Questions to Ask Before You Accept a Housesit

The call has gone well. The homeowner is friendly, the house looks out over the hills, and the dates fit. The sitter wants this one, so she keeps it light: the walks, the village, the cat on the radiator.

She says yes. It’s on the first evening, reading the note on the kitchen counter, that she learns the dog snapped at another dog last spring and has to be walked early, before anyone else is about. And there’s a small camera on the bookshelf in the sitting room.

Nobody hid anything. She just never asked.

The pressure to be agreeable on a call is real. You want the sit, and the homeowner wants to like you. So you both stay on the pleasant things, and you can end up agreeing to a sit where the important things were never talked about.

But the questions aren’t about doubting anyone. They’re about animals who’ll be in your care, and a home you’ll live in with nobody to check with over breakfast. It’s better for you both to answer now than to have you guess later.

And a homeowner who’s glad of your questions, and answers them plainly, has usually prepared for the sit. That’s one of the better signs you’ll get.

About the animals

• Has the dog ever bitten anyone, or shown aggression? Direct and uncomfortable, and worth it. Listen to how it’s answered as well as what’s said.
• Are there any health conditions I should know about, even managed ones? “Managed” can mean daily medication and a close eye. Ask about medication, special diets, and, for an older animal, what they’d want if things took a turn.

About the things that tend to cause trouble

• How often would you like to hear from me, and how? Offer what you could keep up on a quiet week, not what sounds keen.
• Are there any cameras inside the home? Ask directly. The answer, and how comfortably it’s given, tells you a lot.
• Would you be comfortable with a partner or family member visiting? Ask only if you might want one to. If you never bring guests, say so.
• Could I meet the animals before we confirm? If distance makes it hard, ask how the handover on arrival would work instead.
• What do you usually expect about food on a longer stay? Better asked than assumed, on either side.
• How would I get there, and would I need a car once I’m there? And is travel something they usually help with?
• What happens if an animal needs urgent treatment and I can’t reach you? Listen for a clear answer: who to call, how far you can go, how the bill gets paid, and whether the vet practice knows you’ll be the one bringing the animals in.
• What does “clean” look like to you when you get back? Everyone’s idea of “as I found it” is different. If they say “just leave it as you find it”, ask what that means to them.

About the things the agreement’s questions don’t cover

• Is there anything about the home that isn’t in the listing? It gives the homeowner room to mention the heating, the damp, the noise from the road.
• What jobs come with the sit, beyond the animals? The garden, the post, the pool. Better a list now than a surprise later.
• If one of us has to call it off, what happens, for both of us? Homeowners change plans too, sometimes after you’ve turned other sits down.
• If something gets broken, what would feel fair? Nobody plans for it, which is why it’s worth a sentence now.

Listen to how things are said. A homeowner who hesitates on the bite question, or says “not really, just when he’s nervous”, is telling you something. One who answers plainly is someone you can work with.

If they haven’t thought about the vet question at all, that tells you how much they’ve prepared. It needn’t rule the sit out; you may just be the one who raises it.

And if something feels off, it’s fine to say no politely before anything is agreed.

For the call itself, see our guide on the video call. For the homeowner’s side of the same conversation, see our guide on the questions to ask a house sitter.

Several of the questions above are the ones an agreement on Reputable Sitters is made of: keeping in touch, cameras indoors, someone drops by, meeting first, getting there, the urgent vet decision and the last morning. Food isn’t one of them, so agree it between you.

Instead of asking them on a call and hoping you both remember, you each answer them from your own side. The agreement writes itself from your answers. One of you proposes it, the other answers, and each line either matches or isn’t matched yet. Either of you can change an answer before you both sign, and once you have, you can each download a copy.

What the agreement says, if you both settle on leaving the home as you found it:

If that’s your answer, a few photos on your first day help you both remember how it was.

The other questions still belong in the conversation. Cancellation, breakages, the sitter’s own food, the jobs that come with the sit and the state of the house aren’t among the agreement’s questions, so agree those between you. And where the homeowner has answered one of them, ask anyway about anything that might have changed since.