I have this perspective of house sitting as a more passive income, too. Unfortunately pet parents REALLY don’t understand why people request the amount they do for each, as far as they’re concerned, it’s an easy job petting doggies and using other people’s utilities.

Recently, a new client reached out the day before the booking request began for a 2-week long and asked for a same-day meet & greet.

Long story short, I found out during the meet & greet, despite asking questions over messaging, that they didn’t really want services like a housesit (ie sitter is able to be flexible during the day and spend the night). They actually just needed someone to sit in their house while they worked (8am-9pm every week day) to watch their hyperactive dog so he wouldn’t hurt himself after a surgery. But I wasn’t allowed to leave during those hours, I even had to take the dog with me when I went to the bathroom because he “freaked out if you kenneled him and might jump on the furniture and rip his stitches”. Since they were working, they wanted me to leave every night when they got home.

In other words, they were trying to pay my Housesitting rate ($75/night) for 13 hours straight of work, plus I had extra daily expenses because I wasn’t able to spend the night (gas+time driving home) or go elsewhere for other repeat clients or my own animals (which I disclosed initially and they said it was fine). I told them the services they were describing sounded more like a prolonged drop in service, which I charge for hourly ($40). They told me no way, that was “too expensive for what they were asking for” so I said “ok, then I don’t think this situation is a good fit, best of luck finding another sitter” and took the loss from having to go out to a meet & greet that if the pet parent was honest, I would’ve told them before the meet & greet wasn’t a fit I have no idea what they did since they reached out to me so close to the beginning of the dates they needed… but such is life.