***Today’s Trusted House Sitters review is written by the lovely Laura Sharples of AnywhereSheRoams. Laura has extensive experience of using Trusted House Sitters in many different locations around the World.***
TrustedHousesitters is a global marketplace that has cleverly merged the pet and travel industries. It has opened doors to people all over the world who want to offer each other a trust-based, honest and money-free exchange of services.
The following scenario breaks the gist of TrustedHouseSitters down into 2 easy steps:
- Homeowners who are in need of pet and/or property care whilst away.
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- Housesitters/travellers who want to explore a new destination, are seeking accommodation and who are willing to take over the daily responsibilities of looking after a home. *Warning* this may, or may not, include looking after some furry companions as well.
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A win-win solution for both parties involved.
House Sitting, however, is not a concept that should be taken lightly. It is actually quite a big responsibility. The home owner is leaving you in charge of their home and often pets and plants, and they expect to come back to everything being in the best possible shape. Plus, homeowners will naturally have a few jobs listed down for taking care of their property (especially if it is a longer sit).
It is worth a mention before we go any further that TrustedHousesitters do not liaise with any of the members and they are not responsible for listings nor sitters, it is largely based on trust between members. Clear communication between both parties is very important to ensure that you both reach a mutual and happy agreement.
They do however, have a great help section on their site, should you need their support and a call center which is manned Monday – Friday. They also have automated chat support and e-mail should you need their help at any point.
Trusted House Sitters Review – Why use it?
Since TrustedHousesitters was first launched in 2010, it has very rapidly become the largest house sitting website online.
Their mission is to create ‘an innovative approach to facilitating high-quality pet care and ethical, authentic travel experiences at a minimal cost.’
Overall TrustedHousesitters.com has helped enable over 1 million house & pet sitting nights in over 130 countries – that is a lot of very happy pets, owners and sitters!
Whilst there are a handful of other great house sitting websites out there TrustedHousesitters has grown into a niche of its own and does a fantastic job of connecting thousands of home and pet owners with care-orientated sitters.
The perks of TrustedHousesitters being such a big community means that most pet owners will pick this site for a listing when they need to go on holiday. This is great news if you are a sitter because it means there are thousands of opportunities to choose from all over the globe.
If you want to start locally you can and English speaking nations seem to be the most popular destinations on this platform. Therefore, if you fancy a break away visiting the top British sites or hiking through Canada, New Zealand or Australia then you will not be short of options. However, there are also plenty of opportunities if you feel like house sitting somewhere more exotic such as Morocco or Thailand.
How Trusted House Sitters Works
Thanks to their sleek website and the user-friendly interface – TrustedHousesitters is very simple and easy to navigate around.
Step One: Choose your membership
There are a couple of options that you can choose from to become a part of the TrustedHousesitters community.
- You can choose the option of being either a sitter or an owner with the annual membership fee being £99.00 ($131) which works out at £8.25 ($10.96) per month.
- Or you can purchase a combined membership, where you get the perks of both a sitter and owner membership for £149.00 ($198) annually, which works out at £12.45 ($16.54) per month.
Step Two: Set up your profile
TrustedHousesitters is essentially a matchmaking website – therefore, if you want to attract the best possible matches then you need to make sure to spend time making your profile stand out.
It is best to think of your profile as a CV or a cover letter for a job.
You should list your previous experience with home / pet care, and back up any statements that you make with sufficient evidence.
Explain who you are and why you are travelling and a bit about your lifestyle and interests.
The main thing to remember is to keep your profile professional. A home owner is looking for a sitter they are going to want someone who is responsible and who they feel they can trust, not someone who is simply looking for free accommodation.
Ensure to write a catchy headline for your profile and choose a profile picture that is relevant. This will really help you to stand out from the crowd and provide insight into your personality quickly.
Try to get as many legitimate reviews as possible, this will go a long way to backing up your written statement and will help people who are potentially interested build up a better picture of you, and how reliable / helpful you are.
If you are new to TrustedHousesitters and the whole house sitting process, don’t worry. You have probably accumulated more experience than you realise – take a moment to think about experiences you have had in the past. Have you owned your own pets? Looked after your friend’s pets while they were away? Walked the neighbour’s dog? Every little experience counts and goes towards painting a picture of you in a more appealing light.
The main thing to remember is to let your personality shine through!
Step Three: Apply Apply Apply!
When you think your profile is perfect and attractive, you can start searching for assignments.
Searching the assignments is very straightforward and convenient. You can filter results by date, destination, or pet.
Once you have a membership you will be able to gain access to see how many applications a potential sit has. Keep in mind that the good ones get snapped up pretty quickly so it is a good idea to get in the habit of checking the site frequently if you have dates in mind. New opportunities are continuously added.
Once you have applied for a sit and there is a mutual interest on both sides of the application then it is great then you may want to consider arranging a phone or video call. This is not a pre-requisit by any means, but it can certainly help you to get to know one another better.
Who can be a TrustedHousesitter?
The answer is ANYONE.
The only stipulation as part of the TrustedHousesitter policy is that you are over 21 years of age. Apart from that, as long as you think you would be a great fit for the job and you can explain why, then you will be in with a shot of landing your dream house sit.
Plus, each sit is unique and the homeowner will choose the sitter they feel can best fulfil the brief set out in their advertisement. You might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but you will be someones – that is the great thing about it being such a large and friendly community.
The benefits of using Trusted Housesitters
There are so many benefits of getting a TrustedHousesitters membership for both the sitter and the owner. Below are just a few key examples:
- The cost. For the cost of small membership price you are opening up a world of opportunities. It is a great way to travel on a smaller budget. Take the annual sitter membership for example, if you were to break that down into a daily amount – that is 27p per day for a whole years worth of accommodation. The potential of fiding sits is up to you and how frequently you are able / want to travel.
- Pets are happier at home. Pets are so much happier when they are at home in an environment they know.
- User-friendly site. As mentioned earlier, the TrustedHousesitters website could not be easier to navigate your way around. It is easy to narrow your search to find specific regions and destinations that you are interested in, as well as being able to specify what pets you would prefer to sit. They also have the options of a grid view, a list view, and a map view, all of which are super convenient to use.
- Great Profiles. Having the option to create informative profiles means you can really get to know a lot about an owner or a sitter before you apply. Therefore you can judge if an opportunity is something you are comfortable with before you apply.
- Secure. TrustedHousesitters works with three levels of verification. The basic level includes email verification, phone number verification, and the option to include an external reference to endorse your trustworthiness. The standard level includes an identification document check and the enhanced level includes a criminal background check. You do have to pay to get the enhanced level.
- Vet advice line. As a TrustedHousesitters member, you get unlimited free advice from a team of veterinarians, who are at your disposal 24/7. This service is available during your entire membership, not only during your assignments.
- Two-way rating. TrustedHousesitters work with a two-way rating system. This means that the homeowner can rate the house sitter once an assignment is completed, and the house sitter can also rate the homeowner.
Trusted House Sitters Review – A Successful House Sit Experience
I joined TrustedHousesitters last year as a way to extend my travels on a friendlier budget as well as gain more experience looking after animals. After being a member of couchsurfing for some time, I had become used to staying in other peoples homes, whilst I travel. For me one of the best things about travelling is meeting the locals and making new friends all over the globe – so it only seemed natural to build up a house sitting profile.
Since launching my housesitting membership I have been fortunate to land some truly lovely housesits in fantastic locations. I have shared meals and laughs with the owners which has led to great friendships as well as getting to look after some truly adorable animals.
So what is my overall Trusted House Sitters review? In short, I love this new world of travel that has been opened up through this innovative platform. Trustedhousesitters is your best bet to get into house sitting whether you’re looking for one per year, several, or to house sit full-time.
Accolades
2018 Winner, Amazon Growing Business Awards, Growing Business of the Year: Smaller Company
2018 Winner, The Drum Social Buzz Awards, Community Manager of the Year
2018 Winner, Effective Mobile Marketing Awards, Most Effective B2C App
2018 Winner, Effective Mobile Marketing Awards, Most Effective CRM Campaign
2017 Awardee, Sharing Economy UK, TrustSeal Kitemark for Good Practices
2016 Winner, The Lovie Awards, Best Community Website
2016 Winner, Virgin VOOM Competition
If you enjoyed this Trusted House Sitters review then you might also like to read about Worldpackers. It’s a site that allows you to trade skills such as gardening, DIY and web development for accommodation around the world.