New real estate side hustle alert: Luxury House Sitting!
If you’re already in real estate, chances are you got here simply because you love exploring homes. And what better way to explore luxury homes than to stay in them for days, keeping an eye on the place while the owner’s away? If you want to earn a side income while enjoying stays in some of the most exclusive homes in the world, consider luxury house sitting.
And if you’re not in the real estate industry, but you’re excited about the idea of luxury house sitting, perhaps luxury real estate would be a solid career move for you! So when you’re done reading this article about luxury house sitting, check out our article on how to become a luxury real estate agent!
What is Luxury House Sitting?
House sitting is simply taking care of someone’s home while they’re away. Luxury homeowners travel often for both business and pleasure, giving you lots of opportunities to stay in a fabulous home and live the lifestyle of your dreams.
As a house sitter, you’ll take care of the property in the owner’s absence, which of course you already do regularly as a real estate professional. You’ll likely need to take care of some houseplants as well, and maybe a couple of pets.
Why Luxury House Sitting is a Good Fit for Real Estate Pros
Here’s why we love luxury house sitting as a side hustle for real estate professionals:
- You will be an attractive house-sitting candidate for the homeowners. As a real estate professional, you’re trusted with people’s homes every day. So homeowners will be comfortable hiring you over other candidates, knowing that you are trustworthy.
- You get an insider’s look at high-value estates. Live the life of a millionaire (or billionaire!), if only for a few days at a time.
- The work is easy. You just need to watch the property, water some plants, and maybe take care of some pets.
- It’s flexible. Not only do you get to decide which luxury house sitting jobs you’ll take, but your time is largely your own during the day. Most homeowners only expect you to remain physically on the property during the evenings and nights.
- The start-up costs are extremely low. You may pay an annual fee to join a membership website that matches you with homeowners, but in most cases, this is only around $50.
- You can offer this new service to your real estate clients. Your sphere may be interested to know that you offer professional house sitting services. Depending on your circumstances, you could even offer this service free of charge to your existing clients as an additional complimentary service that sets you apart from your competition.
- Gain access to prospective clients. Use the opportunity to demonstrate your real estate knowledge to the homeowner, and you might just have a new real estate client.
- Take advantage of homes as travel accommodations. Ready for a vacation? Save yourself a fortune on accommodations by house sitting. You can house sit all over the world!
How to Find House Sitting Jobs?
The best way to find house sitting jobs is to sign up with a website that matches homeowners with house-sitters. You may even want to sign up with multiple sites to increase your exposure as a house sitter. The good news is that there are lots of sites to choose from. The bad news is that most sites charge a membership fee.
The Most Popular House Sitting Sites
Here is a list of the most popular house sitting sites. Invest a little time exploring their offerings and checking their membership rates to find the best fit for you.
How Do I Start House Sitting?
Starting a house sitting side hustle takes very little money and very little time. You could start today for as little as $20!
The best place to start is by taking a few moments to create an online profile on any of the sites listed above. The membership fee for these sites generally ranges between $20 and $150 per year, so invest a few minutes in exploring your options to see which site offers the best fit for you. Trusted Housesitters is the most popular site with homeowners, so you may have some luck finding house sitting gigs through that site. Naturally, it’s also the most expensive membership. You could even consider signing up with multiple sites to increase your exposure to homeowners.
Some sites allow you to “apply” for house sitting gigs, while others require you to wait until a homeowner contacts you. So if you want to get started as soon as possible, make sure your chosen site(s) allow you to contact homeowners to pitch yourself as a professional, dependable house sitter.
How Much Money Can I Make House Sitting?
Luxury house sitting is a nice side hustle, but won’t pay the bills. Generally, house sitters make somewhere between $25 and $40 per night, sometimes as much as $80. So it’s not a lot of money, but consider the exchange: you get to stay in a high-end home with utilities covered, and very little of your time is required, so you can go about your life from this luxury location. You could be working on your money-making real estate blog, creating your digital products, or simply knocking out your daily prospecting for real estate leads.
There’s also a chance that you’ll be paid $0. And why would you consider house sitting for free? Because of the money you save on paying for accommodations! Let’s say you’ve decided to take a well-earned vacation. By house sitting, you could save a few hundred dollars each day compared to staying in a hotel. This is an especially good option for the international market. In Europe, where people regularly take vacations of 3-4 weeks every year, you could live a life of European luxury, even on a tight budget, while the homeowners enjoy their annual vacation. I know most real estate agents are hesitant to take a vacation (especially for several weeks), but when you take advantage of multiple income streams, you don’t have to rely 100% on your commission checks, so you can afford to take a little time away from the office.
Have You Tried Luxury House Sitting?
We’d love to hear about your experience with luxury house sitting as a real estate side hustle. Share your story in the comments!
