Need help thinking through a housesitting arrangement...

[Anonymous]

We will be gone for a year and would like someone we know and trust to live in and take care of our house for the year. Really just making sure that the lawn service comes, that the annual maintenance on systems is done and occasionally forwarding to us mail that somehow slips through the cracks as well as do any needed repairs that crop up throughout the year. We know several college and graduate students that we would trust to live in our house and do this for us. My question is whether offering free rent in exchange for housesitting is enough or is added compensation expected or the norm? Does anyone have any experience in either the role of owner or housesitter? TIA

[Anonymous]

What rules are part of the arrangement? If I could house sit, have a few friends over from time to time, had access to Internet and a decent cable package....I could very well be tempted to do it for free. Save my rent money for something else.

But if the rules were very strict, I wouldn't be as thrilled with the idea.

Not saying friends = wild parties. Friends in the sense of less than five over for game night or to watch a movie.

[Anonymous]

Can I do this for you? Free rent for a year is a pretty awesome incentive

[Anonymous]

It depends, because you mentioned college students--are they currently living at home rent free? If they are, then I think extra incentive would be necessary because they're taking on a responsibility and it's not saving them money. If they are paying their own rent and you'd be saving it for them that's different.

This isn't the same thing, but there was a woman who used to ask me to housesit/dogsit while her family went on vacation for a week. She felt that it was a "treat" to get to go stay at someone else's house and didn't want to pay me to do it. I was living at home eating groceries my parents paid for and staying at someone else's house actually caused me inconvenience and cost me money. I think that woman was nuts.

[Anonymous]

I've done housesitting. Free rent is the norm, never been compensated. Typically one thing to agree on is who pays utilities (often the house sitter pays at least a portion when it is as long as a year).

Owners usually do have some rules, set them up front - all expectations of your house sitters.

Often if gone for a year people rent their homes - if you are planning to use the house at all during the year (i.e. coming home for Christmas is common) then just make sure the house sitters know that from the start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've done housesitting. Free rent is the norm, never been compensated. Typically one thing to agree on is who pays utilities (often the house sitter pays at least a portion when it is as long as a year).

Owners usually do have some rules, set them up front - all expectations of your house sitters.

Often if gone for a year people rent their homes - if you are planning to use the house at all during the year (i.e. coming home for Christmas is common) then just make sure the house sitters know that from the start.

OP here. Interesting, I thought I would be paying for all utilities except phone -- the candidates I know all exclusively use cell phones (kids these days, LOL). And even knowing that house sitters sometimes pay toward utilities, I think I would still pay. All of the candidates are currently paying rent and I think would like to save money there. I really just want to be sure that I am being fair on their end and that free rent for the year is enough.

Thanks.