This post on international house sitting shares why it’s a great idea to go abroad and housesit as well as how to become a house sitter abroad.
International house sitting is a traveler’s dream when you think about all the perks.
You get to save money on accommodation and sometimes rent as well, which means you’ll have more money for flights, food and activities.
You get to live like a local, and of course, best of all, you get to surround yourself with lots of cuddly pets (since most people who look for house sitters are those with pets).
Keep reading to find out why you’ll want to become a house sitter abroad and my best tips on how to become a house sitter today.
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Why Get Started With International House Sitting
If you want to save money while traveling, international house sitting is the way to go. It’s one of the best international travel tips to money on accommodation, and as a result, have more to spend on food, flights and experiences! With so many places to visit in the world, you can even travel more.
You can travel for weeks and sometimes even months through house sitting. Think of all the money you can save on hotels and/or Airbnbs.
If you are able to get consecutive international house sitting jobs, then you can even forgo having your own place and save money on rent.
However, because you can save so much money, competition for house sitting, especially abroad, can be fierce.
As a result, just like anything else, becoming an expert house sitter to grab the dream homes to house sit, you’ll have to build up a portfolio and ratings over time.
Step by Step Guide on How to Become a House Sitter Abroad
1. Sign up for a reputable international house sitting site.
There are a ton of house sittings sites you can find houses to sit on. But only a few are really reputable.
The really reputable house sitting sites charge a yearly fee, but because they charge a fee, this creates a more trustworthy process for both the house sitter and the people looking for house sitters. You’ll have more choices of where to go in the world too such as Paris, Amsterdam, etc.
A really reliable and high quality sites with tons of international house sitting opportunities is TrustedHousesitters.com. As their name says, they are a really well trusted site by many looking for house sitters.
2. Create a really personable profile.
Whether you are new to house sitting or not, if you are new on a brand new site, you definitely need to create a really personable profile. A personable profile filled out to the max can help you get new job even without any reviews or previous international house sitting jobs on that new site!
A detailed, full profile is important since house sitting is such a personal experience for both you and the homeowner. Since you’ll ultimately be living in their house taking care of their pets aka family members, any information that’ll makes you trustworthy is important to creating that first connection.
In your profile, you might want to add share with how often you travel or what you love to do on your free time. Definitely share about your experience with pets, or better yet, add photos of you with them!
Last but not least, ID verification is so important to show that you’re a real person.
3. Be proactive about what you can do for the owners.
Even though it’s quite obvious what you can do for the owners, which is watch their house and pet while you’re abroad, you can get even more detailed about how helpful you’ll be.
You can share stories about how detail-oriented, caring or attentive you are and let them know that watching their house and pets is of utmost importance.
4. Start local.
It might be hard to get an international house sitting job the second you sign up for a trusted house sitting website.
As a result, you’ll have to build up your portfolio.
To save money on building your house sitting portfolio, start local first. Apply to house sitting jobs within a few hours away or even right in your home town.
Not only will this help you build your portfolio to get good ratings, but you’ll learn early on if international house sitting is for you or not.
5. Get references from family and friends.
Another way to build up your portfolio is to house sit for your family and friends.
It’s best if they’re also on the same housesitting site you’re on so they can leave you direct reviews on there.
6. Keep an eye out for house sitting jobs you want.
Once you start building up your profile, even if you just have one or two house sitting jobs under your belt, you can start looking for house sitting opportunities abroad.
To do this, you’ll want to search for whatever city or country you want to travel to and reach out to the homeowner to see if you two are a good fit!
For example, below you’ll see that there are house sitting jobs in Paris! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to house sit there and enjoy a croissant by the Eiffel Tower?
Get started on international house sitting today with Trusted Housesitters.
Thanks for stopping by! xo.
Visweswar
Tuesday 28th of November 2017
These are great ideas to save money while travelling to various places, didn't know much about this concept till I read your article. Thanks so much for posting this, it has tons of new info for me! Thanks so much!
Tamason Gamble
Tuesday 28th of February 2017
This is something we have been considering for a couple of years now however we are always concerned that, because we have never done it before, we will be overlooked for people with experience.
Lisa // Fjords & Beaches
Tuesday 28th of February 2017
Loved reading this, and will bookmark for later! Housesitting seems like a great way to travel and save money, and it's high on my list to get started with! :)
Cynthia
Monday 27th of February 2017
I'd never really considered this but house-sitting sounds like a wonderful way to save more money while travelling! Thanks for the helpful tips, Sarah!
Anne Slater-Brooks
Monday 27th of February 2017
These are some great tips. I like the idea of housesitting but often wonder how people manage to time their trips to dovetail into the opportunities. It never really occured to me to consider doing it locally.