12 Tips for Successful House Sitting in Australia
How to Become a House Sitter and stay for free
House-sitting can be a great way of keeping the cost of travelling in Australian cities to a minimum. It implies taking care of a house and pets while the homeowners are away on their travels. In a few words, it means having a home for yourself and staying for free.
As a solo traveller, you have to pay high hotel room rates with single supplements. Private rooms in hostels are not always cheap. It is where house sitting comes in as a great way to save money on Australia’s accommodation and experience a more intimate stay. At the same time, you immerse yourself in the local community.
I had heard – and read – a lot about housesitting from fellow travel bloggers, but it’s only in 2014 that I finally got my first housesit in Sydney as a solo traveller.

The rise of house sitting in Australia
It has been hard for me to get started. I didn’t have any house sitting experience, and no house sit references nor a police check. While there is a huge demand for house sitters in Australia, many people are willing to housesit, so competition is high.
After replying to many adverts, I stumbled upon a suitable advert, and within a few days, I got my first house sit. The homeowners were looking for a single, mature, reliable house sitter and a cat lover 🙂 I was lucky enough to be at the right place, at the right moment and be the perfect house sitter for them.
In 2015 I had the opportunity to house sit in Australia a couple of times. In Perth’s surroundings and on the northern beaches, in a beautiful home overlooking the Indian ocean.
All in all, it has been a learning-by-doing-it experience with lots of trial and error along the way. I have learnt many things that are crucial to getting a suitable house sits in Australia. This is why I want to share my house sitting experience with you now.
These tips are for a single person, especially for women travelling alone in Australia long-term and wanting to try out something different in their solo trip.
How to get started with house sitting and choose a website
A few reputable house sitters operate online, but some are overpriced, and some are not targeted on House Sitting in Australia. After robust research early this year, I decided to sign up for Aussie House Sitters, an Australian website that specialises in house sitting only in Australia and New Zealand. I use this website. I like the functionality; the platform is easy to use, clear and practical.
What you need to know before signing up for a house sitting website
There are a few things that you need to check before deciding where to sign up. Most sites offer a free sign up that allows you to browse through all housesit adverts, but if you want to contact homeowners, you need to pay for a yearly subscription.
What is an excellent subscription for a house sitting website? It depends on the website functionality and services. On average, the rate is between 40-65 USD/year. And I wouldn’t invest more.
Functionality is critical and a key to finding the right house sits. You will not need any fancy techie platform. What you need is a profile where you can upload your photo, write your bio, add your contact details (including phone numbers and Skype-id) your interests, skills, availability, and desired locations.

How to set up a compelling housesitter profile
The house sitter profile is the most important thing because it gets homeowners’ eyeballs and sells you as a trusted house-sitter. Your profile is what your potential homeowners see first and what makes them choose you or not choose you. For a job search, you must get the attention of the prospective employer.
Some people worry about being too selective or not bringing experience. Well, you will be surprised, but it does not work that way. Homeowners do have in mind the type of person that is a good fit for them.
- Check carefully what the house sitting websites offer concerning functionality and services (profile set up, personal details, alerts) and make sure Australia is the targeted market. She is how my house sitter profile looks like.
- The more specific you are in your profile, the better. Don’t be afraid of being too selective.
- Be honest and be yourself. Being new to house sitting doesn’t necessarily mean no one will offer you a house sitting job. The reality is that you don’t need any special skills nor previous experience to house sit. Everyone can do it.
The only thing homeowners look for is a good fit. They want to have a good feeling about handing over their home and beloved pets to a stranger. They must be sure they will have peace of mind where they are away. Your character is what counts, how reliable, committed, and trustworthy; you are what counts in the end. - Be personal and honest in your bio. Say why you want to house sit, why someone should pick you and what you expect from house sitting.

Hot to get the attention of prospective homeowners
First, you need to create a compelling profile. Then you need to find suitable house-sits and browse through all house sitting adverts.
- Be flexible. Create your specific alerts with the desired locations and timing. For instance, if you plan to stay in Sydney, make a map of which areas you are prepared to house sit in Sydney by adding surroundings and setting up alerts for the desired period.
House sit alerts allow getting automated notifications into your mailbox whenever new adverts that match your criteria enter the website database. It is the best way to access adverts before they go live. - Read carefully through the advert and reply with a short mail. As a general rule, you shall reply when the advert is fresh, within 2-3 hours, after getting a reply decrease rapidly. Attractive house gigs will go quickly. Unfortunately, there is no magic rule on how to make it work. You don’t know how many competitors for that house sit are there.
The homeowners will get dozens if not hundreds of emails, and they will have to wade through. So bear in mind that out of hundreds of emails, they may pick only 3-4 potential suitable house sitters to which they will reply. - Write a compelling house sitter title on your mail. It makes your letter stand out and what homeowners read first, and what makes them click through. It only takes maybe 10 seconds for the homeowners to shortlist house sitting candidates.
In the beginning, my reply rate to adverts was low. I was hoping to get homeowners’ attention and get contacted directly to skip the tiring read-and-reply cycle. It is how I got two of my house-sit assignments. At first, I thought my profile is not compelling because I prefer to take care of the cats. On the contrary, this proved to help me. - Less is more. Write a short reply and always add your references.
What if you don’t have any house sitting references?
It is the issue all would-be house sitters face at the beginning (me included). I would use good references you have collected over the years from landlords, B&B hosts, volunteer work, etc. Review from friends is also useful if you have taken care of their house or pets.
My Airbnb reviews helped me to get my first house sitting job in Australia.
Engage with the potential homeowners
Engaging is critical, but it is also the hardest part. It would be best if you tried to break through the email barrier. Try to get hold of homeowners on the phone and talk to them.
People naturally tend to trust house sitters who are in the country or maybe on the spot. They can speak and also meet them in person. However, thanks to the digital world, phone and skype do help us all break that wall.
- Be available for a chat on the phone (better) or on Skype (if overseas). You can add your phone number every time you write a reply to an advert. Now that you have clicked on the Send Button, you’ve got to wait, and you’d better arm yourself with patience.
It will not happen straight away. It took me a few weeks before I started getting some replies. Usually, I get a response within 3-24 hours. Sometimes it may take longer, up to 3 days. And after that, it means you will not get any. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get replies at the beginning. That’s normal. Keep trying. It will work; it’s just a question of time. - Be polite, don’t be pushy. Don’t follow up emails unless they have come back to you first.
Michela House Sitting in Perth 2015
What if homeowners offer you to house sit
So, what happens when you get your first house to sit job. Once you have accepted it, show your commitment and add the booked house sit dates to your profile. This way, you will not be available any more during the reserved period. It shows them that you are taking it seriously!
I still remember the excitement when I got my first housesit. I couldn’t believe that I got it. 🙂
- Show commitment and show the homeowners that you have taken your house sit job seriously. Make an appointment to meet up before starting. If you overseas, keep in touch via mail or skype and arrange to arrive a few days before the house sit starts.
- Keep in contact with the homeowners while they are away, give them updates about their pets’ welfare, send them photos, tell them how you are going, etc.
- Keep the house tidy and clean and return it to the homeowners in the same state or even better.
- Stick to the arrangments regarding the house sit tasks, i.e. feeding pets, walking dogs, collecting mail, watering the garden, etc.
Between 2015 and 2019, I have been house sitting in Australia five times. One housesit for six weeks on the Gold Coast, and five housesits in Perth suburbs. I have been fortunate in getting amazing homes to look after from beautiful people with lovely pets. I am very excited and can’t wait to house sit again and discover new corners of Australia.
Either ten days or several months, the house sits in Australia are a rewarding way of staying for free, thus saving big on the accommodation expense.
But it’s not only about the saving-money aspect, but it’s also about being able to live in a real home, living immersed in a new neighbourhood, becoming part of a community for a while, and seeing Australia from a different perspective of the typical traveller routine.
It is something exciting and different to do in your Australia Solo Travel Adventure.
If you want to dig deeper and get to know all the tips and tricks from expert housesitters, you can also get the complete Housesitting Guide and start house sitting around the world.
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This article was first posted in 2016 and last updated in Nov 2020.
If you find this article helpful for your trip, I’d appreciate it if you could support Rocky Travel and purchase the Aussie House Sitter membership using the article’s link or use the affiliate links in the box below. Thank you!
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Brian Moore
September 29, 2015 @ 10:43 am
Hi Michela,
What a great, informative article. My wife and I are in the UK but I’ve got a sister who lives in Sydney and housesitting would be a fantastic way to spend some time with her without being under her feet, as well as see more of other parts of Australia. At the moment we keep our house sitting and petsitting activities to the UK as we run an online gift store, but we are hoping to develop the business in a way that enables us to travel overseas. We started housesitting and pet sitting in March of this year and have used it to explore the Cornish South Coast, Cheltenham, the Pewsey Downs in Surrey, the Pennines in Lancashire, Somerset, the Chiltern Hills, Hampshire and Colchester. At present, we are back in Cornwall looking after the same dog we looked after in March, plus chickens, ducks and geese. Free eggs, a bulging orchard, productive vegetable garden in a beautiful converted mill just a mile from the beach make it good way to end the British summer. We’re off to Royal Tunbridge Wells next and Chichester Harbour shortly thereafter. If you, or anyone else in Australia is thinking of housesitting and petsitting while visiting the UK, please feel welcome to take a look at our website: housesittingandpetsitting.com where I have some catching up to do but am trying to do a blog article of each house sitting assignment we undertake. Good luck with your further adventures!
Gara
March 14, 2016 @ 8:34 am
Consider home exchange also, Brian. I live in Sydney, but grew up in Britain and I do home exchanges every couple of years to Britain. We usually exchange cars too, so no need to hire a car!
rockytravel
September 30, 2015 @ 2:15 am
Thanks for your reply and your info about your house sitting website and blog, Brian. I like UK, was a student in London 25 years ago and have lovely memories of my travels in the wonderful English green countryside. Scotland was one of the places I loved most and would like to return, so I will definitely use your website for more info about house sitting in UK. All the best to you too and yes if you come to Sydney you will love house sitting in Australia, plenty of homes in fabulous locations. People here are not so fussy about police check like in other countries, because what counts in the end is your character and how trustworthy your are! Happy travels and housesitting around the world! Cheers, Michela 🙂
Reni
September 30, 2015 @ 5:59 am
Thanks Michaela, for the very useful guide about housesitting in Australia. We never tried but we would love to. Hopefully next year. We have not signed up to a housesitting website. Your tips will help us to get started.
Thanks again,
Reni
rockytravel
September 30, 2015 @ 6:07 am
Hi Reni, indeed house sitting is becoming very popular all over the world. In Australia there is a large offer but also a high demand. But worth’s trying out and if you are on long term travel it definitely help you save thousands of dollars on accommodation! Glad you find the post useful. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Red Nomad OZ
October 2, 2015 @ 10:17 am
This is a great article, Michela – and it’s good to see how it worked for you. It’d be interesting to try it as an Aussie traveller too if we wanted a break from the camper trailer! Have a great weekend!
Michela
October 2, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
Oh yes, housesitting has worked wonderful for me on my solo travels. I don’t know why I waited so long to give it a go 🙂 It could be great for you too. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!
Robyn-Lea Schulz
April 12, 2016 @ 6:26 am
G’Day Red Nomad Oz. Yes indeed more and more grey nomads (sorry…no offence meant…in fact i see you have red hair 🙂 are doing just that – taking a break from the rigours of the road by house sitting from time to time. Michela’s choice of house sitting websites for travelling Down Under was spot on. Aussie House Sitters are one of the four best platforms for house sitting Australia and is featured on Compare HouseSitting – a great one stop shop for house sitting Australia. Happy travels!
rockytravel
April 14, 2016 @ 11:15 am
Hi Robyn, thanks for weighing in. I like Aussie House Sitters better than other house sitting websites with focus on Australia. It has a clear and easy to use interface with all the necessary functionalities. I can highly recommend it. 🙂
Robyn-Lea Schulz
April 15, 2016 @ 1:48 am
You’re spot on, Michela! Aussie House Sitters are easier to use than the others – very easy to navigate. Not only that, but Aussie attracts more home owner ads than other house sitting website. They publish their stats for the past 3 months on their home page – impressive! Jan, Feb, March 2016 = 1,225, 1,310, 1,453 respectively. No other site is so open about their statistics.
Dale
October 12, 2015 @ 2:11 pm
An incredibly well written and informative article, especially from the point of view of someone who’s house sat extensively in Europe, but not outside of the region.
We’ve been invited to visit Australia so many times but have always been unsure about how the Australian system works, but now after reading this I understand it perfectly.
Michela of Rocky Travel Blog
October 15, 2015 @ 8:34 pm
Glad you found this article informative and useful for your travels to Australia. It’s an easy country in terms of burocracy and there is not the hassle that we are used to in Europe. However all 6 states have their own rules and regulations, somehow this makes it difficult for travellers to understand how things work. Housesitting in Australia is easier than in other countries because home owners are not so fussy like in other countries where you need to get a police check if you want to get started. Happy travels and if you need any tips don’t hesitate to ask! 🙂
Ralph Quito
April 28, 2017 @ 7:55 am
Another great read thanks to you Michela! I am always amazed at how you are able to write and make your readers feel that they are just talking to a friend. My favorite part is “What you need to know before signing up”. Keep writing please!
Paul Rought
February 1, 2020 @ 5:04 am
Hi Michaela
We have just signed up for Trusted Housesitters and are heading to Australia later this year so this post has been of enormous help. We have completed our first sit and have another lined up for March. They are both in the UK though so great to read tips for getting sits in other countries.
We are hugely flexible in where we go in Australia as we will be there for a few months. Do you think that is a benefit or more of a hindrance??
Thanks again
Michela
February 7, 2020 @ 1:07 pm
Hi Paul, lovely to hear you found this post useful and signed up with Trusted Housesitters. I’m not sure if I got your question right, you are asking whether being in Australia for a few months will be more of a benefit or a hindrance? It depends if you have a thought-out plan for it, then the more time you spend the better, who knows when you are going back to Australia again? So try to maximise your time. You can check out this page if you want a great and handy Australia Guide Book, helping you with your trip planning. Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂