You are the only one who knows the value of your home and would give anything to protect it. This also goes for your pets. Pets are treasures in most homes. Almost every home will have a pet, and the owner treats it as one of his or her children. In short, it is part of the family. So, what kind of a person would you leave your child with? What character or personality should they have? How do you know they are the right one for the job? If when you hire a nanny to look after your young ones, you always vet them. It is a common process that assures you of the kind of people you let take care of your children.
Housesitting will also take the same form. You want a house sitter who has experience and can be trusted to perform the duties assigned. They include among them; feeding your pets, grooming them, taking them for a walk and veterinary. The following guide will help you to vet a reliable and trusted housesitter for your home:
Take them for a test trial
Invite the house sitter as your guest and then sit back and observe. You can assign duties while at it and see how he carries him/herself. Apart from house chores, you can observe how he or she relates with your pets. Pet lovers will know how to bond with any pet. You can evaluate such qualities in a person in housesitting and choose accordingly.
Check for experience
Has the housesitter been in other homes before? How is his or her experience with the pets? What duties was he or she assigned? You should get such information from their profile. Choose those who have a similar experience as the one you want to assign in your home. It will thus help them adapt to the climate, environment and conditions of your home.
Go through their portfolio
A portfolio will entail homes the housesitter has provided the service to. It can be in pictures or video. If it is in the form of pictures, you should find images of pets and how they relate with the housesitter. You can tell a lot by just looking at a picture. You will be able to know if the person is a pet lover or not. The portfolio will also feature homeowners you have provided the service for and thus their reviews will come in handy.
Negotiate on duties and responsibilities of the house sitter upfront
You have to know what kind of a person the housesitter is. Check their profile to find out their interaction with other homeowners. Some house sitters will ask for payment as they do not housesit for free. You can go for free house sitters in case you do not want to pay for their services. Free housesitting is common, and most of them do not ask for payment. You can also negotiate for the duties the housesitter will perform. Check their profile and references from other homeowners how they interact with pets and care for the home.