how much should i charge for house sitting jobs

By: Elizabeth Ann West

One fun summer job overlooked by teens is starting a house sitting business. People are constantly on the go in the summer months and affordable help is hard to find. Mature teens who don't really care to watch rug rats, or guard lives at the pool can supplement their income by offering house sitting services in the neighborhood. What other job will ever pay you to hang out and watch TV?

To get started, teens must advertise their service. A simple flier handed out in mail boxes or door-to-door is the most effective and affordable advertising campaign. Also, if the teen can drive or has other reliable transportation, a community bulletin board in local grocery stores, churches, and post offices is another highly visible spot to offer house sitting services

On the flier, the teen should detail all of the house sitting services provided. Are you willing to care for pets? Will you provide lawn care? Do you offer a special house cleaning as a “Welcome Home” for the vacationing family? Don't forget to highlight how many hours you will remain in the home as a safety feature so the home appears occupied.

Be prepared to offer references for those interested in your house sitting services. Some home owners may also wish to speak with parents to make sure their empty home will not become party central. Teens are great house sitters in the summer because they rarely have other pressing responsibilities keeping them from giving great care to a home. Home owners need to know the teen is serious about his or her work, and a great bargain too!

Any teen providing house sitting services should charge a fee for the work. While teens shouldn't expect to be compensated for the hours he or she “hangs out,” there should be compensation for any house cleaning, pet care, and lawn care. The best way to handle this is for the teen to itemize out the tasks and duties he or she will take on and submit this to the home owner in advance. The home owner can also contribute duties to the list. Also, the teen should find out if he or she should bring food to the home, or if the home owner would like the house sitter to use perishables in the refrigerator and pantry.

House sitting is a great summer job for teens because it teaches responsibility and opens their eyes to the realities of managing a home. The money should be sufficient to give a teen play money for summer activities, and provide the home owner with savings over other alternative means of caring for pets and the home. Responsible teens who provide a great house sitting service will also receive referrals from their clients to other families going on an annual vacation. It also could be a job a teen keeps during the school year for people who regularly travel for work they simply go over to the home after school.

It is important for any teen running a service business to have the back up and support of parents. Adults hiring the teen will want to know there is another adult willing to step in and help in the event of an emergency. Teens also need parental support to make sure clients do not attempt to take advantage of the teen's age. The best way to protect both the home owner and the teen in a house sitting transaction is for the duties and expectations as well as compensation be written down. After that, the home owner can focus more on his or her travel and the teen can make money with a safe and relatively easy job.

If you scour the internet you will find lots of different information about the current house sitting rates. So your geographic area will affect the price you should charge, but here are some suggested rates... 

• "Professional house sitting agencies charge clients at a rate of $13.50-$28 a day" from a Yelp.com forum post.
• "$20 to $25 range as suggested by HouseCarers.com" Read more: How Much Should I Charge for House Sitting? 
• "Most of the sources I looked at are saying between $12 and $20 a day, depending on amenities and location, with extra $5 - $10 per pet." Read more: How much should i charge for house sitting per day?