References for potential house sitting places.

Getting the first house sit may be the most difficult one. Often home owners will ask for a reference from previous home owners, and you won't have one. In this case you will need some other types of references, either personal ones, work references or something that shows you are a responsible person, e.g. self employment, professional positions etc.

However, as you move from house sit to house sit you can start to accummulate your references. This is a huge help when it comes to replying to advertisements you see. In our case we do the following:

1. When we first make arrangements with a new home owner we tell them that when they come home we would like them to give us a reference. This has never been a problem.

2. Usually we go to the house sit the day before the owners leave, to get the feel for the place, meet the people, meet the pets, and go over all the information we need about our new town. We also remind them that we would like a reference when they come home.

3. We have a standard reference letter that we use, but change with each home sit. It states that we, (our names) have cared for the home of ( their names) at (address) and that we also cared for the gardens (give a bit of information about the land area etc) and the pets (name and describe the pets). I also put the dates we were there. Then I state that the home was well cared for and the pets well looked after etc. If there is a printer available I print off two copies and have it ready for when the owners return, one copy for us and one copy for them. Usually we would stay one more night with the family, and leave the following morning, so this gives them time to make sure all is well. Before we leave I ask them to sign the reference if they are happy with how we cared for their home. We make sure there is some kind of contact information, phone number or email address for future contacts.

4. We keep the references together, and we also scan them and keep them on our laptop so we can email them to prospective home owners if asked for.

5. A couple of times I could not print off a copy, so I asked for the owners to email us a reference, and so far we have a lovely reference from every home owner.

These references are really important if you are going a long distance and can't meet the prospective home owners first. Of course, you could skype, but not everyone can do that either. So a selection of good references will almost certainly get you any house sit you want.

Especially if you want to consider going overseas, such references would probably be the difference between getting a good house sit or missing out.

So be concious of asking for references for every house sit, keep them safe and have them in a format for emailing. It will make your house sitting applications very much smoother.