Who look after your home when you travel ?

[Perlla55]

Do you have someone check on your home when you are on vacation especially a long one, do you pay them and what is a fair price for it,
what if something went wrong, do you give them your keys and a list of all contact numbers, what if you are new to the area and have no family close by

 

[Mercy]

We have our next door neighbors look after our house, and we look after theirs when they go away. They have a set of keys, just in case, and our cell numbers to contact us.

We usually buy them something, doesn't have to be big, or expensive. Last year when we went to the beach, we brought them back a bucket of Fisher's caramel popcorn (local to the MD/DE eastern shore). I think they brought us back a small bird feeder.

 

[Cool-Beans]

A good friend (who lives 5 minutes away) comes by to bring in mail and paper, feed birds, etc...if we're all away at the same time.

We're friends, so we don't pay each other for favors.

 

[sajetto]

Luckily my MIL lives close by so we give her a set a of keys and she looks in every couple of days when we're gone.

 

[marybet]

We don't have anyone to do that for us. I stop the mail and the papers, and we have a security system. I used to ask the lady across the street to watch for any packages that would be on the porch and she would say yes, but after several times coming home and finding packages on the porch I just stopped asking. We just try not to order anything to be delivered while we are gone.

When we lived in NC we had a wonderful neighbor that would look after our house and pool and get the mail. I really miss that, but have made no close friends here.

 

[Perlla55]

This would be a good chance for me to help them with some cash because they are an elder couple with not much income, do anyone here have a paid service and how much is the normal rate?

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We have a pet sitter who comes 3 times a day and we pay her $12 per visit ($36 per day). Worth every penny and is less than the cost of kenneling our dog and cat! We trust her and she has had the key to our house for several years. She has our cell numbers and can reach us at any time.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

i have 2 friends that live just houses away that check the house, feed the cat & take the mail.

we don't pay either. We do the same when they go away.

 

[tinatark]

We used to have one of DH's managers stay at our house - but the last time he stayed, on the day our housekeeper came in and saw 3-4 guys + his fiancee' come out of OUR bedroom, that stopped! He also no longer works for us!

We have the handyman guy/our friend come by when we're gone, he picks up the mail and feeds the dogs. We don't pay him extra.

 

[disykat]

No one. We stop the mail, turn off the water to the house, lock the doors, and leave.
The neighbors know how to contact our family (DH is a JR. so it's pretty easy to look up his dad since they know where we're from) if there is a fire or an explosion.

 

[Aidensmom]

We usually only leave for 3 or 4 days at the most, so we leave the house in the care of our attack cat. If we are gone longer than that, we will have someone come over to bring in the mail and take care of the cat. In the past, I have had my sister and my son's teacher do so. We paid the teacher, my sister did so for free.

 

[NikiM20]

My brother is in college and i paid him $20 a day to stay at our house, feed the dogs and I stocked the fridge for him (he eats like a horse!!!) Much less than I would have to pay to board the group (5 dogs 1 cat)

 

[HunnyPots]

My DD18's boyfriend will come over and feed the cats, water the plants, bring in mail, etc. Last year, he even straighted up DD's room and left flowers for her on the day we were to come home!
I tell DH we really should pay him for doing this and he looks at me like I've lost my mind and says, "I let him date my daughter; what more could he want?"

 

[Claire L]

DMIL comes and stays at ours to look at the 3 cats, it gives her a nice break from DFIL as he stays home to look after their cats!!! When DMIL came away with us some good friends stayed for the 13 nights we were away but they have just bought their own house, so will need to look for new sitters when we go away with DMIL next year.

Claire

 

[CourtasanSatine]

The neighbors keep an eye on the animals and we do the same, no pay involved.

 

[Muffy]

We have our next door neighbor of 21 years watch our house for us. We are so fortunate to have great neighbors.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have four neighbors that we are close with and we all have keys to each others houses and looks after each others houses whenever one of us is away.

 

[Kitty 34]

My Mom lives on one side of me and my sister lives on the other so they look after the house and the 5 cats!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

My mom drops by a few times and makes sure all is well and checks on our hamster. We stop the mail and whatnot. My grandmother usually comes at some point and cleans for us (I don't ask her to, she just enjoys helping me out. I admit, it's nice to come home to a clean house!)

 

[we3disneygo]

we have my mom and best friend stop by and check on the cat....we stop the mail , and set a timer for the lights and radio.