Fair pay for a house sitter/pet sitter

In My Humble Opinion
1

In October, my husband and I are going on a 9-night cruise. In the past, we’ve taken our dog to my mom’s and we’ve had someone come daily to check on the cats, scoop the litter box, and bring in the mail. That’s still an option.

However, I have a coworker who I’m thinking about asking to stay in our house while we’re gone. Here’s the situation:

He’s living at home because he has a 6-figure student debt, so despite making a very good salary for a fresh-out-of-school employee, he can’t afford to live on his own. My house is easily half the distance from work as where he lives, so his commute would be instantly shorter. On the other hand, the gym that he uses is near where he lives, so that convenience may not matter.

We’d offer full access to our pantry and freezer, such as it is, plus I’d leave a grocery allowance. He’d have cable TV and internet access, use of the washer and dryer, and parking in the garage. Apart from tending to the critters, all he’d have to do is his dishes and take out the trash if the can got full. He wouldn’t even have to scoop up after the dog since she poops in the woods, I guess - I never see puppy piles on the grass. No yard work, no plants to water, no housecleaning unless he felt like dusting (yeah, right…)

With all that in mind, what would you consider to be a fair daily rate? I don’t want to make a ridiculously low offer, but I also don’t intend to make a major dent in his student loans. For reference, the woman who comes to tend our cats gets just under $25 per daily visit, and that seems to be the going rate in this county.

Anyway, before I go any further with this proposal, I wanted some opinions from my assorted imaginary internet associates. Thanks! :smiley:

2

Our very-excellent sitter charges $35/day, no grocery or other allowances. That said, we usually round up. For example, we’re out of town right now. She showed up around noon on Wednesday, and we’ll be home mid-afternoon Sunday. We left her $200.

3

When I’ve looked for pet sitters on rover.com for the DC area, the range is usuall $40-$60/night. I’d probably go with something like $50 per day. Since you’re a bit further out, I think, maybe $40 would be good?

4

Six-figure student debt! :eek: That’s horrifying. He’ll probably just be glad to be on his own for a bit. A friend charges $50 a day for housesitting, but she brings her own food.

5

When I did overnight pet sitting I got $50/night and brought my own food. I was also insured through my agency. For your co-worker, who isn’t insured and isn’t having to bring/buy his own food, I would say $40 is probably fair. I don’t see a reason for additional grocery money.

6

Agreed. I have our college-student nephew house-sit for us and we pay him $40 a day, but no food provided. It would cost us $60+ a day to board our two dogs, so I’m happy to do it.

As a side comment, I’ll mention that we had a lot of internal conflict when boarding our dogs about whether they should share a run. They are each about 55 pounds and the pen is rather crowded when they are together. (All the runs are the same size.) But being in a kennel is stressful and we’re sure that they would rather be together than hear each other barking at the far ends of the kennel and NOT be together. Fortunately, having a house-sitter resolves the problem completely.

7

We pay our sitter $75 a day for 5 dogs/4 visits a day (she doesn’t stay over).

I’d offer $50 day to your colleague.

8

Yeah, the debt is unreal. He’s the oldest of 3 brothers - the other 2 are still in high school. Neither of his parents are in high paying jobs, so he had to borrow his way thru. I couldn’t believe when he told me how much he owes! I know if I’d been living in my parents’ basement, I’d have leapt at the chance to get away, if only for a little while.

I appreciate all the responses. Here’s a follow-on question - what if I ask him if he wants to do it and what he’d charge me? I absolutely won’t let him ask for too little, but if he’d expect $100/day, I’ll know I can’t afford him.

9

I have no clue about the money end of things, but do you have a rule in mind for whether he can have overnight guests while he’s watching your place for you? An adult man living with his parents might consider the option of a, er, “sleepover” to be worth a great deal, even if it doesn’t help pay his student loans.

10

I can’t advise on the money aspect (other than to suggest that it sounds like you would actually be doing him a big favor by making this offer), but I wonder how well you know this guy.

You are placing an awful lot of trust in a young man who it sounds like you may not have known all that long or (and only as a cow-orker).
mmm

11

I think the $75 is closer to what our dog walker’s company charges if we had her stay over. It’d actually be cheaper than multiple visits ($20 for an hour’s walk – for 2 dogs it’s $25). We’ve never had to use her in that capacity, though, but it’s nice to know that she could do so if need be.

One of my coworkers used to pet sit. I think her asking price was $100/night and she brought her own food. She made a killing for awhile but it started getting too much for her.

12

I’d look on Rover.com for going rates in your area, and then match that.

I paid $30/day to my niece when she watched my beagle. (RIP, Buddy) But that’s the going rate in these parts. Bigger cities will be more.

13

I’m pretty sure the issue of a sleepover wouldn’t even come up. We’ve been sharing an office for almost a year and he’s never mentioned a girlfriend - or a boyfriend, for that matter. Granted, he doesn’t tell me all the minute details of his life, but I know all about the septic tank problems his folks are dealing with. :eek:

The only social activities he’s ever mentioned were fishing with his dad and going to Alexandria a couple of times to meet up with some college friends. I met his folks at the company picnic - they seem like nice, normal people, and I would have no problem at all with him living in my house. Then again, I don’t know if he’s allergic to animals, since he’s never mentioned a pet.

But I figure, all I can do is ask.

14

We live in San Diego, CA and pay two Starbucks baristas that are a couple $30/day for one medium sized dog (that requires a daily walk) and one cat. The cat litter gets scooped once a week and the dog poop picked up once a week in the backyard. The housesitters are free to eat/drink anything in the house, except expensive wine in the wine refrigerator (but beer and cheap wine is fair game), and my wife leaves them a $25 gift card for gas and $25 gift card for groceries. We also pay them the full $30 for the leaving and returning days, which are sometimes only a few hours.

As you might guess, the baristas live in a crappy apartment in a bad part of town, so a nice house, with free laundry, cable TV, air conditioning, and electricity and water they don’t have to pay for is an additional perk to the money. This has turned into a whole side business for them and all our friends use them too. They are impeccably honest and we know they do a good job because both animals get very excited when they come over, so clearly the dog and cat get treated well.

15

Two years ago, we hired a pet sitter for a week long stay. We’re in SoCal. She wasn’t with them all day. She spent the night in the house to take care of them. Two dogs and two cats, but no health/attitude issues. It was $60 per day. I expect more now. If you’re quibbling over hours spent per actual day to squeeze your caregiver, you probably shouldn’t be doing this. We’re planning a trip for next year, and I simply assume that the pet care will cost pretty much what I spend for a motel room each night. Makes budgeting real easy.