What Does a Teenage House Sitter do?
As a house sitter, you’ll spend the majority of your time assuming responsibilities of a house when the homeowner is away for a lengthy amount of time. A homeowner will leave their house to a house sitter to take on jobs that are needed to be done while the homeowner is away. For example, you will take care of their pets, performing general maintence, and generally ensuring the house runs smoothly as if the homeowner was there. It is also implied that a house sitter deters crime and break and enters, as there will be someone watching the house at all times. You will either be paid to live at their house, or get paid to visit their house for an hour every day.
How Much Does a Teenage House Sitter Get Paid?
As a house sitter, you can expect to earn somewhere between $20-$30 per day and up to $50 dollars a day if you are staying overnight. The biggest issue with this type of work is that there is limited potential to how much you can get promoted. A house sitter wouldn’t work for a company, and you can’t get promoted. Your maximum pay is 50 dollars a day, no matter what you do. But nevertheless, it’s quite impressive on a resume when you mention that someone entrusted their house to you for a week or so. Therefore, house sitting is a great short-term job, but not a good option for a long-term job.
How Can I Get Started as a Teenage House Sitter?
- Before you begin, you’ll need to determine if you are eligible to stay overnight at the house. Overnight house sitters will sleep and spend most of their day in the house you are taking care of. Basically, you will pretend that the house you are taking care of is your house, and you will live your daily life in their house. Overnight house sitters get more pay, but you will be confined to the house for the entire day. If you wanted to go somewhere with your friends, that is no longer possible. On the other hand, a daily house sitter may just check in with the house every day to check that everything is running smoothly.
- Now that you’ve determined if you can stay overnight, it’s time to find a job. There are many ways of doing this, and we recommend that you ask friends of the family and people in your neighborhood. Another option is to advertise yourself by putting posters up around your neighborhood. This way, the house you are taking care of will be closer to you, and you can just walk down to check on the house. The last option, and this is typically for teens over 18 years old, is to use Care.com or Sittercity.com. Both websites are a good place to find babysitting jobs, but you’ll also find jobs for house sitters as well. Once, you’ve found a suitable job, then you can move onto the next step.
- Apply to the job. Homeowners will be very selective when choosing a house sitter, and for good reason. They’re entrusting someone with their entire house for a long time. If they hire the wrong person, things can go bad, quickly. So you will have to be very courteous during the interview, and it’s good to have a reference with you. A reference will show the homeowner what kind of person you are, and shows them that you aren’t lying about all the things you said in the interview, and that you are actually a great person.
- Congrats, you’re officially a house sitter. Things may get boring at times, being in someone’s house for a week, but it’s a great opportunity to get good experience for your future resume. Someone is entrusting their house to you for a long time, and that’s something you should be very proud of. Stick to being a house sitter, and you’ll have a great future down the road.
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Helpful Resources
- Care.com: A website that has multiple job listings that are mostly for babysitters, but some will be for house sitting as well. Please note, you must be 18 years or older to use this website.
- Sittercity.com: A website that has multiple job listings that are mostly for babysitters, but some will be for house sitting as well. Please note, you must be 18 years or older to use this website.