Trusted House Sitters Review | Personal Experiences From A Digital Nomad Family

The Trusted Housesitters site is a safe, reliable, and extensive house-sitting website. It’s an awesome community where homeowners can find a house sitter and solo travelers, couples, and families like us can find housesits all over the world! In this Trusted House Sitters Review we’ll cover questions such as “How does house sitting work?”, and “Does a house sitter pay rent?”. We’ll also share some great tips to help you get the most out of the Trusted House Sitters platform and give you a peek into our personal house-sitting experiences.

[Psst: We’ve done house sits as a family in awesome locations such as Bali, Thailand, New Zealand, and Malaysia!]

(This post includes affiliate links for which we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase)

How does trusted house sitters work?

Trusted House Sitters is one of the most professional and highly respected house sitting sites. You can sign up either as a house owner, a house sitter, or get a combined membership for both. It’s a fantastic resource for finding the perfect sitter to keep your home in order and pets happy. And it’s the perfect platform for pet lovers too!

If you sign up as a homeowner, you will then be able to create a “house sitters wanted” listing. This enables you to find a sitter for your pets and home when you go away on vacation. Registered house sitters on the site can view your listing and apply for your house sit if they wish. Or, you can browse the site and contact house sitters directly to invite them to house sit for you.

Signing up as a house sitter

When you sign up as a house sitter you create a profile sharing details like your availability, house sitting experience, and the type of pets you can look after. You can then browse the site and apply for house sits you’re interested in. Trusted House Sitters also sends out regular emails with new house sits that you can apply for.

To sign up as a house sitter,  the current annual membership Trusted House Sitter’s payment fee is $119USD. This is a higher price point than many other house-sitting websites. However, in our opinion, it’s not an expensive membership fee. If you intend to make use of the platform once you have joined, it goes without saying that it’s more than worth it.

We’re going to tell you more about trustedhousesitters in this post. First, I’ll share some of the reasons that it’s our favorite house-sitting membership option.

Why we love Trusted House Sitters | How it earns its status as one of the top house sitting websites

We are definitely happy customers of Trusted house sitters and we haven’t had a trusted house sitters bad experience. I believe a large part of that is due to the professionalism behind the site. Features such as background checks, external references, and reviews help ensure that house owners are well informed about who they’re inviting into their home and entrusting with the care of their pets.

Each house sit that we have completed from the site has offered us a unique and exciting experience. [In Thailand, we even learned how to look after snakes!]. We’ve met amazing people who welcomed us into their homes even though we have two young children. The house owners we meet have become lifelong friends, and we’ve had endless cuddles and fun with their gorgeous pets.

There are several house sitting sites to choose from. We are personally registered as house sitters on two websites, with Trusted HouseSitters being one of them.

Some of the features that sets Trusted House Sitters apart from other house and pet sitting sites

1. There is a large number of house sits available. Pre-pandemic, I was getting a daily email from Trusted House sitters with (at an estimated average), around 30 new house sits listed every day. The other site we are members of has a much lower annual fee. However, there are only maybe 5 or 10 new house sits listed each week. Although the number of listings on Trusted House Sitters dropped significantly due to the pandemic, it has now started to increase again
2. The listings are worldwide. If you want the opportunity for International house sits all over the world, Trusted House Sitters is a great choice for it’s worldwide coverage. Many other house sitting websites focus on one particular country or region. If you only want to house sit in one particular country then perhaps consider joining a house sitting website just for that country
3. It’s detail oriented. Some house sitting websites are really basic. The Trusted House Sitters website has many features that you won’t find on some other house sitting websites. For example, if you want to apply for a house sit, you can see how many people have already applied before you decide whether you want to put an application in. As I’ve already mentioned, Trusted House Sitters is strong on verifications and background checks so it’s highly professional. You can also do a lot to create a stand out profile and increase your chances of landing a great house sit.

Top Tips to help you get started on Trusted House Sitters

Before we signed up with Trusted House Sitters, several people tried to deter us. We were told that the site is too competitive and that families shouldn’t even bother trying because house owners will have plenty of experienced solo house sitters, or couples to choose from.

This doesn’t have to be the case. We put time and effort into our profile and it paid off. Step by step, we developed our profile to help increase our chances to get our first house sit. Once you do your first house sit you have the opportunity to wow the house owners and receive a stellar 5-star review for your profile.

Ways to boost your profile and land your first house sit

Before you land your first house sit, there are several ways you can help boost your profile. This will increase your chances of getting a house sit for the first time. Examples include:

• Adding photos to your profile. Include photos of you (and your children, if applicable) with pets

• Creating a pet sitter video. We did this after a while, to help enhance our profile. We created a video from our baby’s “perspective” explaining how she had done house sits while she was in mum’s tummy and that she was about to do her first housesit earth side!
• Ask friends or associates that you know well to provide an external character reference for you. These can be added to your profile and are especially useful before you’ve done your first house sit and haven’t yet been able to receive an on-site review. We added three character references to our profile. Two were from friends that we had previously done house sits for, and one was from a good friend whose plants we had looked after!

• Go through all the verification steps available to you on the Trusted House Sitters website. These include email, phone, and identity verifications, and a criminal background check
• Ensure your house sitter profile is fully completed, including information about yourself, pet and house sitting experience, and why you’d make a great house/pet sitter
• Keep your profile up to date including the areas you want to house sit and your availability

Click here to purchase your annual house sitter membership with Trusted House Sitters!

How we got our first house sit on Trusted House Sitters

When we first joined Trusted House Sitters we applied for some house sits and we weren’t successful. After we added photos, a video, references, and went through all the verification steps, we were away!

There are a few other points to consider, which helped us as a family:

• Apply for house sitting gigs as soon as possible after they are listed. In many instances, house owners will chose a house sitter pretty quickly. After a certain number of applicants they may close their listing or be less likely to read your application. Of course, some house owners will wade through 50 applications, but others won’t
• We generally only apply for house sits with 7 or less applicants. As a family, we feel that this increases the chances of us landing the house sit
• If you’re a family, apply for house sits that are listed as “family friendly” or where you think you can really relate to the owners and help meet and exceed their expectations
• Put time into your application. Make sure you show the house owners that you have read and understood their needs. Demonstrate that you are a caring sitter. Use their names and the names of their pets. Explain how you are going to go the extra mile to care for their home and keep their pets safe

We got our first house sit by jumping at an opportunity. The house owner was looking for last-minute house sitters so I knew there were be very few applications. There was urgency involved for her to find some great house sitters. She had been let down at the last minute by someone she knew personally, so she went to the Trusted House Sitters site to find someone (us!). 

In the next part of our trustedhousesitters review, I will share the details of that first house sit we landed, plus the other two sits we’ve done from this site.

Trusted house sitters reviews | Our personal experiences with Trusted House Sitters

We generally look for long term house sitting opportunities (1 month+). The shortest house sit we’ve done (outside of sitting for friends) is three weeks. The longest sit we have done so far was seven months. We could have stayed longer if we wanted to as well! Two of our house sits were supposed to be for two or three months but ended up being six or seven months!

Looking after Freya and Thor in Krabi, Thailand

Our first experience house sitting with trustedhousesitters was in Krabi, Thailand. We were planning to be in the Krabi region of Thailand so we jumped at the chance to look after Catherine’s young and boisterous rescue dogs and her cats after we found out she needed a last-minute house sitter.

When we first arrived at Catherine’s house for our first Trusted House Sitters experience, we wondered what we’d gotten ourselves into. The young dogs weren’t used to kids and during our first few days, we had our doubts that it was going to work out.

Freya was extremely energetic and fine with us but was initially aggressive towards our four-year-old daughter. She was simply protecting her owner. However, we spent time staying with Catherine (the owner) and her dogs before she headed off on holiday. Pretty soon, Freya trusted Ayla and became her best buddy.

Thor was extremely timid and scared of us all. He took a week or so to come out of his shell and out from hiding in the corner. However, after a couple of weeks, he loved us!

We spent three weeks looking after Freya, Thor, and the cats. We even got to hang out with some resident cows, although they didn’t belong to Catherine. Catherine was incredibly kind and relaxed. She didn’t have kids herself, yet she welcomed us into her home. She even let us use her car for the duration of our stay.

[Check out our favorite things to do in Krabi, Thailand, the best place to stay in Krabi, and top ideas for things to do on Koh Lanta].

A screenshot of the first of our 5-star reviews from this site is shared below. Check out what Catherine had to say about us!

Our second Trusted House Sitters experience in Northern Thailand

Not too long after our Krabi house sit, we found ourselves at another three-week house sit, this time in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. This was a pretty unique experience for us because it was our first-ever opportunity to look after snakes! There were also two lovely cats.

We learned the ins and outs of how to work together to feed one of the snakes a live mouse each week and the other one a frozen mouse. As a committed vegetarian and mega animal lover, this was a challenge for me, and it was an experience our family will certainly never forget.

We had a wonderful experience in a gorgeous gated community where Ayla learned to ride a bike for the first time.

The home we stayed in was beautiful and had a playroom and plenty of toys that Ayla was allowed to use. It was quite a treat for us to stay here, especially as I was about 30 weeks pregnant. Therefore, I appreciated a comfortable spot to relax!

[Check out our top recommendations of things to do in Chiang Mai, Thailand].

You’ll see the second of our 5-star reviews from this site in the screenshot below!

House sitting in rural France

The most recent house sit we completed through Trusted House Sitters was in the Poitou-Charentes region of France. As full-time slow travelers, our rough plan is to spend a few years in each continent. We feel like the stars aligned for us with this third Trusted House Sitters house sit…

After three years of slow traveling throughout Southeast Asia, we decided to move on to Europe. Although this house sit wasn’t originally listed as “family-friendly” we thought we’d go for it. It would be a great opportunity for us to get started in Europe and to stay in a country that may have otherwise been out of our budget.

It turned out that the house owners were very family-friendly. They simply hadn’t considered a family before we applied! After I asked whether they’d consider us, they decided that absolutely. They decided that it made much more sense that a family should enjoy their large, beautiful home!

As I said, the stars aligned for us on this one. We left our little ant-ridden apartment in the Philippines and landed in France in March 2020. A week later we were in a three-month lockdown in the French countryside. The thing was, we were in the middle of nowhere, with two acres of beautiful gardens, fields, and woods to explore. We had cozy fires, a cute dog, and the most well-equipped kitchen we’d ever had.

Three months turned into seven

Usually, three months in the middle of nowhere would have been our limit as a family with two social young girls. However, due to the pandemic situation, we secured two visa extensions in France and stayed for seven months. We could have stayed longer, and could have still been there now if we wanted to. However, after seven months we decided to move somewhere for some new interactions for both us and the girls. We facilitated the changeover for new house sitters to come in and take over.

Again, we consider the house owners from this house sit to be lifelong friends. We couldn’t believe how welcoming they were to us with two young girls. They also allowed us to use their car for the duration of our stay!

[Find out about our recommendations of things to do in the Poitou-Charentes region of France].

Our honest review of Trusted House Sitters

As you can probably tell, we’ve shared a very positive review of Trusted House Sitters. We can highly recommend the site and we will continue to use it ourselves. It’s one of the best places for home owners to find potential house sitters and there are lots of house sits on offer, all over the world. Landing just one house-sitting gig will make your annual membership fee worthwhile. 

As a digital nomad family, house sitting fits in really well with our full-time, slow travel lifestyle. It’s a great way to save on accommodation costs and get a feel for living like a local! We are not full-time sitters. However, we know a few people who are, and it’s certainly possible! Instead, we prefer to alternate the responsibilities of house sitting with simple apartment-style living.

Next, I’ll share a bit about some of the other house-sitting gigs we’ve landed outside of the Trusted House Sitters website. Finally, I’ll cover some of the additional questions you might have about house sitting, bonus tips for house sitting, and some other housesitting websites you can check out.

House sits we have done outside of Trusted House Sitters

This is the first of our house sitting reviews. However, we have also completed other house sits. The other house sitting website we are members of is called “Mind my House”. It’s one of the original house-sitting websites and we joined it before we decided to give Trusted House Sitters a try.

We have completed three house sits from Mind my House, plus some other house sits for friends. Mind my house has a cheaper membership but far fewer house sitting opportunities and website features. We found our first-ever house sit on there….in Bali with Harry the cat!

The sit started in January 2018 and was only supposed to be for 10 weeks. But the host decided to extend her stay in Europe. She was so happy with how we conducted ourselves that she asked us to stay as long as we could. We ended up staying for 5.5 months because we were in Bali on a 6-month social visa

[Check out our top recommendations of things to do with kids in Bali].

House sits in KL, New Zealand, and Singapore!

We did a month-long house sit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which we also found on “Mind my house”.

[Check out our top tips for things to do in KL here].

Additionally, we have done house sits for friends and family. We’ve looked after my sister’s home and cat in Singapore a few times. And we house sat for friends in my hometown of Gisborne, New Zealand. Check out the sunrise view from their window in the picture below!

[In case you’re interested, these are our favorite things to do with kids in Gisborne, New Zealand].

Other useful house sitting tips

Here are a few bonus tips for house sitters:

• Get to know the house owners before you do your house sit. Do at least one video call with them beforehand, and get their email address. That way you can ask them additional questions about the house sit before you arrive and will show them that you are care-orientated sitters
• If it’s the first time the homeowners are using house sitters you may need to spend more time getting all the required information you need. If they haven’t had previous sitters they won’t yet have reviews. They may not have thought of all the details you need to know. Many organized home owners who have used house sitters before will know exactly what to brief you on. They may even have a manual for you to read about their home and pets
• If you’re not sure about whether a house sit is right for you, ask for additional information. This could include things like photos of bedrooms and the kitchen, if they haven’t included them in the listing
• Make sure you consider the cost of travel to reach your house sitting gig. This way, you won’t end up letting the house owner down once you realize how much it will cost you to get to their beautiful home in Costa Rica – on the other side of the world to where you currently are!
• Generally, there should be no fee for house sitters (outside of your house sitting membership fee), unless agreed in advance. Home owners might ask you to contribute towards utilities for longer-term house sits, but many don’t. Some home owners will leave you enough food for their pets for the full time they will be away. Otherwise, they might reimburse you for pet food costs, medical care for pets, and any home maintenance costs. Make sure you clarify things like this with the home owners beforehand so you don’t meet any surprise costs.

House sitter reviews | Trusted house sitters faq

Other house sitting websites

If you are looking for potential sitters for your home and/or pets, there are many other options you can explore outside of Trusted House Sitters. If you’re looking for house and pet sitting opportunities, you might want to explore some of the following, especially if you’re looking for a region-specific site.

• Mind my house for international house sits
• Aussie House Sitters for sits within Australia
• Kiwi House Sitters for house sitting and pet sitting within New Zealand
• House Sitters America for house and pet sitting opportunities exclusively in the US
• House Sitters Canada
• House Sit Mexico

All house sitting sites have a different annual subscription fee for house sitters. You can usually get an annual membership plan starting at as little as $20 for the most basic house sitting websites.

We hope you’ve gained lots of valuable insights from our trustedhousesitters.com review. Please feel free to join the conversation and leave any questions or comments about Trusted House Sitters below. We’d love to hear from you!

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