What to Do When You Home Watch
A great way to earn a few extra bucks is to offer your services as a house sitter. Especially during the summer months, many families take vacations and they look for someone responsible and trustworthy to make sure their house is both safe and that all the necessities are taken care of.
Advertise yourself: Between
friends, family and co-workers you're sure to find someone who will
need your services. You also could post ads on want-ad
websites to promote your house sitting service. Make sure to
include your rates, what tasks you will complete and your
availability on the ad.Request the details of their
trip: Once you find someone who needs your house sitting
service and agree on a rate, make sure you know when they are
departing and when they are returning so you know how to organize
your daily schedule. Meet with them a day before their
departure to pick up a set of keys and whatever other supplies
you'll need such as their cell phone numbers, name of the hotel
they are staying at and emergency numbers.Complete your daily tasks:
Some of the common tasks people request are not too difficult nor
are they that time consuming. It should take no more than 45
minutes per day to complete the tasks. Normally, people will
ask for you to bring in their mail daily, water the plants, care for
their pets (if they have any) and just to make sure the house is
secure and there are no signs of break in's or vandalism.Offer to go above and beyond your duties: If you are
really close with the people you're house sitting for, you could
always offer to pick them up from the airport upon their arrival.
Most people will consider this as going above and beyond your duties
and you may get some extra pay for offering to help with something
that was not expected of you.