When a homeowner invites a house sitter into their home, what is the homeowner entitled to require the house sitter to do? House sit, of course. But what else? Anything more?
The responsibilities of the house sitter are to (1) live in the house, (2) care for and maintain the house — not as if it were the house sitter’s home — but as if it were the home of someone the house sitter cares about and does not want to disappoint, (3) care for and provide attention and affection for the homeowner’s pets — not as if the pets were the house sitter’s pets — but as if they were the pets of someone the house sitter cares about and does not want to disappoint, and (4) to leave the house and pets in the same state and condition as they were at the start of the house sit.
These are serious responsibilities not to be taken lightly, or taken on by a person who is too immature or self-centered to understand them and carry them out. In many instances, the house sitter takes on these obligations and responsibilities for no or little compensation — compensation not commensurate with the level of the responsibilities. So is it appropriate for the homeowner to ask or expect even more of the house sitter without offering compensation for additional services?
Should the homeowners ask the house sitter to mow the lawn and maintain the garden and landscaping? Clean the swimming pool or koi pond? Wash the homeowners’ car? Run errands? Drive the homeowners to the airport at the start of the house sit and pick them up at the airport at the end? Clean up the mess the homeowners left behind in the house? Manage a room or cottage on the property that the homeowners rent out through Airbnb as well as look after the guests who stay in the room or cottage during the time of the house sit? Keep an eye on a teenage daughter who will be in the house during the sit? (Oh, yes. We’ve seen that one.) Care for an elderly parent who lives on the homeowners’ property?
We would say no. Don’t ask a house sitter to do anything for which you would normally expect to pay someone. You would pay a garden service to mow your lawn, or Uber to drive you to the airport. It does not seem to us appropriate to ask your house sitter to provide these services without compensation. It is appropriate if, at the time that the house sit is offered and accepted, the homeowner and the house sitter agree that the house sitter will provide an additional service for which the homeowner will compensate the house sitter. But this should be explicitly agreed at the time the sit is agreed to, and not sprung on the house sitter after the house sit begins.
Everyone agrees that the homeowner should turn over the house to the house sitter in a clean and tidy condition. The terms and conditions of most house sitting websites require this. And everyone agrees that the house sitter’s minimum obligation is to leave the house in the same or better condition at the end of the sit. The homeowner should return home and be unable to tell that the house sitter was even there.
When we do a house sit, it’s a matter of pride for us to unfailingly leave the house in a cleaner and tidier state than when we arrived. We have a pile of reviews from homeowners stating that they returned to find their home cleaner than when they left it. We like doing this. We’re not afraid to clean and maintain. But we are annoyed when we arrive for a house sit and find dirty dishes in the kitchen sink or in the dishwasher, containers of spoiled food in the refrigerator, full trash cans throughout the house, dirty sheets on the beds. Asking us to wash your dishes, empty your trash cans, clean your refrigerator, or change and wash your dirty linen is taking us for granted, and treating us as your maids, not your house sitters. It gets the first day off to a bad start. While we always wash and put away the dishes, and clean the refrigerator, and empty the trash cans, and wash and replace the linen on that first day — and never mention the matter to the homeowners — we’re making a plea here. Leave your home as clean and tidy for us as you know we’re going to leave it for you when we depart.
