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This post shares tips and inspiration about how to house sit in Australia.
I’ll be honest, house sitting wasn’t something I’d ever thought about when we were planning our move to Australia, but I’ve recently been chatting to a friend who moved to Australia with her husband a couple of years ago about their experience as international house sitters and pet sitters. They were able to organise a long-term house sit in Australia and it saved them a small fortune when they arrived in Australia. It was an amazing experience for them, so I can’t wait to share their story as I know it will inspire you (like it did me!)
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Table of Contents
House sit in Australia: What is house sitting Australia and how does it work?
Want to set up your house sitting profile on Trusted Housesitters? Get started here
If you want to house sit in Australia but you aren’t sure where to start, let me fill you in…
House sitters move into the home owners property to act as house carers and to provide pet care for the owner’s peace of mind. I’ve recently done research into getting house sitters in Australia myself because we’re planning a long international trip later this year (fingers crossed!).
The benefit to house owners like me is that I could have somebody taking care of the property, maintaining our pool (emptying it if it needed draining during stormy weather etc.), bringing in our mail and also taking care of our beloved pets (our pup and our fish!) in our own home rather than at a pet motel/kennels.
It’s also a way for homeowners to save a small fortune in dog sitter fees too – even our tiny chihuahua will cost us over $800 for five weeks if he stays with a local pet sitting service, whereas a house sitter will cost us nothing other than a little extra for bills.
In return, the house sitters receive free accommodation (potentially long term as often people are going away for a few weeks or even months so need someone to house sit in Australia for a longer period of time), free bills and they get a fully furnished place to live.
House sitting is a great way for pet owners to be able to travel and it’s the perfect way for trusted house sitters to be able to find a great place to house sit in Australia on a temporary basis while searching for a longer term rental. Plus the huge benefit is the money that you can save if you house sit in Australia!
If you manage to co-ordinate a house sit in Australia to co-incide with your arrival, Aussie house sitters might save anything from hundreds into many thousands of dollars which can go a long way towards setting up your new life Down Under!
House sitting in Australia is not only for people looking for a nomadic lifestyle where they travel around; there are opportunities for all kinds of responsible people including families, so don’t rule yourself out just because you have kids. It may be something you only want to do once for your arrival, or you may get hooked and decide to do it multiple times per year – the great thing is that you get to decide.
What homeowners want to know is that you’re reliable and trustworthy and pass a background check by providing references and reviews. In return, you get to stay in what can often be an amazing Australian house. Doing a house sit in Australia is a fantastic way to get settled, meet new people and start your new life at a slower pace (rather than running around trying desperately to find a rental instantly).
Find places to house sit in Australia here.
House sitters Australia: The pros and cons of Aussie house sits
Here’s a quick overview of the main pros and cons of being house sitters in Australia when you first arrive:
Benefits of Australia house sitting when you arrive
There are a lot of benefits if you decide to house sit in Australia.
- You get to save money – no rent or bills to pay!
- Pantry goods are often included (although you’ll be buying your own food, you might not need to rush out to buy every item like salt, pepper, herbs etc. so you can build up your stock over a few weeks rather than needing to spend $$$ in your first food shop!
- You might get a car to use during your stay – this means you don’t have to rush out to buy one in a hurry
- You get to live in an area you might not have considered
- You get to integrate into a community right away rather than living in a hotel or short stay apartment – this is a great opportunity to meet some new people and start making friends!
- You have a furnished place to live while your belongings are being shipped, or while you go out to buy the things you need
- You get cuddles with some lovely pets.
Cons of Australia house sitting as your arrival accommodation:
There are a few downsides if you decide to house sit in Australia.
- You need a stand-out profile (the more reviews you have, the better) and this can take time – house sitting in Australia can be competitive
- Your dates may not match up with the dates people need house sitters in Australia
- You will need to commit to looking after pets which can limit your ability to explore
- The location of the house sit in Australia may not exactly match where you want to be
- You might need to put in a few applications before you get accepted – this can be a competitive market.
Find out more about house sitting Australia with Trusted Housesitters
Overall, for the cost of annual membership, I think looking for a house sit in Australia for your arrival is worth a try. Even if it doesn’t line up, you’ve still got opportunities to house sit for holidays through the year and it can be a great way to explore the country without having to pay for expensive accommodation.
House sit in Australia: Tracy’s story of long term house sitting Australia
My friends Tracy and Doug have had a positive experience as trusted housesitters in recent years. Their first housesit began when they found an available house in the right place at the right time!
Tracy and Doug were moving from the UK to Mackay in Queensland where they had jobs waiting for them. Incredibly, they were able to line up a house-sitting gig for three and a half months to co-incide with their arrival. It meant they could move straight into the local community and begin settling down right away.
‘The house sit in Australia was amazing – it was about 10 metres from the beach, it had a pool and they left us their car to use too. It was invaluable when it came to helping us get settled in Australia. It took such a weight off our minds knowing we had somewhere secure to live for our first few months. Having a car meant we could take our time choosing which one to buy. The best part was that it saved us around $25,000 in rent, bills and hire car fees – that meant we could put that money towards buying our first home instead.
‘There were some downsides though. As we were looking after two energetic dogs, we couldn’t explore too far afield as we couldn’t leave them home alone for long. It was definitely well worth it though for the money we were able to save, and the fact it gave us security and a fixed address for our first few months in Australia.
‘We found it very easy to secure a rental to move into after our stay in the house sit – it really helped the move to feel stress-free.
‘We’ve gone on to do house sitting in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast and other locations since. House sitting is fun to do – you get to explore the local town and you get to meet interesting people. We don’t currently have a dog of our own as we like to travel too much, but we love animals so this gives us the opportunity to take care of the house and pets while we stay in a new location. It’s been a great experience and one I’d highly recommend to others.’
Want to set up your house sitting Australia profile on Trusted Housesitters? Get started here
The best house sitting websites: Trusted House sitters Australia
House sitting in Australia is a genuine opportunity to save a lot of money, both for your arrival accommodation and for your travels too. The main reason I wanted to share it was because I can see such an opportunity to find somewhere to stay for your arrival in Australia, but you might also want to house sit when you go back to visit your home country too (living with relatives for a month can get cramped!)
You can put in house sitting applications as many times as you like and spend as much time or as little time doing it as you please.
There are people in Australia who move around house sitting in between travelling too – if you’re mobile and not tied to a particular area you can do this full time if you can get house sitting gigs to line up.
All kinds of people look for house sitters. In Tracy and Doug’s case, the owner was doing a placement in the medical profession so she needed somebody to take care of her home and pets while she travelled and worked long hours.
I’ve heard so many stories of people landing an amazing luxury home while the owners take long service leave or go off on long term travels. It is totally possible.
Want to set up your house sitting profile on Trusted Housesitters? Get started here
How does the house sitting website work?
The site Iots of my friends (including Tracy) have recommended to me for house sitting in Australia is Trusted House Sitters. At the time of writing this post, on Trusted House Sitters Australia there are 502 house sitting jobs listed in locations across the country. It’s also worth remembering: the site isn’t only for house sitting Aus homes – it lists homes worldwide so there are endless opportunities available to you.
The site connects homeowners with verified sitters. Check out the ‘Sitter’ membership options here. There is an annual fee to pay before you can become one of the Trusted Housesitters. The membership price costs between $109 – $229 AUD a year depending on the level of extras you want to include. I personally think the Standard Sitter at $149 AUD looks the be the best option (depending on how important the insurance cover is to you that is included in the top tier of membership as you’ll likely have one-way travel insurance already). That tier of house sitter membership still gives you an email alert when you get messages, accident and liability insurance, video calls and online chats.
Trusted Housesitters has more listings than all other global house sitting sites combined, so it’s definitely the one to choose if you want to house sit in Australia.
How to set up a compelling house sitter profile for house sitters Australia
The priority task when it comes to creating a compelling house sitting profile is to get those reviews up as quickly as you can. These can be from your employer, landlord or friend initially. The sooner you can begin getting reviews for house sitting and pet sitting, the better.
If you’re aiming to look for long term house sitting opportunities to co-incide with your move to Australia, it’s worth trying to get started house sitting asap so you’ve got some solid reviews under your belt before you begin applying for these. Trusted Housesitters arranges house sits worldwide, so you can initially look around for opportunities near where you currently live or in your home country.
Spend some time putting your profile together. You will be judged on this so you want to spend time on it and get it right.
Be professional, yet warm and friendly. List any special skills or experience. Why should people trust you with their home and pets? Think of it like a job application – you need to show that you’re the best person for the job. They’re looking for someone who enjoys spending time with animals.
It can be helpful to share the years of experience you’ve had owning dogs, or how you miss having your own pets and can’t wait to take care of theirs. It’s absolutely essential that you include a photo of yourself in your profile with you looking at the camera. It sounds obvious but people will want to see who you are and when you’re looking down the lens of a camera smiling it’s more engaging than a sideways shot or picture of you from a distance.
Long term house sitting Australia
I think looking for a house sit in Australia is a fabulous opportunity for your short-term arrival accommodation.
The more flexible you can be with your arrival dates and exact location for your Aussie house sit, the better. For instance, if you’re planning on moving to Brisbane and ideally want to find house sitting in Brisbane opportunity, you might also look at house sitting on the Gold Coast and house sitting on the Sunshine Coast too. A longer commute to your ideal area might still be well worth the cost-saving in accommodation, especially if like Tracy and Doug you find it saves you five figures with your Australian house-sitting gig.
Get started with house sitting in Australia
Have you considered looking for a house sit in Australia for your arrival? It definitely wasn’t something I thought about but it can be a really rewarding (and money-saving) experience, according to Tracy!
Ready to get started with house sitting in Australia and become Aussie house sitters? Check out Trusted Housesitters here!
I hope you enjoyed this post about house sitting. Australia is a great place to look for pet sitting jobs and Aussie house sits. I would love for you to let me know how you get on if you decide to house sit in Australia!
