Seneca Ohio homeowner finds her Home has quite a following

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"This is the third housesitter I have found through this website.

Housecarers.com is definitely the best.

The first time I used housecarers and two other housesitting websites. The second time I used housecarers and one other site. This time I only used housecarers.com and found that my home had quite a following.

I found the perfect housesitter in two days and have a list of 10 other sitters who want to be notified when I need my next housesitter.

Your website is well organized and easy to use. Thank you for such a wonderful service"

House Sit Details:

Seneca (County Seat of Rural town) Ohio United States

Looking for someone (single or couple) willing to mow the lawn and take care of a craftsman style home built in 1911 in a small rural community in Northwest Ohio.

Home has been recently renovated and shouldn't need any repairs. The house has a large L-shaped porch with beautiful wicker furniture. There is a baby grand piano in the living room. The bedrooms are on the second floor and include two antique bedroom sets. Bathroom has original claw-footed tub (which means your bathwater will stay warmer longer).

Friendly town and friendly neighbors, near walking distance to several churches, downtown, public library.

There is a front lawn that needs mowing/tending but you don't need to take care of any pets.

I provide the high speed internet, cable TV and digital phone service. You pay for the other utilities. F.Y.I. My current sitter is leaving because he couldn't handle the snow. I will really miss him because he was fantastic. He repaired our SUV and it is available for your use.

References and photos will be required.

Belfast, A City Reinventing Itself

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Belfast is a great city to experience while House sitting.

The roads of Belfast, so recently patrolled by army vehicles, are now witness to a new phenomenon, tourist buses. Until the relatively recent end to the conflict known broadly as the ‘troubles’ few people would have considered Belfast as a tourist destination. Now, with the terrorist threat mostly gone, the city enjoys a growing number of visitors each year.
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Read entire article .. Belfast, A City Reinventing Itself

An 7.0 earthquake has devastated Haiti. They need your help now! Get involved in the relief efforts :

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An 7.0 earthquake has devastated Haiti. They need your help now! Get involved in the relief efforts at :

http://bit.ly/78jhkJ

House Sitters highstandards recount their house sitting highs and challenges

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Thanks to housecarers.com 2009 found us making the easy decision to continue our house sitting life, which started off as a means of visiting and spending quality time with grandchildren and their parents, in New Zealand and Australia. With the birth in 2009 of our 4th grandchild, this was still our main purpose, but we love traveling and treated ourselves to a few house sits in interesting places, where house sitting offered the opportunity to meet people and experience the local culture.


On the family side, we had a rocky start to 2009, when, in February, our 18 month old grandson Luke was seriously injured, when a large car-park gate came off its runners and fell on him. This happened only a day after his Mum and Dad came home with a new baby. As this coincided with a gap in our schedule, we hastily secured a house sit in Sydney after only a few days search. Thanks to house sitting we were able to assist with his care, and after 3 months in plaster from chest to ankles, we watched as he learnt to walk again, and he made a full recovery.


The highlight this year was having our family together at Christmas for the first time in 12 years, while looking after Pepper, a dear little Bijon Fries/Maltese, (for the second time), on the Central Coast, NSW. This house and pet sit is in a great location with swimming and surf beaches, cycle trails, a golf course and 3 shopping malls nearby. It was an exciting few days as the NZ grandchildren met their Aussie based cousins for the first time. A happy ending to the year, after a rather scary start, this reunion could not have happened without the benefit of house sitting, and the generous attitude of the owners who have become more like friends.


All the sits throughout the year have been great and we had several loveable pets to look after, and a few farm animals - old, young, large and small. Our four-legged friends help to keep our fitness levels up, and keep us surprisingly busy. We do appreciate the homeowners' trust and confidence in us, allowing us to stay in their homes, drive their cars, and in return we take our job of looking after their homes and pets very seriously. At all times their requests and instructions are followed with great care. It is so special to go back to visit the house owners at a later date, and receive a warm welcome from them and excited tail-wagging from their pets.


While in Sydney we were interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald, and an article on house sitting appeared in the paper as a result.


Another highlight of 2009 was a very enjoyable 6 week break in Tahiti where we cared for Hiro, an elderly, lovable pitbull, in his home in the village of Papara. Coconuts, breadfruit, bananas, pineapple and limes grew in the large garden, and a daily swim at the local beach was a short stroll away. We were able to buy fresh fish and vegetables from nearby roadside stalls, and enjoyed extending our diet to include local delights such as raw fish, and making mango and lime marmalade, leaving some for the owner on her return. Challenges such as mastering the outdoor washing machine (which had a tendency to go walkabout, and sounded like a plane taking off!), and communicating with the friendly locals in our very limited French, added to the fun. New friends were made, and a very special Tahitian family, Jean-Marie & Anne-Marie welcomed us into their home, and we were privileged to spend time with their family and their Tahitian Cultural Dance Group. We will never forget the time we spent with this group of young dancers and musicians, and the stunning concert performance they gave on a magical evening, shortly before we left.

Back in rural New Zealand, we can't forget helping to get a Highland bull into a horse float, or our week on a lifestyle block in Timaru, chasing sheep through invisible fences, and keeping a discrete "eyes right" while the local calendar girls did their photo shoot in the sunflower paddock!


In Australia, not to be forgotten was a side trip up the NSW coast, and through delightful villages inland. On the road we enjoyed meeting with a group of bikies on the way to a festival, and we won’t forget getting lost while trying to find Slim Dusty’s Pub with no Beer! We finally arrived at 5pm having made the mistake of following an inaccurate tourist map, which led us up and down dale along winding roads leading to a padlocked farm gate at the top of a mountain! With the advice of the farmer’s wife, and with the petrol tank and our liquid intake on “nearly empty”, we finally found it after miles of back-tracking along steep, unsealed roads, on a very hot day. The pub was well stocked that day, and that beer was sorely needed!

So we are now at the beginning of another year, and are planning our schedule. But as 2009 taught us, house sitting is full of surprises. We have 3 sits lined up already, but who knows what surprises are around the next corner. We are open to suggestions and housecarers.com is sure to deliver!


Lois and Kevin (highstandards)
View Profile for house sitters Highstandards

HouseCarers member recounts his 3 month Italian house sitting experiences

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"Make yourself at home with a spot of house-sitting. Are you broke post-Christmas? Then try house-sitting and you could find yourself staying in the lap of luxury – for free"

Read full Guardian account, House sitting in Italy

Sitters orchard47 meet new friends throughout Australia

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"Even though our personal circumstances will change later this year, we inted to continue to be members of Housecarers.com

It is a wonderfull organisation that has provided us with fantastic opportunities to meet and make new friends whilst we travel throughout Australia.

Thanking you Lynette House sitters orchard47

Follow Housecarers on Twitter

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Follow housecarers on twitter. For punchy updates on tips, resources, the unusual, the unexpected, the excitement, the outstanding opportunites, the adventures, the hilarious, and all related to housesitting.

Follow Housecarers on Twitter

Benefits of Off-Season Travel

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While it may be very exciting for a person to be in the thick of action during any event, the same cannot be said of travelling during the high season. Sometimes, a trip during peak tourist season is unavoidable, as this is when most people are able to go on holiday. Travelling during the off-season, though, can be a remarkably different experience.

The first and most noticeable attraction of low-season travel is how much more affordable things are. If you've always wanted to go but were discouraged by the prices, now is the time to book cheap airline tickets to Florida. It's not just airlines that reduce prices when the flow of tourists slows down to a trickle. Hotels, tour agencies and car rental agencies have to make every effort count to attract business and stay afloat. This means you have the chance to enjoy savings of up to 50 percent for a nice room, with the possibility of receiving an upgrade to an even better room and other special offers and gifts.

Aside from enjoying a more cost-effective trip, a low-season traveler wouldn't have to jostle through crowds of fellow tourists just to get glimpse of a famous monument or get from Point A to Point B. All that extra space would make trips to the beach so much more enjoyable too. You can take your time composing a gorgeous photograph of the sunset without worrying about an inconsiderate fellow traveler stepping into the frame and spoiling the shot. Even the locals might be friendlier in the absence of large groups of boorish travelers.

Before you rush out to the travel agency though, you should be aware of the reason a low-season exists for your dream destination. If it's largely based on the holiday period, then you don't have to worry much. However, the weather can make or break your off-season holiday. For instance, booking a trip to Asia during the monsoon season is just one way of setting yourself up for a miserable time. Other destinations may be completely inaccessible to outsiders during the winter, such as the Rocky Mountain National Park.

There are also some towns that virtually shut down when the tourists leave. Most of the time, business owners use this period to carry out maintenance and repair work. Neglecting to make enquiries beforehand may mean arriving at a fabulous hotel whose west wing is currently undergoing maintenance, or is located beside a site where construction is being carried out. There's also a chance that museums and monuments might be closed to public at these times too.

To avoid disappointment, it's best to enquire at your dream destination's local tourist bureau for the timing and reason for their low season. Hotels, airlines and travel agencies in the area may have different definitions of the off-peak period, but it's highly likely that you'll find a happy medium if you take the time to do a bit of research.

Enjoy your time away without the worries.

Match up with a Housesitter to
care for your home and mind your pets.


By Angela Yorke

House sitters Libertybelle sit 8 months from Brisbane to Bass Straight

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We have had a very busy year with sits ranging from Brisbane to overlooking the Bass strait!!

And some strange experiences like agreeing to mind 4 breeding Cavalier Spaniels and on arrival finding that that was an understatement. We ended up with 13 dogs, 2 horses, 4 chooks, 4 Parrots, a cat and 4 fish!!

We were responsible for caring fro two pedigree litter one from birth to 7 weeks old, a litter of five pups. They were lucky we were agreeable people and that they still got to go off to Canada for 8 weeks!! ( even though it took us 48 hours to get the farm house up to a hygienic state).

However we now have some great references and are off to NZ for 4 months then back to Bundaberg to do another 2 months for a newly retired couple up there.

We have been away for 8 months this year and probably at least that next year.. keep up the good work.
It's a great site.

Merry Christmas
Jenny and David (Libertybelle)

House sitters Libertybelle profile

Sitters Sauni and Ken sit a Virginian log cabin and explore new horizons

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Thru Housecarers, we had the most delightful experience this summer housesitting for a most interesting couple in Virginia on 70 acres of land living in a log cabin, caring for their dear dogs, chickens, rabbitts,a falcon, a hawk, (the owner is a Falconer)

The couple were terrific, introduced us to some of their friends at a dinner party. It just couldn't have been a more perfect opportunity to help out and explore new environs. Thank you! Sauni and Ken ... ROSACAMILLE

View profile for sitters ROSACAMILLE

Camano Island Washington USA homeowner gets a win win result after choosing a house/cat sitter for 3 month housesit.

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"Thank you for a successful adventure for us finding a house/cat sitter.

We have been very pleased with the rapid response of so many qualified applicants to our ad.

We are happy with our selection, and believe he will be happy staying in and caring for our house.

A win win result. You are providing an excellent service."... Camanonana

Housesit details:

3 months Rural Camano Island,Washington USA

We are hoping to find a couple who will live here, and care for our cat, Sam. Our 3500 sq. ft. house, built in 2000, is on five wooded acres on an island (with a bridge), with water and mountain views.

We are 20 miles west of I-5, two hours from the Vancouver BC border where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in February, and 1 1/2 hours from downtown Seattle. We are walking distance from two State Parks, Camano Island State Park and Cama Beach State Park, both with beaches and wildlife and no crowds.

For skiing, snowboarding, crosscountry skiings, and snowshoeing, the North Cascades are a day trip.

DaisyandMarigold find a lovely siter couple from Canberra to mind Collingwood Melbourne house and cats, close to the cafes, restaurants, shops and ba

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"Hi - just want to thank you for your impressive website and house sitting service. I've organised a lovely couple from Canberra to sit my house and cats, and had about 14 responses... Pam (DaisyandMarigold)"

House sit details: Collingwood Melbourne VIC Australia

I'm looking for a pet-loving house sitter from December 23 - 29, 2009. I have a lovely 2 bedroom terrace house in Collingwood, with a garden and vege garden.

My two beautiful cats, Daisy and Marigold, love affection and cuddles. My home is close to the cafes, restaurants, shops and bars of Smith St, Gertrude St and Brunswick St in Fitzroy and Lygon St in Carlton.

Responsible sitter essential, and I'd prefer a female or couple without kids who'd be happy to water the garden (rain water tank and 1 day of mains water. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you

Sitters timeforchange line up the housesits in USA and Canada

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"Just a note to let you know how great we are finding this service we have so far secured 2 housits 1 for 2 weeks in calgary and we are then moving onto edmonton Canada for a six week housesit.

We have now updated our profile and are now hoping to find something for a month in new york.We start on New Years Eve and cant wait to meet the people we going to housesit for.What a great adventure we are going to be on."

Sharon (timeforchange)

View profile of house sitters timeforchange

Sitter RespProfessional holidays by house sitting for 5 years

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We're currently on holdiays... and of course once againe we are house sitting. This time in Cairns QLD.

This will be our fifthe year of house-sitting for our holidays.

We're so please to have discovered it - and to have the service HouseCarers as a way of arranging it each time.... Carol (RespProfessional)


View profile for house sitters RespProfessional

Delightful couple visiting their daughter in Sydney from Ireland found for Upper North Shore Sydney Housesit

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Hi Ian

"Just to let you know I have successfully found someone to look after my home, and dog, while I am away over Christmas/New Year period. They are a delightful couple visiting their daughter in Sydney from Ireland. I feel that the benefits for both of us will be mutual.


I will certainly recommend your service. I found that I had many, replies – I actually lost count – and felt reassured that the “right fit” would be achieved. I also tried another service – which had fees involved, and they were only able to send through one applicant, who was not suitable.
Many thanks"

Sally Billie3357

House sit details:

Upper North Shore, Sydney NSW
3 weeks AvailFromDate = 2009-12-15

I have a Miniature Schnauzer dog, aged 10, who is blind. While we are away it is important for her to stay in the family home as she knows her way around it very well and is no trouble.

I am looking for someone, or a family, to love her while we are away. Our home is 4 bedroom, A/C, Swimming Pool and is walk to shops and bus stops. It is 25 minute drive to Sydney CBD and 20 minutes drive to many beaches. If you feel you could look after her, and water the garden, we would very much like to hear from you.

Coffs Harbour homeowner gives rap for retired housesitters WeCare

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"I recently used your service for the first time to find house sitters for my home and animals.

The response I had to my add was amazing.So many genuine people applied it was difficult to choose.The couple I chose,Barney and Sandy (House Sitters username Wecare) were an absolute delight and I would thoroughly reccommend them to anyone.

The animals had a ball and my home and car were sparkling when I returned.A big thank you to House Carers for a fantastic service and to Barney and Sandy for a great job.
Kind Regards Jenny (username Kalmiah)

Housesit Details: Coffs Harbour NSW, Australia
16 days From Sept 7 2009

I need a caring person/persons to look after my 2 dogs and cat.

Sprat is a small terrier cross and Tiffy a look alike Disney shaggy dog(clipped at the moment) Tootsie is a geriatric Birman cat who sleeps most of the time.

I live in a nearly new 3 bedroom townhouse 2 minutes from the CBD of Coffs Harbour. With beautiful mountain views from the front and back of the house I am only 5 minutes from main beach and Jetty areas. There is an enclosed dog park 2 minutes away and I walk the dogs there every morning.I would like you to be able to continue to do this. Other than that your time is free to enjoy this beautiful area.

Housesitter found to experience Irish rural life 90 minutes drive south of Dublin in the rolling countryside of County Wicklow Ireland

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"I just want to say how impressed we are with the efficiency and scope of your service.

We received an excellent response to our search for housesitters and have made arrangements with one of the partys to cover for us while we're away for 10 weeks. We'll report further in completion of the assignment.

Maenwhile, many thanks for allowing us to avail of your fantastic concept!

Richard & Grania, (Wicklowway)

P.S.
We have replied to all unsuccessful enquirers.


Housesit details: 10 weeks from 2009-11-22

County Wicklow 90 mins south of Dublin Ireland

We're seeking a practical couple to house-sit our property, pets (2 dogs, cat, hens, 2 horses and 2 donkeys) and 5 acre smallholding located about 90 minutes drive south of Dublin in the rolling countryside of County Wicklow, while we're absent from 26 November 09 until 31 January 2010.

Although December and January are not Ireland's best month's weather-wise -too little sun too much rain- the "cold spells" temperature seldom drops more that a couple of degrees below freezing.

This is an ideal opportunity for a mature and practical couple who want to experience Irish rural life, be within easy access of a capital city and spend Christmas away from it all in the company of a few special friends who could join them for the festive season. If interested in finding out more, please get in touch via Housecarers . We look forward to hearing from you

Housesitters CaringDuo land housesit for gorgeous home in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming

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"I wanted you to know that we are presently house sitting a gorgeous home in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. We found the house sit through your site, all the pieces fell into place, and we plan to be here for perhaps 3 years.

The couple who own the house are delightful and happy to have us here. They are in Houston working on a goverment contract and have told us that they have piece of mind knowing that we are caring for their property.

You have a great service and I wish you much success. As you can tell from our renewal, we still what to keep ourselves briefed on what is available - we could leave here for a short house sit (vacation) in the region."

View profile for house sitters CaringDuo

Exessive charges being asked by some Canadian homeowners

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There appears to be a practice in Canada where homeowners are asking up to 800 a month for utiliites. This is not in the spirit of housesitting, particularily when considering the benefits a house sitter brings - and the alternate high cost of leaving a vacant home eg costs of winterizing a home. Stata or Condo fees should not be included in the utilities as - condo owner has to pay monthly regardless of  occupancy.

I am including below a comment from a Canadian house sitter:

The posters are definitely calling their charges utilities, not rent. However, if the posters couldn't find a housesitter, they would have to pay someone to remove snow from their sidewalk, rake leaves or water plants; or put some effort into what's called "winterizing" your home if you want to shut it down for the winter.

And finding a short term renter through traditional means is difficult, so they use your site to do it. In some ways a housesitter is doing them a favour: they want their house occupied while they're away, yet they want to charge for it. I live on the southwest coast, so can't say what heating costs are in colder areas, but $800 for all utilities is absurd, particularly in this Alberta case where they're called "strata fees" — a fee a Canadian condo owner has to pay monthly regardless of occupancy.


This is what we say in our guidelines:

"Other recurring bills such as phone rental, rates, condo association fees, body corporate fees, strata fees, local council rates, water, sewer, cable TV rental, ISP rental, or property taxes usually remain the responsibility of the owner. If your arrangement will be 12 months or more in duration, you might consider allocating all or a portion of the recurring bills to the house sitter


We urge you to incorporate your utility/tax payment conditions in your written contract."

Peacehousesitter shares her Bundanoon Pet sitting experience, including a blind Parrot

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Just wanted to give you some feedback from recent experiences.

Bundanoon was great, the Arts Festival was on and the house was fabulous. Looked after a little old cat and a very old bird who gave me wolf whistles all day. I would like to take that as a compliment but he was mostly blind. I found her books very interesting as we had a lot of the same interests,,, Jeanette

Peacehousesitter