Caring for Your Home on the Road

Many people dream of traveling in their RV for weeks at a time. They enjoy hitting the road and seeing what lies ahead. They also want to be able to keep their home while they are gone as they will be back home for holidays and certain times of the year. One way of making sure that your home is safe and cared for while you are away on your road trip is to hire a live-in house sitter.

Live-in house sitting has become popular in the past few years as more people are traveling for longer periods of time. The house sitter temporarily lives in your house and cares for the house as if the house was there own. Instead of leasing the house out with all of your belongings, a house sitter will watch your house rent-free. The house sitter insures that the house will stay secure, clean and maintained. They will mow the lawn and take care of gardens. They will even take care of your pets that are unable to travel with you. The house sitter does not pay rent but may pay the water, electric and gas bills.

The benefits of a house sitter are various. These benefits include such items as your mail being taken care of, bills are paid, and lawn watered and mowed, maintenance of gardens and pools. For a house sitter, these are the services that they provide. House sitters keep you from having to impose on friends and family for long periods of time. There is also visible activity in the home. This will insure that your home stays secure. Burglars are more likely to attempt to rob a home that has been consistently dark and the mail has piled up. House sitters are actively living in your home and they insure that the lights are changed, televisions come on and the mail is collected. A lot of house sitters also work from home, which is extra security as they are home most of the time. There are also insurance issues with homes when you are going to be absent for a long period of time. House sitters insure that your insurance policies are complied with.

Depending on the length of time you will be gone, you will also be able to save money by having a house sitter watch your home. House sitters do not typically pay utilities for periods of two weeks or less. House sitters will pay your utilities for periods of 60 days or more. You will be able to save $750 on a 3-month stay and $1,430 on a 6-month stay if you do not have pets. If you do have pets you will still save as you will not have to board them and they can stay at their own home. You will be able to save close to $4,320 for a 6-month stay on pet care. Kennels are not very fun for pets and the nightly prices that they charge will end being astronomical, especially if you have very large dogs.

A few exceptions exist in the realm of house sitting. For very short house sits that are less than 60 days, the house sitter does not usually pay utilities. The sitters bear the cost of moving in and out for a short period of time. If the homeowner also requires an excessive amount of utilities such as watering horses, cows, etc. the homeowner generally shares this expense. If the homeowner requires animals to be fed, the homeowner should either stock up on feed or reimburse the house sitter. These are the types of situations that the homeowner and house sitter would discuss and make an agreement on.

House sitters will also only use what you want them to use. They often bring their own mattress, linens, towels, personal items, toilet paper, food and computers. Typically the use of entertainment centers and washer and dryers are used. If you do not want those items used they will make arrangements for their own items to be used. They also bring their own food. Anything that they must use of your such as dryer sheets, they replace before they leave. They are also generally flexible and they will move if your plans change as long as they receive notice. They also agree not to go on vacations or leave the house unoccupied.

Homeowners who enjoy traveling over the summer and for long periods of time will benefit greatly from a house sitter. They will care for your property as if it was your own. They will also take care of pets, livestock and your bills. They are better than leasing your home because they do not pay rent and they have nowhere else to go making house sitting an ideal opportunity for RV lovers.