House-Sitting – FAQs – Magic Travel Blog

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Do we charge for pet-sitting / house-sitting?

With most house-sitting gigs, the requirements are fairly simple. For example, look after your house; feed and take care of your pets; collect mail; and try to keep your vegetables alive.

At times like this, we prefer the offer of free accommodation and utilities including internet in return for carrying out all pet and house sitting duties. Therefore, we do not charge for our services.

For house-sits that involve unexpected travel costs or we are requested at last-minute, we will discuss any possible costs in detail beforehand.

What's our availability?

We do have a calendar that we do try to keep up to date, but things change so quickly so if you are wanting house-sitters then contact us just in case.

Where are we able to house-sit?

We are Australian citizens therefore have Australian Passports. Andrew also holds a British passport. Therefore, we are able to house-sit practically anywhere in the world.

We like to check on all visa conditions prior to accepting a house-sitting gig just to make sure it is feasible. There is nothing worse than having to complete a visa run 5 days before the end of a house-sitting gig!

Do you have police clearances?

Yes we do. We have Australian Federal Police Clearances that we are happy to show you. We also have a number of professional and character references that you can view online.

What do we do all day?

Between all of our daily tasks that we are asked to do when we look after your pets and house, we spend quite a few hours on our computers working on our websites, studying and creating software.

Beyond our computers we like to go on long walks, read non-fiction and cook meals occasionally.

Yes, we are quite boring aren't we? Luckily, we love spending time with each other. We get along really well and are always happy to be with each other at home. Wherever that may be for today.

Because we do spend so much time at home, your property and all your pets are very well looked after.

By the way, we really aren't party people. One glass of wine and Tanya's asleep on the couch!

What about a handover?

Handovers are very important when house and pet sitting. Even though we are very thorough in email, skype and telephone calls when discussing all tasks and pet diets, a handover is important.

This is when we find out the nitty gritty things that we need to know. For example, which bowl the cat will only eat out of; what's the best way to clean the tropical fish tank; and how much poultry dust we need to put on the chicken coop bedding.

At the end of the house-sit period, we like to complete another handover if possible just to make sure the home-owners are happy with their pets and homes.

The handovers at the start and end of the house-sitting gig can be anything from thirty minutes to a couple of days.

Do you need to use my car?

For housesits in southern Western Australia, we will have our own car to drive. House-sits in other parts of Australia and the world, we may need to borrow a car or motorbike (or scooter) during the gig.

We both have qualified car Australian Driving Licenses that are current. Andrew also has a restricted motorbike license up to 250cc. Tanya is qualified at being a pillion.

We are happy to discuss this further with you. On a side note, some homeowners like us to start their vehicles on a regular basis during the house-sit period, we are happy to do this for you.

What happens if there are problems?

As we are very responsible house-sitters, we will ask you for contact details for people that would be able to help us if need be.

Examples of preferred contact details that we request are:
Vets, Plumber, Electrician, Tropical Aquarium Technician, ISP details, Handy man

We will also ask you for details of an emergency contact person or two. We will only contact these people when we are desperate, and if we are not able to get in contact with you.

Will we be keeping in contact with you regularly?

Absolutely! We like to write a week in review email every Monday. This review includes updates on your animals, your home, any phone messages, details of your mail, etc.

Of course, if anything comes up that is important, we will contact your straight away.

If you prefer to be contacted less or more often, via email or skype, we can do this also.

Do we have a house-sitting agreement?

Yes, we do have a house-sitting agreement that is very easy to read and complete for both parties. As soon as both parties agree to house-sit (after lengthy emails, phone calls, or Skype calls), we will put the house-sitting agreement up in google docs so that we can edit it together.

On this agreement, we state the dates of the house-sit, all details of vet, house repairers and emergency contact details, along with others.

Will we stay in your home?

As house-sitters, we will be staying in your home. We will stay in whichever room you prefer us to stay in. Just let us know.

Do we use your linen and food?

We supply our own food but do request that we can use some kitchen staple food items like herbs and spices. Of course, if we finish something, we will replace it straight away. We will use your kitchen equipment. During the handover period, we will ask you what we can and can't use.

As for bedding, we prefer to use your sheets, as we don't travel with all the different sized sheet sets! We will strip, wash and remake the bed for your return.

We request that home owners have enough pet food to cover the length of our house-sitting gig. Some home-owners like to have an emergency stash fund that they leave with us to cover any possible costs that may occur.

Will you be using our home telephone?

We rarely use the home phone when we house-sit as we have our own mobile phones and / or use Skype to make calls. Occasionally, we will use the home phone to call a local number only.

Please note that we work online so we need at least a basic but very reliable internet connection. We use our own laptops for this.