Nomador blog
10 good reasons to try house-sitting as an ideal way to look after home and pets when you’re away
You must have heard about house-sitting from friends or the media. It’s become popular to invite some-one in to look after your house and pets when you’re away. But you’re not sure it’s for you! So here are10 good reasons why families are using home-sitters to look after their homes when they leave on vacation. The practice is well-established in Canada, in the United States, in Australia and in New Zealand. It’s increasingly popular in Europe and especially so in France. Why is home-sitting catching on so fast?
Protect your home from break-ins
It’s a fact that during the vacation season, a house that’s lived in is less likely to be broken into. Lights on in the evening, a car parked outside or at the back, people coming and going. These are tell-tale signs that people are there. A real deterrent to prowlers with suspicious intent.
Keeping your pets in their home environment
Pets are happier if they don’t leave their home environment and if their daily routines remain unchanged. Dogs are taken out for walks at the times they expect. For territorial animals like cats, that dislike being moved, house-sitting is almost certainly the best solution. Being sure your pets are looked after when you’re gone is probably the main reason why people take up house-sitting. Remember, for instance, that according to French house-sitting agency Ilidor, 80% of its clients are pet owners. The animals most frequently entrusted to home-sitters are dogs, cats and horses.
Protect your house against accidental damage when you’re away
Accidents are not something you want to think about when you go away! But accidental damage can and does occur in the shape of storms, leaks etc. Most damage is done when the house is empty and no-one there to respond. Storms cause power cuts, freezer contents melt down. Or the house is left unprotected because burglar alarms are not reset. But if there’s someone in the house, action is immediate and damage is kept to a minimum. Your house is under the best protection!
Looking after the garden
Imagine how nice it is to get back to a garden as well tended as when you left it. Or returning at the week-end without having to spend your last Sunday before back to work, mowing the lawn or tending overgrown or un-weeded flower beds! A well-looked after garden is an important sign the house is occupied - a real deterrent to would-be burglars!
Getting away on vacation the quick and easy way
Getting away from it all is not so easy! First clean out the fridge, then check all windows and shutters are closed, find time to take the pets to the pet-sitters or kennels (miles away, often enough). It’s all so time-consuming! You have to be organized. Of course, house-sitting may mean inviting people into your home the day before you leave. They have to be briefed. But what a great time to relax and get to know them. Your home is in responsible hands. And the next day, when all the bags are packed and you drive away, you leave all your cares well behind you!
Getting back from holiday is a real pleasure
Imagine what it’s like getting back from vacation with the house well-aired and a stock of basic provisions in the fridge. Have you thought about asking and funding the house-sitters to buy in your favorite foods ready for your return? That’s the sort of thing house-sitters love doing. Keeping everyone happy is the name of the game!
House-sitting is a big money saver when looking after pets
Yes, boarding kennels or catteries have their advantages. Another option is to ask neighbors, friends or specialist agencies to come in and look after the pets. It all depends on how long and at what time of the year you’re going away. But if it’s for more than a few days, house-sitters are the best and least cost solution, of course! They get accommodation in your home for free, and you as owner pay them nothing for their services! It’s as simple as that!
Enjoy your vacation to the full – there’s nothing better than peace of mind
“Hope everything’s okay at home … I do hope the dog’s not unhappy at the kennels…” Let’s face it, anxiety about how things are when you’re away is part of the vacation experience. But that need not be! People who enjoy home-sitting and its benefits all say the same thing. “We were really pleased to cut off. We hadn’t a care in the world. We knew if anything happened we’d be kept immediately informed.” Peace of mind is priceless!
Putting a smile on people’s faces
Your home is friendly. You live in a nice neighborhood. With plenty of great places to visit! Imagine what this means to house-sitters who can’t afford to travel unless they get free accommodation. Many people want to mind a home because it’s the best way to travel. Young couples on tight budgets, retired persons seeking an exciting new location, singles that live cooped up in a small apartment. For them and others, looking after your home is a dream. They do this diligently and responsibly, because they know what it means—to them, and to you.
Making new friends—and why not? on the other side of the globe!
An internationally oriented website for home-owners and house-sitters to strike up deals makes sense. If you’re going to travel, best go to places that are distant and unfamiliar. Places you wouldn’t visit, except that you know there’s a home at the other end, where you can settle in, a base to travel from. And look after, of course.
One of the spin-off benefits of an international home-sitting website is putting different sorts of people, from different horizons, in contact. Friendships can be made for life! Home-sitting can be a prelude to exchange visits for younger members of the family, and much more besides.
Ready to give house-sitting a try?
House-sitting appeals, doesn’t it? Otherwise you wouldn’t have read so far. So what sort of home-sitters? Retired persons? A young couple? From your home country? Or from abroad? House-sitting agencies are one solution. Or you might want to advertise personally for a home-sitter and select from among the candidates that respond. There are benefits and drawbacks to each approach. But whichever way, the approach that you want, is the one that’s best for you!
Publish your first listing!
Find someone you can trust to look after your home and pets.
Nomador
Nomador is an international home-sitting platform. The nomador community puts people in touch with home-sitters and home-owners they can trust. It is dedicated to people who need to find a solution to leave with peace of mind by entrusting their house (for family holidays, trips abroad or business travels), and people who travel through the world in exchange for lodging (watching over a home).