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About house-sitting in general
Is house-sitting right for me?
How much does it cost to become a house-sitter?
What is expected of me as a house-sitter?
What type of person do home owners look for?
How flexible do house-sitters have to be?
How long is the average house-sit?
Registering with Happy House Sitters
How does Happy House Sitters work?
Why Happy House Sitters?
How do I become a house-sitter?
Does Happy House Sitters offer a student / seniors discount?
Finding a house to sit
What are the benefits and what's in it for me?
Am I guaranteed a house sit?
Do I need references and a police check to register?
How do I attract home owners with my advertisement?
When can I start looking for a house to sit?
How long will it take to find a house to sit and how long will my listing be 'live'
Are house-sits available in rural areas?
Connecting with home owners
Can I contact Home Owners directly or do I have to wait for them to contact me?
Can Home Owners contact me?
Your account
Does Happy House Sitters provide anyone with my contact details?
Can I suspend my account?
How do I change my details? Does it cost?
↑ Back to Top Is house-sitting right for me?
House-sitting is ideal for you if...
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You are saving for your first home.
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You are renovating
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You are retired
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You're travelling
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You're not sure where you want to live
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You love pets
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You hate paying rent!
↑ Back to Top How much does it cost to become a house-sitter?
We have 4 easy, flexible memberships designed to suit your requirements.
1. FREE SITTER TRIAL: JOIN NOW
Details: Allows you to search anywhere in Australia but you can not contact home owners. You can see ALL sits listed. This is NOT a restricted list.
Membership length and cost:
UNLIMITED / FREE, opt out at any time. Upgrade at any time.
All memberships below allow you to contact UNLIMITED home owners within your chosen area.
2. ZONES: JOIN NOW
Details: Designed for people that need to sit in a specific geographical area and do not require flexibility, usually for school or work reasons.
Membership length and cost:
12 Months - Inner Syd & Melb only / $89
12 Months - All other locations / $59
3. WHOLE STATES JOIN NOW
Details: Popular and Best Value. Allows total flexibility. Access to all metro and rural areas of chosen state. Use only the areas you need.
Membership length and cost:
4 months / $69*
12 Months / $89* BEST VALUE
*Student / SNRS $10 OFF
4. ALL AUSTRALIA: JOIN NOW
Details: Greatest flexibility. Ideal for travelers. Access to all house sits Australia wide.
Membership length and cost:
12 Months / $99*
*Student / Snrs $10 OFF
Our Guarantee
If after 12 months you don’t find any homes to apply for, we will give you $30.00 cash back! PLUS we will also give you an extra three months on your membership. Absolutely FREE.
We do not sell memberships for specific sits, and there are no weekly or monthly fees.
Check out our reviews on WOMO.
Am I suitable to house sit?
We have a broad range of home owners looking for sitters in all phases of life. Our sitters include males and females who are couples, singles, families with and without children, seniors, retirees, and students. People who are renovating, separating, can't decide where to live and those who are travelling with and without their own pets.
Our site also attracts home owners with all types of properties from all over Australia. They include apartments, houses, town-houses as well as rural properties. The only requirements are that you are honest, security conscious, reliable and a pet lover.
What is expected of me as a house-sitter? ↑ Back to Top
In return for living rent free, you agree to keep the property secure, clean and tidy. You take care of any minor maintenance (e.g. gardens, lawns or pool) as well as care for any pets as if they were your own.
In most cases the house-sitter agrees to pay the day-to-day bills such as phone, electricity and gas.
Ultimately though, the actual terms must be negotiated between you and the home owner.
↑ Back to Top What type of person do home owners look for?
The truth is, anyone can be a house-sitter. There is no 'type'. Home owners simply want someone they like and trust. Just as you would.
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How flexible do house-sitters have to be?
Be as flexible as possible. This increases your chances of getting a home to sit sooner! House-sitting requires flexibility but offers the opportunity to save huge amounts of money.
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How long is the average house-sit?
House-sits can range between two weeks and 12 months. Sometimes longer.
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How does Happy House Sitters work?
Both house-sitters and home owners register as members. The sitter creates and advertisement about themselves and the areas they are interested in. The home owner also creates an advertisement about their home and the arrangement they are looking for.
House-sitters and home owners then connect in one or both of the following ways.
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You search for homes to sit
As a registered house-sitter, you can search anywhere in Australia for homes to house sit, and you can apply to sits in the areas you registered. When you find something of interest, you send a message directly to that home owner. (This is your chance to sell yourself as a great house-sitter). When the home owner replies to your message you arrange a time to meet and discuss the house sit.
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Home Owners search for you
Home owners can also search our database for potential house-sitters. If they like the sound of you, they will send you a message to see if you are interested. (It is very important that you are easy to reach. Many home owners will just message the next person on their list if they can't contact you)
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Why choose Happy House Sitters?
1. Value for membership.
We have more houses per sitter than any other site. 85% of our ad budget is spent on attracting new home owners to the site. We enage heavily in social media and, over the years, have built a large database of 'repeat' home owners that choose our sitters each time they go away.
Some 'mass market' sites advertise15,000 + sitters to 360 houses. This is not our style. We don't believe there is any value for sitters in this.
We do not allow 'thousands' of sitters to compete for 'hundreds' of houses. We leave that to others. We limit our sitter to house ratio to around 3-4 sitters per 10 houses. This means you actually get sits and therefore, value for your membership.
We surveyed our sitters to see what they thought of HHS: 86% of respondents said they, 'joined or re-joined because there were more sits available compared to other sites'. source - HHS Sitter customer survey - 387 respondents (Oct 13)
2. Our reputation
We have been serving the Australian house and pet sitting community since 1999. Please read our testimonials and reviews
3. Our driving philosophy - How we operate
Our philosophy to success and longevity remains a mix of old-fashioned customer service and the more home owners you have on a site the more successful your sitters will be
4. Our guarantee to you
If after 12 months you don't find any homes to apply for, we will give you $30.00 cash back! PLUS we will also give you an extra three months on your membership. Absolutely FREE. - Memberships start at $59
5. Outstanding customer service
Pleasingly, our House Sitter customer service survey revealed: 78% viewed our customer service as either ‘Excellent’ or ‘very good’ source - HHS House Sitter customer service survey - 387 resondents (Oct 13).
6. Flexible memberships
Register in specific areas, whole states, All Australia. 4 and 12 month memberships available. Or it can be customised to your personal preference - call us to organise.
7. Suspend your membership - no time limit on suspension
If you are not house sitting or need to rent your membership can be suspended. This can make a 12 month membership last up to 3 - 4 years.
Join to contact home owners or join our FREE Trial Search.
How do I become a house-sitter?
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Become a full member by completing our registration form. We will then send you an email with your login details.
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Create an advertisement about yourself. See examples here.
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Login to the members' section. Here you can search homes available and contact any of the home owners in the areas you registered.
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Does Happy House Sitters offer a student / seniors discount?
Yes. Just include your student / seniors card ID number and name of institution on the registration form.
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Happy House Sitters registrations for ALL Australia.
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What are the benefits and what's in it for me?
You get to live RENT FREE! If you are currently paying $300 pw in rent, that's a saving of $15,600.00 pa! In return for living rent free you agree to keep the property secure, clean and tidy, take care of any maintenance i.e. gardens, lawns as well as care for any pets as if they were your own loved ones. In most cases the sitter agrees to pay for any utilities used. However, this should only be used a guideline and the actual terms must be negotiated between the sitter and the homeowner.
It costs about the same as one week's rent to register to house sit and live rent free for one year!
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Am I guaranteed a house sit?
No house sitting agency can give a 100% guarantee who will get which house sit, because ultimately it's the home owners that choose the sitters and not the agency.
But we are so confident in our service that we offer you this guarantee:
If after 12 months you don't find any homes to apply for, we will give you $30.00 cash back!
PLUS we will also give you an extra three months on your membership. Absolutely FREE. |
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Do I need references and a police check to register?
No. However some home owners do ask for character references and police checks when they interview you. You can apply for a police check at any police station.
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How do I attract home owners with my advertisement?
When writing your advertisement, think about the sorts of qualities you would want in looking after your home and pets.
But mostly be honest and be yourself.
Read some previously successful advertisements.
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When can I start looking for a house to sit?
As soon as you register, we will send you a password to access the Members section on this website. From there, you can contact any of the home owners in the areas you have registered.
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How long will it take to find a house to sit and how long will my listing be 'live'
Happy House Sitters cannot guarantee the period of time it will take to find a suitable house sit, however your password to search the for sits on the 'Members page' is valid for 12 months and your application details are searchable by every listed homeowner in all of your nominated location zones for a period of 12 months.
Your password to search is valid for 12 or four (4) months (depending on your membership). Plus your details are searchable by all home owners in your nominated zones for that same period.
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Are house-sits available in rural areas?
We often have homes in rural areas that we can't fill due to lack of sitters wanting to sit in those areas. So if you feel like escaping the city life and enjoying the fresh air of the country, why not try a rural sit?
Can I contact Home Owners directly or do I have to wait for them to contact me?
Once you become a full member you can contact home owners via our internal email system accessed from your 'My Account' page. This means you can be proactive and don't have to wait around for the phone to ring.
All messages are stored and can be viewed and replied to from your 'My Account' page.
↑ Back to TopCan Home Owners contact me?
Yes. When home owners who read your advertisement want to get in touch with you, they can contact you via our internal email system.
↑ Back to Top Does Happy House Sitters provide anyone with my contact details?
No. We respect your privacy. Only you can disclose your contact details to prospective home owners.
↑ Back to TopCan I suspend my account?
Yes. 12 month memberships can be suspended in situations where you go overseas or decide to rent and can't use your membership. This way many member's accounts last 2,3 or even 4 years, offering you real value for money.
Accounts cannot be suspended while you are house-sitting. Four month memberships can not be frozen.
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How do I change my details? Does it cost?
You may change your details as often as you like free of charge.
Just login to your account via the home page.
How can Happy House Sitters be improved?