Has anyone done house-sitting?

[BluebirdBoogie]

I've recently got quite interested in the idea of house-sitting.

Has anyone done this and if so can you give some advice about the best way to go about it please?

Are you thinking for a job or more of a hobby/way to travel?

I do pet sitting (house at the same time) through Trusted House sitters
Occasionally a sit with no pets comes up
It's unpaid - a mutual exchange of pet care for somewhere to stay. I use it to have cheap UK breaks 5 or 6 times a year.

Are you thinking longer term? You can be a property guardian through a number of companies, where you pay reduced rent.

Or there's paid pet/house sitting, either through an agency or arranged directly. This doesn't appeal to me personally as there are stricter conditions applied.

I can PM a discount code for Trusted House sitters if you decide to go that route.

Ooh could I have a code if you have a spare one please? I do paid sits (I'm insured, DBS etc) as part of my job but it would be nice to explore other parts of the UK other than my home town!!

Long time ago as a student, there were a load of mature students on my course with a wide circle of friends ( think kind of Hampstead set with lovely houses)

One suggested it to me for a summer (probably had a castle in Tuscany, lol) and I got loads afterwards, nearly a whole academic year without paying rent.

I think there are now agencies who do it. It was certainly good for me, got to stay in some lovely places.

I'd love a discount code for Trusted Housesitters please!

@robinsnest1967 and @BlessThisMess I've pm'd a code to you both.

@Redflagsabounded Thank you so much!!

Thank you @Redflagsabounded and everyone else for your advice and experiences.

I'd like to do short breaks initially but as I'm close to retirement then longer trips appeal too.

Would love the code thank you 😄

@BluebirdBoogie I can't PM you, you may have this blocked in your settings? If you PM me, I should be able to respond.

I've also just added a post to the Money section of MNet in Promo codes and bargains.

If you have any specific questions about how it works or petsitting, please ask.

I'm currently on a return sit in Devon for a very sweet but independent cat. So far, in 2 years, most of my experiences have been excellent. There's a couple I wouldn't return to, not because of anything terrible, they just don't suit me as well and now I've got more experience and good reviews I can be a lot more picky. It can be hard to get your first couple of sits - the general advice is to look for short local or less-appealing ones to get a couple of reviews under your belt. Then it gets a lot easier.

There's a community forum as well that can give feedback on your profile.