I get asked a lot of questions about House Sitting as it is a very new concept to many people (Although it has actually been available for many years) so I decided to devote this blog post to answering some common questions.
WHAT IS IT?
In essence it is very simple. A House Sitter moves into your home while you are away on vacation. They look after your home and pets for you and in return they receive a rent free vacation in your home.
The house owner saves money by not having to pay anyone to look after their home and pets. They have the security of knowing that their home and pets are being looked after by a responsible Christian.
The House Sitter gets to travel and stay in lovely homes rather than an expensive and often characterless hotel room.
WHAT HAPPENS?
When you register as an owner we list your house details (without the specific address) on the restricted section of our website that can only be viewed by registered sitters. We also email all registered sitters drawing their attention to the listing.
Sitters then decide which houses they are interested in and click an enquiry button. That automatically sends the owners their details and their profile info. Then it is over to the owner to make contact and decide which application they like best, check references and arrange the sit.
IS IT SAFE?
Naturally one has to take precautions. We strongly advise all home owners to get two references before entering into any agreement. As this is a Christian site and all members must list their church connection we suggest one of the reference should be obtained from their church leaders. We also include a general outline of an agreement for both parties to sign.
WHO CAN JOIN?
Any Christian who belongs to a recognised Christian Church. People can register as a House Sitters, a Home Owners or as Both.
CAN YOU GUARANTEE US A SUITABLE HOUSE SIT?
Sadly not. The list of available properties is constantly changing. New houses are added and existing properties find sitters. We are facilitators and have no idea what houses or sitters are going to become available in the future. We never know from one day to the next what is coming and what is going to be removed. For example we had a message from someone asking about a house in Florida. We wrote back saying that we did not have any. The very next day we got a house 5 minutes from Disney World available for 2 months. God is in control. We trust that He will provide the right match between owners and sitters.
WHY DON’T YOU HAVE MORE HOUSES LIKE SOME SECULAR SITES?
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly our pool of potential members is naturally smaller as we only accept people who are members of a recognised Christian church.
But that is not the only reason. I have been doing some research. In fact in order to do the research I ended up having to join a few secular sites. I discovered that most of the houses shown on their sites are not actually available. This is because many of these sites do not remove any listing until the end of the available period. We on the other hand ask our members to inform us as soon as a house is taken and we then immediately remove the listing. his saves our sitters the frustration of applying for houses that are no longer available. To be honest occasionally owners do forget to inform us. But as soon as a sitter lets us know that they are not getting a reply from an owner or that the owner has replied saying the house has been taken we investigate and if the house has been taken we remove that listing.
Finally our houses are made available for vacations purposes. Through my research into some of the secular sites I was astounded to see that a lot are not vacation offers but simply a way of trying to get free labour.
Here are some real examples “Someone with building experience to help with renovation of the house. ” Another said ” Nightwatch the hotel do some gardening, some cleaning, sometimes making breakfast, welcoming clients. Check in clients. In spring and summer we have our own staff which you will be ‘ working’ with. In winter you will be alone, working with us.”
To my way of thinking these are not vacations. They are job opportunities and for jobs with no wages.
Our listings are for a genuine vacation!
WHY DO YOU CHARGE and WHAT DOES IT COST?
In addition to providing Free Holidays we also seek to support the work of Home of Peace Children’s Home in Kenya. 100% of all our income goes to this Christian Children’s Home.
Registration as an owner is free.
Registration as a sitter is only £25 per year. All of which goes to supporting a Christian Children’s Home in Kenya. The cost of running the service is covered by my wife and I as a service.
HOW DO I JOIN?
Visit our website Click Here and click on Register then follow the simple on screen instructions.
If you have any other questions that are not answered on the website please use the contact page and I will do my best to answer you promptly.
Is this for you?
Have a look at our website www.Christian-housesitters.com
God bless you,
Ray
We are part of the registered charity
TLC Children’s Trust
UK Charity number 1156786
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I am wondering whether you received this email I sent 1st August? A family member upgraded my computer to Windows 10 and I have had problems especially with my emails….. As I haven’t heard anything I was hoping you would send a post so I could reply and ask whether my email had reached you.”Dear Ray, We have been invited to an unexpected family event for a long weekend. Obviously we would like to go and wonder whether there would be any one who could housesit for us that weekend. It is 9th – 12th September 2017. It would be good, if it was possible, for housesitters to be here 8th – 13th September.” Thank you, Ruth
Hi Ruth,
We never received your email. We always try to reply to any emails within 12 hours so if you do not hear back please contact us again. I will email you now about those dates. Ray
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