you decide to join use COTB15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Happy House Sitters – Free trial for sitters with limited functionality. Free for homeowners. It’s been going since 1999.

Mind A Home – Free for homeowners. Has a good search facility.

House Sitting Tasmania –Very specific to a small (but gorgeous) island off mainland Australia. There is far less competition and it’s a nice personal site.

New Zealand

Kiwi Housesitters – Free for homeowners. This is the largest site for NZ sits. If you decide to join use COTB15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

The Housesitting Company – Extensive screening process. Seems more hands-on with personalized service, but you have to join to learn more.

Canada

Housesitters Canada – A newer site. Free for homeowners. If you decide to join use COTB15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

Mexico

Housesit Mexico – Both sitters and homeowners pay. Free to Browse. It has a pretty good search function, and you can filter out inactive listings. This is a very successful site for Mexico and highly recommended. If you decide to join, use timsh6953b58166ecd at checkout for a 20% discount

Found the right platform? That’s one piece of the puzzle. The House Sitter’s Roadmap covers the rest, building a profile that gets you chosen, applying well, and handling the sit itself, so it becomes part of how you travel for years, not just a one-off trip.

House & Pet-Sitting Groups on Facebook

You don’t have to join a paid platform to find or post house and pet-sitting gigs, besides putting the word out to friends and family that you are available, there are a ton of  Facebook groups that connect sitters and homeowners, such as:

House Sitting and Pet Sitting

Pet +Housesitting, Travel and Digital Nomads

Housesitting International

Just search ‘House sitting’, ‘petsitting,’ and different versions of that and you’ll find a heap.

And, if you search for a location and “sitting,” e.g. “France sitting,” you can often find a group specific to that destination. Voila!

Housesitting Australia

House and Pet Sitting Greece

You’ll also find them for individual cities.

House and Petsitters – Adelaide SA

Want our full curated list of 100+ Facebook groups, kept current, plus how to actually use them to find sits, not just join and scroll? That’s Bonus 4 in The House Sitter’s Roadmap.

Housesitting is simple in theory: look after someone’s home and pets while they’re away, and stay for free. Doing it well, and making it a real part of how you travel, takes more than that.

The House Sitter’s Roadmap is a self-paced online course, 29 lessons across 8 parts, that walks you through the whole process: figuring out if housesitting is right for you, building a profile that gets you chosen, finding and applying for sits, and handling the sit itself from arrival to departure.

Immediate access to:

• The full course, plus The Workbook, containing all our checklists, templates, and examples
• Bonus 1 – Perfect Timing: The Best Times for Newbies to Find Their First Housesit
• Bonus 2 – Housesitting For Less: Exclusive Housesitting Discounts & Deals (worth over $230 USD)
• Bonus 3 – Plan B: Essential Risk Management for Savvy Housesitters
• Bonus 4 – Housesitter’s Hub: Top Facebook Groups for Finding Your Next Sit
• Access to The Sitting Room, our private community for students working through the course

One-time payment of $97 USD. Lifetime access.

See what’s inside  →

THE HOUSE SITTER’S ROADMAP

How to Get Started House & Pet-Sitting

Sitters

1. Write yourself an excellent profile. Getting this right matters more than most people realize, it’s the difference between blending into hundreds of applications and being the one they pick. (This exact step is what Part 2 of The House Sitter’s Roadmap is built around.)

2. Write up a generic application you can access from anywhere. It should be about what you can do for the homeowner, NOT what they can do for you. (We hand you a proven template for this rather than making you write one from scratch, Part 4 of the course.)

3. Choose where you want to find sits – Join the relevant groups and platforms and fill out your profile. (see the Platforms section above for options and discount codes) Weighing up which platform actually suits you, rather than just picking the biggest one, is what Part 3 of our course walks you through.

4. Set your systems up so you can apply from anywhere.

5. When you find a suitable sit, apply ASAP by personalizing your generic template. Read the listing thoroughly and address all the homeowner requirements.  Desirable listings go fast, and the biggest platform, Trusted Housesitters, has introduced a ridiculous 5-application pause function. So you need to be in the first 5 to really stand a chance. The other sites aren’t nearly as rigid, but you should still get your application in ASAP.

6. If the owner makes contact and is interested in you sitting for them, set up a voice or video call to ensure both parties are clear on the requirements and conditions. Then, if you’re happy, accept the sit immediately so you don’t waste the homeowner’s time.

7. Put 110% effort into your sits.

8. Request a review from the homeowner once you’ve completed the sit, and provide feedback to them.

9. Rinse and repeat steps 5 to 8.

These nine steps are the outline. The House Sitter’s Roadmap walks you through the process end-to-end, with the templates, scripts, and worked examples that turn “know what to do” into “actually get chosen.” If one of the steps above feels like the hard part, that’s usually the one the course spends the most time on. You can also find a lot more detail in THIS BLOG.

Homeowners

1. Clarify your expectations of a sitter and write those down. Also, be clear on any special circumstances – abnormal pet behavior, medication required.

2. Choose which platform you want to advertise your sit (see the Platforms section above for options and discount codes).

3. Make your listing attractive – Why would the sitter want to look after your home and pets? They are doing it for free, after all. Take great pictures of your pets and the living areas (sitter’s bed, bathroom, kitchen etc.)

4. Move quickly when you get applications.

5. Speak with potential sitters and ensure you are both clear on the responsibilities and details of the sit. Do not leave anything out that might discourage them (see pet behavior etc., above.) Be open and honest, or it will come back to bite you. (Excuse the pun!)

6. Choose your sitter quickly. Don’t leave people hanging. Those of us with excellent reputations get snapped up quickly.

7. Consider the comfort of your sitter when preparing for their arrival. This is a mutually beneficial exchange. They are not a servant.

8. Provide constructive feedback to them, give them an honest review, and request their feedback on you and the sit.

You can find a lot more detail in THIS BLOG.

Ready to make housesitting part of how you travel, not just once, but for years to come?

The House Sitter’s Roadmap walks you through the whole process, from landing your first sit to building the judgment that makes every sit after that even better.