Our world is certainly ever changing at the moment, and who would have thought 2 years ago we’d be needing to ask some of the questions that now arise. There’s some really good feedback here on this topic of rising fuel costs, and as many say it’s something that will affect us all at different stages of the house sit process, both owners and sitters. We would like to think as sitters it’s fairly balanced and so we’d be unlikely to consider contributing extra on short sits.
One thing I thought this morning is that even boarding kennels are likely to start raising their prices as the cost of fuel soars in price because it affects all aspects of the supply chain, not just heating costs. I think generally the cost of travel will increase and if that’s part of our lifestyle plan, owner or sitter, we’ll need to factor that in without trying to pass those costs on.
Not fair to change the terms after acceptance. Don’t they have to heat/cool the house for the pets comfort as well? We are all experiencing inflationary cost increases for fuel, food - just about everything. If they had to board their animals for 3 weeks, this would likely cost more than the use of utilities for their home.
Thanks everyone! The owners were adament about it, so they decided to look for other sitters. Probably best this way for both parties, since it would’ve been pretty awkward in the end.
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Wow I think you had a lucky escape there! I certainly think any costs should be discussed up front and not after confirmation. There are so many sits out there I think they may struggle to find new sitters and regret their decision.
It’s very poor form on their part to do this after the sit had been agreed which indicates they’d probably find fault with something else. I think it sets a bit of a dangerous precedent to ask for contributions as the most desirable sits could end up charging us, the sitter!!! I really do think these people have forgotten that there are costs to get to a sit and the point of a sitter is that their pets are happy in their own home. That’s invaluable.
Energy prices are rising for both the homeowners and the sitters. The cost of traveling to sits has increased dramatically in recent months. So if the prospective sit would like to kick in on my travel expenses I might consider it if it’s a long sit. (A month or longer) To me this would be a red flag. Otherwise I’m deciding the sit.
I’ve come up with a formula to figure out, for myself, whether or not it’s “worth it” to drive somewhere for a sit.
I recently had someone invite me to somewhere that’s almost 4 hrs drive one way.
Not sure why they chose me?!?
I mean, I’m awesome (-‿•) but
Aside from the time spent driving, it’s expensive! (500+ miles round trip) And as a 3-night sit, it’s also an inefficient investment of 8 hours in the car for such a short trip.
I’m a retired chef! (JW 1980) I almost never sit closer than 8 hours from home.
I think we’re all getting those why me sit invites right now. People are desperate for sitters. The one I wondered about was the one in Colorado who invited me to sit for their 2 very large, known to be viscous breed dogs.
“Worth it” to me is a gorgeous house with a pet I’m already in love with 7-10 hours from home.
One of the luxuries of retirement!
As a HO, I wouldn’t ask for a sitter to pay towards utilities. I find that it’s an even exchange…You take care of my pets for free, you get someone free to stay at.
I do find that it’s tacky for the HO to ask for this after the fact. They definitely should have mentioned this in their profile. I absolutely don’t like when people pull a bait and switch. Let’s be transparent and upfront with things in the beginning, so there isn’t a waste of time.
No. Just no. Full stop. It is reasonable to discuss temperature settings before a sit -( AC at 78, not 60. Heat at 68, not 80) but asking for “contribution” for “energy prices” is ridiculous. Also a total red flag for that owner in general - they are going to be trouble in other ways. Remember it costs $30-50.00 per day to board a pet, so no decent owner is going to nit pick about this.
I wouldn’t ask for payment of utility costs but I also don’t want the A/C running 24/7, because this would cost horrendously with today’s energy prices. In Germany we are used to not having A/C at all and we had ours installed just recently. As my husband works from home he needs it during hot days but I hardly switch on the one in the bedroom, except if it’s really really hot and humid, but only for about 2 hrs before we go to sleep and then it’s turned off.
The same applies for central heating. We certainly don’t expect the sitters to sit in a cold living room but we ask for not turning it up excessively.
That whole aspect was such a learning curve for us when we started travelling in the UK and Europe. Our home has central heating and a/c. The minimum/maximum temperatures are set and it just kicks in and out whenever it’s needed and energy costs are pretty reasonable tbh. It’s such a different mind set.
Yes, except for the A/C, our central heating works like this as well. Still, it’s possible to turn it higher and for a short time this is ok, but you never know if people turn it up and then open the windows, because it’s too hot
Look into what it costs to get security checked in home pet & property sitters in the HO’s area. I bet it’s a small fortune. IF it’s available. If not they’d have to fly someone in. $$$$$ This is not “free housing.” It’s high end service labor for vacation housing. You’re worth more than a utility bill. Maybe a minimal amount for sits longer than 2 months. Otherwise… it’s a no for me.
We are looking for house sitters for a period of 5 months. Is it usual that the sitters always live for free? We are a little bit worried that the service charges will increase, for example because the sitters heat the house a lot or use a lot of water. How is this usually handled for long term sits? Is it possible to charge an amount for utilities here?
We just started a 5 month house sit in Brisbane, Australia. Our HO is very frugal when it comes to utilities (we’ve sat for her before and have a good relationship). We like to be comfortable and turn lights on more freely. We proposed, and agreed to pay a set amount per month. This is not an unusual discussion to have for a long house sit.
Are they also caring for pets, plants, yard? Or just the home? For a long sit, I would consider paying anything that’s a certain amount over the utilities for the same month last year, depending on what my other sit responsibilities are. So if you paid $100 last year and the bill this year is $150, I would pay the $50. You also have to look at who will be sitting for you. If you are a couple, it’s completely possible that your bills will go down with a single person there.
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