I’m a professional house and pet sitter and have regular clients and 1 option I use is to have the HO leave a key in an envelope and put the envelope in the garage and then they just have to give me the garage door code. Returning the key is easy and reassures me that the key is locked in the garage and pretty safe until the HO returns.
With other clients, I have spare house keys in my car’s glovebox and even a spare garage door opener.
And I do have clients that have those keypad locks on their front doors which I find really helpful. And I take the codes and laminate them to 1 of my business cards and carry the card in my pocket whenever I leave the house.
Well, I guess, I’m glad you have something to think about now? I’m not sure what that whole post was about.
The pictures I take stay on my phone for a month or so, and then when all the reviews are posted and everyone seems happy, they get deleted. I have done this for over 10 years, with my own business, as I go from house to house for my clients, sometimes private residences and sometimes Airbnb rentals. I do not want the people who rented the Airbnb to blame their damage on me, and on a blind handoff, I don’t know who else has access to the house after I’ve left. If you are addressing some specific point to me, I missed it.
Then again, I’m trying to remember a housesit I’ve done where the home had a garage with an automatic opener. It’s extremely common here in Canada, but less so in the UK and Europe, at least not at the sits I’ve done. That being said, there’s always some place safe that the home owner asks us to leave the key if we are leaving before they arrive home.
@Kelownagurl - as I’ve never traveled overseas or done any jobs outside the United States I haven’t experienced the different cultures and all the different obstacles that people encounter in different countries…
Hopefully 1 of these days I can get the money to do some traveling overseas just to see all the differences from what I experience here in a large metropolitan area just to the West of Washington DC, and to experience the different cultures…
Some interesting comments on here that have made me think. In the sits we’ve done so far we have waited for the owners to come home before leaving their dogs. This just seemed like the right thing to do and the owners were grateful for that. All UK, so no flights just driving.
But thinking back to our last sit, it felt a bit awkward when they got back and unlike when we’d met they weren’t very chatty. They were also two hours later than they said they would be, so we’d been feeling anxious and they were tired. We did leave soon after, but it felt awkward.
I’m now thinking that they probably would have preferred to come home to an empty house and not have to talk to anyone.
They had said in advance it would be fine to leave their dog before they got home but we felt it was part of our duty to stay. I think in future we should allow the homeowners final say, and then try not feel guilty if we do leave before they return. They know their dogs best after all.
The funny thing is, if it was me, I would hate to come home after a trip and have people in my house to make small talk with! So, another step on the learning curve.
After my first few sits, I also thought it may be a good idea to take photos of how things are upon my arrival, so that if I feel a need to move something during my stay, I can return it back to where it was before I leave, rather than relying on my memory to remember where things were and put them back before leaving! The fridge being a prime example of an area where I typically have to move things about sometimes to make space for my edibles.
I have agreed with your posts on this subject… I had a house sit where the HO had pricey expensive collectables and I was nervous as heck with it all, I swear the total cost of it all would of been thousands of dollars.
Curious do most sitters leave the sit, once they know the HO is safely back in the area?or do you wait till they are actually back home? Is there some kind of golden rule or is is it case by case? Thanks
Curious do most sitters leave the sit, once they know the HO is safely back in the area?or do you wait till they are actually back home? Is there some kind of golden rule or is is it case by case? Thanks
It really depends upon what the hosts wants the sitters to do. Many hosts are tired from their travels and prefer the sitters to leave prior to their return. Some prefer the sitters to stay until they return and will offer for them to stay an extra night if needed. Since Covid, most of my hosts seem to prefer for us to leave prior to their arrival. Sits seem more transactional than they were prior to Covid, but others may have had different experiences.
Hi @NovaStar. There is no one rule fits all here. You need to discuss what the HO wants. I’ve done sits with HOs where I’ve not met them, met them at the start or at the end of the sit.
As always best chatting with HO before accepting any sit and finding out there expectations!
@NovaStar it’s not only what the HO wants, it’s also what works good for the sitter! Personally, we like to leave when we know the HO is safely nearby and will be home soon, because we want to give them space to come back to their clean home and connect with their pets and their home. We don’t want to be in the way, that’s certainly how it feels to us. Other times sitters might need to leave a bit earlier to start another sit. Sometimes they HO’s insists on the sitters being there on their arrival, which is also fine, but best clarified before.
It’s been our experience that the HO would prefer to arrive home once the sitters have left. It’s typically been a long day of travel for them, and usually also arrive much later in the day. We had one instance where they Insisted we stay and spend the night, then we shared a nice breakfast before they dropped us off at our hotel. Each circumstance can be completely different, but all seem to work just fine.
To my opinion it takes two to tango. The wishes of the HO and also the wishes of the sitter should make both parties happy. We prefer to have a night earlier offered (most times with a nice and yummie dinner together) so we can all get to know eachother better. For me it then feels we are helping out friends more than strangers, and for the houseowners they have less strangers in their house. Also for the pets it is better to get to know the sitters a bit, so the departure of the HO next morning is of less impact as they often already somewhat bonded to us.
It all depends on the home situation of the HO too, if there is only one bedroom there is not much choice We once were asked to leave during the day, and with cats that is not a prolem so much. We washed the linen and made the bed for hem and pushed the key in the door letterbox to leave the house. Really trying to remember we have all our stuff as than there was no way back in…
We do prefer being offered an extra night, leaving next morning after breakfast. When HO’s really are exhausted we can see that and remove ourselves quietly, making an evening stroll (with dog of course to still help out) and retreat in the guestroom with a book, giving them the space to “land”. We often offer making dinner for them, which is appreciated. It all is indeed in the communication and intuition, and being honest about things.
Me neither. I was quite worried by it. It undermines trust. I always had excellent reviews but I’ve never taken a picture or video of how Ive left the place. Now I’m worried this will be come standard
.
We once were asked to leave during the day, and with cats that is not a prolem so much. We washed the linen and made the bed for hem and pushed the key in the door letterbox to leave the house. Really trying to remember we have all our stuff as than there was no way back in…