Should a Pet Sitter be charged Rent/Utilities?

[Disneyfanatic108]

Ya that's not right. We usually pay our friends 75 a week and they can stay at the house and eat any food in the freezer. Next time I will have to take inventory and when i get back charge them for the food they ate!!

 

[2BOYMOM]

As a petsitter myself, no way would I do this. You are offering her a service and in exchange she is letting you stay at her place while she is away. End of deal. Tell her to find someone else to sit for her cat.

 

[LanaJayne]

We've always had a friend or neighbor take care of our dog and house while we are gone. We do the same in exchange, usually for a dinner out when the trip is over, or if neighbor's kids are pet/house sitting we pay them.

This person sounds like she is trying to take advantage of you. Do you know her well or was this a stranger?

When I was younger, I house-sat for a couple for 3 months in exchange for lower rent. It worked out well, as I was new to the area and was able to live in a fully furnished home. This was through a friend who knew the couple and also knew me so it worked out well all the way around.

In my case, I wasn't responsible for a living being, just a place to live that the owner knew would be well looked after with me there. The lower rent was worth it.

 

[onelilspark]

My younger brother needed a place to stay in December after the dorms closed on campus so he could still work until he left for an exchange program. He found someone who was going home for the holidays (we live close to his school, but not close enough for him to commute every day for work, close enough for him to come home for Christmas.) And they'd be gone for 2 weeks. The deal was, he took care of their pets for those 2 weeks, he could stay at their place, free rent, free utlities. Granted they knew each other, but even so, he was performing a service for them, so it's a no brainer that he'd get compensated. In his case, he needed a place to stay close to campus.

 

[JPN4265]

Yeah, that's not right.

But one solution is to up your pet sitting fee by about $700 for the month. That should solve the problem.

Sounds good to me. That should be considered an expense of the job and charged to the customer.

Now, next question. We have considered getting a pet setter for our two golden retrievers. Can someone with experience in this field give us some advise. What would our responsibilities be? How much should you pay someone? Anything and everything would be great to know.

 

[debden]

We've always had a friend or neighbor take care of our dog and house while we are gone. We do the same in exchange, usually for a dinner out when the trip is over, or if neighbor's kids are pet/house sitting we pay them.

This person sounds like she is trying to take advantage of you. Do you know her well or was this a stranger?

When I was younger, I house-sat for a couple for 3 months in exchange for lower rent. It worked out well, as I was new to the area and was able to live in a fully furnished home. This was through a friend who knew the couple and also knew me so it worked out well all the way around.

In my case, I wasn't responsible for a living being, just a place to live that the owner knew would be well looked after with me there. The lower rent was worth it.

I do not know her.She was advertising for a pet sitter and I answered her ad.We spoke on the phone and she sounded very nice and she seemed to be very impressed with me.
I offered a background check and references.
Then she called back a short time later and said she was rethinking the "no rent" thing in exchange for caring for her kitty and she needed to charge rent/utilities.
I told her I would be more than happy to care for her kitty if she wanted to rethink the rent part of the deal.
Utilities I don't mind because I had planned on being in that area anyways to see if I would like to relocate there or not.So it would save me on hotel expenses.
I was very excited about caring for her kitty and she could leave for a month knowing her cat and home were being well cared for.
I'm hoping she changes her mind but maybe she'll be able to get someone to pay the rent she wants.

 

[laurie31]

I guess it's been well-established by now that the woman is nuts, but goodness, but just wow. Who pays someone else to let themselves work for them?

We pay our pet sitter quite well, and still save money over what it would cost to board them, plus they are happier at home. Here it costs $14 a day to board, and we have 8, so that's $112 a DAY, plus there are still fish, and DD's lizard that would need care and couldn't be boarded. So a month would cost $3300, and we'd still have to have someone come and take care of the "homebound" pets, plus water the plants, and all the other housesitting type things. (We don't like to have our mail stopped as we're paranoid someone will find out and know we're gone).

I once housesat for someone, no pets involved. They just wanted someone coming and going in a normal way. I got their mail and pretty much just...lived in their house. They paid me plus told me I could eat whatever I wanted from the freezer.

 

[debden]

I guess it's been well-established by now that the woman is nuts, but goodness, but just wow. Who pays someone else to let themselves work for them?

We pay our pet sitter quite well, and still save money over what it would cost to board them, plus they are happier at home. Here it costs $14 a day to board, and we have 8, so that's $112 a DAY, plus there are still fish, and DD's lizard that would need care and couldn't be boarded. So a month would cost $3300, and we'd still have to have someone come and take care of the "homebound" pets, plus water the plants, and all the other housesitting type things. (We don't like to have our mail stopped as we're paranoid someone will find out and know we're gone).

I once housesat for someone, no pets involved. They just wanted someone coming and going in a normal way. I got their mail and pretty much just...lived in their house. They paid me plus told me I could eat whatever I wanted from the freezer.

And that's the way it should be but for some reason this woman got the notion that someone shouldn't be living in her home rent free.
I don't even think she gave it a thought that pet sitting is a service that you pay someone to do for you.
Hopefully she'll rethink wanting to charge her pet sitter rent.

 

[DMickey28]

Um ... That seems super wierd! Wouldn't that be like asking the babysitter to pay you for watching the kids, eating your food, using your house and your utilities?

 

[Northstar]

She has now realized that what she really wants is to rent her house while she's away. She can then negotiate for reduced rent in exchange for petsitting/housesitting (if she cares so little about her kitty that she will just trust renters to look out for her).

Her mistake was in advertising for someone to perform a service for her. Petsitting is a job. People who are looking for a job are not the same people who are looking for housing. It's crazy to try to find a renter by advertising for a petsitter.

 

[Stitchfans]

Aren't they supposed to be paying you - not the other way around.

Exactly.

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

Hmm, I've kind of done what this lady is suggesting. But let me explain before you jump on me

In our previous house, we had an over the garage apartment. We weren't interested in long term renters so we rented to student teachers in the area. We'd always offer a decrease in rent in exchange for babysitting. But they also had the option to be paid in cash for the babysitting instead, or to decline altogether. So I have accepted rent from someone at the same time that they were providing me a service to me.

I do think it was poor form for her to change her tune mid-way through though. If sublets are going for $1000/mo, I can see her thought process. She just should have said so from the beginning.

 

[debden]

She has now realized that what she really wants is to rent her house while she's away. She can then negotiate for reduced rent in exchange for petsitting/housesitting (if she cares so little about her kitty that she will just trust renters to look out for her).

Her mistake was in advertising for someone to perform a service for her. Petsitting is a job. People who are looking for a job are not the same people who are looking for housing. It's crazy to try to find a renter by advertising for a petsitter.

I totally agree.A renter is not going to give her cat the care that a pet sitter would give.
If I was going to be away for a month I would want to make darn sure my pet was being well cared for.
Anything could happen in that month...

 

[NMAmy]

Now, next question. We have considered getting a pet setter for our two golden retrievers. Can someone with experience in this field give us some advise. What would our responsibilities be? How much should you pay someone? Anything and everything would be great to know.

We pay the petsitter the same price that it would cost to board our dog. She's getting one on one attention and gets to stay in familiar surroundings. I think it's easier to do this if you get someone you know and trust.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by responsibilities. We offer the full run of the house to the pet sitter along with helping themselves to any food they'd like. I also leave a blank check in case some kind of household emergency comes up (but again, you have to really trust the person to do this.)

 

[debden]

Sounds good to me. That should be considered an expense of the job and charged to the customer.

Now, next question. We have considered getting a pet setter for our two golden retrievers. Can someone with experience in this field give us some advise. What would our responsibilities be? How much should you pay someone? Anything and everything would be great to know.

If you feel comfortable you can use Care.com to find a pet sitter.
You can sign up and let people know that your looking for a pet sitter and check out people who are interested in pet sitting in your area.
I'm signed up with this site for child care and pet care services.Anybody offering a service can also offer a background check and ref's.
It's an excellent website and I wouldn't have signed up if it didn't look legitimate.
Lots of people who are pet/child/elderly sitters advertise and so do people looking for these services.Here's the website if anyone is interested.
https://www.care.com/

 

[LanaJayne]

I do not know her.She was advertising for a pet sitter and I answered her ad.We spoke on the phone and she sounded very nice and she seemed to be very impressed with me.
I offered a background check and references.
Then she called back a short time later and said she was rethinking the "no rent" thing in exchange for caring for her kitty and she needed to charge rent/utilities.
I told her I would be more than happy to care for her kitty if she wanted to rethink the rent part of the deal.
Utilities I don't mind because I had planned on being in that area anyways to see if I would like to relocate there or not.So it would save me on hotel expenses.
I was very excited about caring for her kitty and she could leave for a month knowing her cat and home were being well cared for.
I'm hoping she changes her mind but maybe she'll be able to get someone to pay the rent she wants.

Wow, this is ever weirder! If I needed a pet sitter, I would hire a reputable company, or a friend/aquaintance, not just hire a stranger.

I wouldn't want to leave my home open to a total stranger, unless I had confidence in the company or I knew them through a friend! I can't imagine just advertising for a pet sitter to see who showed up! The fact that she is now asking for rent and utilities would make me run fast in the other direction.

She doesn't sound like someone I would want to get involved with. What will she expect/demand you owe her next? She sounds a bit nutty.

 

[browneyes106]

That does sound like she is trying to take advantage of you. My aunt and uncle have a cattery and years ago before I didn't live in the same city as them they paid pet sitters money to stay with the cats while they were gone. They didn't ask for any ultities or rent if the sitters had to stay overnight with a pregnant queen or a litter of kittens. I moved here about 6 years ago when I started college and I became their pet sitter. They wanted to pay me but I told them no. I enjoy staying with their cats especially when there are kittens around.

 

[laurie31]

Hmm, I've kind of done what this lady is suggesting. But let me explain before you jump on me

In our previous house, we had an over the garage apartment. We weren't interested in long term renters so we rented to student teachers in the area. We'd always offer a decrease in rent in exchange for babysitting. But they also had the option to be paid in cash for the babysitting instead, or to decline altogether. So I have accepted rent from someone at the same time that they were providing me a service to me.

I do think it was poor form for her to change her tune mid-way through though. If sublets are going for $1000/mo, I can see her thought process. She just should have said so from the beginning.

I think this is not the same thing.

You were offering an apartment for rent. The renter (a teacher, whom you could trust with your kids) could then babysit for you in exchange for part of the rent. Sounds like a good deal.

To change your situation to what the OP's would have been - consider if you put out an ad for a sitter, and then wanted to charge them rent while they cared for your kids. That makes it very different.

Northstar hit the nail on the head. She wants a renter to care for her cat. She needs to advertise for a renter, and then tell them she'll knock $500 (or whatever) off the rent if they will care for her cat. Then they'll feel like they're getting a deal, and hopefully the cat would be well-cared for.

 

[WDSearcher]

And that's the way it should be but for some reason this woman got the notion that someone shouldn't be living in her home rent free.
I don't even think she gave it a thought that pet sitting is a service that you pay someone to do for you.
Hopefully she'll rethink wanting to charge her pet sitter rent.

It sounds like what she was really looking for was someone to rent her house while she was gone for a month and, incidentally, take care of her cat. If you were living there, I can see requesting utilities -- since you may use significantly more than she does -- but I would just adjust the rate I'm paying you and let you know why. Come to an agreement on what's reasonable, y'know?

I have a friend who has three cats and she was trying to do the same thing. She put in ads for people to rent the house for a three-month period while she would be out of town on a job. The deal was that the cost for renting the house for the three months was X amount of money, plus utilities, with the understanding that it was significantly less than other local vacation rentals because there was also pet care involved. I think she figured that she'd get a couple who wanted to stay there (she lived near the beach and a major city) and she'd get both some rent and free pet care. Didn't get many takers.

She changed the ad to read "Pet Sitter" and the info stated that the pet sitter could choose to be "live-in". She got a lot more bites on the ad, but never found anyone willing to pay part of her mortgage for the priviledge of watching her three cats. Finally ended up just paying someone to check up on them a few times a week like a normal pet-sitter.

Personally, I'd rather have someone like you, who's there to take care of the cat first and are just incidentally staying in the house, than to find someone wanting to rent out the house and then incidentally take care of the cat!

 

[debden]

It sounds like what she was really looking for was someone to rent her house while she was gone for a month and, incidentally, take care of her cat. If you were living there, I can see requesting utilities -- since you may use significantly more than she does -- but I would just adjust the rate I'm paying you and let you know why. Come to an agreement on what's reasonable, y'know?

I have a friend who has three cats and she was trying to do the same thing. She put in ads for people to rent the house for a three-month period while she would be out of town on a job. The deal was that the cost for renting the house for the three months was X amount of money, plus utilities, with the understanding that it was significantly less than other local vacation rentals because there was also pet care involved. I think she figured that she'd get a couple who wanted to stay there (she lived near the beach and a major city) and she'd get both some rent and free pet care. Didn't get many takers.

She changed the ad to read "Pet Sitter" and the info stated that the pet sitter could choose to be "live-in". She got a lot more bites on the ad, but never found anyone willing to pay part of her mortgage for the priviledge of watching her three cats. Finally ended up just paying someone to check up on them a few times a week like a normal pet-sitter.

Personally, I'd rather have someone like you, who's there to take care of the cat first and are just incidentally staying in the house, than to find someone wanting to rent out the house and then incidentally take care of the cat!

That's exactly what I thought also.
She told me she had someone coming in to see the place for the reduced rent but he did not know she had a cat she wanted the renter to care for.
That's just crazy.I would never have a renter come in and then say "oh by the way I have a cat I want you to care for".Like the cat is a second thought....
No way.My pets are always my first thought.I think she's going about this the wrong way.
I'm just worried for her kitty.