Later this month, spousal unit and I are leaving the country for a month, taking an Arctic cruise. A bit before we leave, our daughter’s bestest friend since childhood is coming to visit her, and with one thing leading to another, said friend will live in our house for about 5 weeks.
My husband and daughter will drive from here in southern Merrylande to Akron, OH (About 400 miles,) to pick her up so her husband will have the car while she’s gone. When she’s in our house, she’ll have full access to the contents of the fridge, freezer, and pantry, as well as use of a vehicle. We’ll leave her a card so she can buy gas and groceries as needed. After we return, they’ll take her back home.
Her responsibilities, apart from keeping the house looking lived-in, include tending to a cat that will probably hide from her the whole time (so, scooping and making sure food and water are available,) bringing in the mail, and watering my house plants. She’ll have wifi and a bunch of streaming services, tho I expect she’ll spend most of her time with my daughter.
If it matters, she’s going to be starting on her PhD at Kent State next semester. We aren’t expecting her to do this for free, but I feel like the transport between her house and ours, the use of a vehicle with gas, and all her meals are worth something. So, what would be fair compensation?
I would NOT be buying her meals or gas. Those are expenses she’d have no matter where she is. My daughter’s a house/pet sitter, and that would be unheard of.
This seems in the middle of the range of prices. $45 seems low end for major city house sitting. Middle for suburban and a high end for rural. (all including pet care)
But the truck we’re leaving for her to drive is much more of a gas guzzler than her econobox. We live in the boonies - 15 miles from our daughter, 7 miles from the nearest little town, 3 miles from the nearest convenience store - she’ll be doing a fair amount of driving. And as a guest, we’d be feeding her anyway. I see her as a guest who’s doing us a big favor. But I don’t want to take advantage of her.
House-sitting rates that include pet care typically range from $25-75 per day, with cat care specifically on the lower end since cats are generally easier to care for than dogs.
Here are the typical rate ranges:
Daily rates for house + cat sitting:
Rural/smaller towns: $25-40 per day
Suburban areas: $35-55 per day
Major cities: $45-75+ per day
Factors that affect pricing:
Your location and local cost of living
Length of stay (longer stays often get discounted daily rates)
ETA: I hope when you get back from your trip you share some pics and experiences with us. It is on my bucket list and my family has been (lazily) working our way towards taking such a trip.
Boy - I woulda thought more. I think we pay our kid $50/day to watch our VERY easy dog in her house. I’d assume that would be a floor for someone living in our house. I was gonna ask if $100/day was too high…
Especially our cat - she doesn’t like anyone but me. She tolerates my husband. She hides under my side of the bed when anyone else is in the house. Some days, the only way I know she’s still alive is if there’s fresh poop in her box. But she’s 16, so she’s allowed to be an eccentric old lady. (yeah she’s been this way for the last 15 years since we adopted her…)
So, the sum total of her care will be daily scooping, making sure she has water and kibbles, and not trying to befriend her.
For a month that’s be $3K - for that, my daughter would move in! So, yeah, definitely way too high, much as I like Casey…
I apartment sat for a friend once who had a cat. Really all I did was show-up once per day, collect the mail, scoop the cat box, water the plants (once) and make sure there was water and kibble for the cat. I’d hang around for 30 minutes to see if the cat wanted attention which she only barely did. She’d walk out, rub on my leg and allow a few scritches and then disappear to wherever.
BUT (and I think this could be important) it was for five days and not five weeks. Your cat might start being more interested in some contact if you are gone that long (hard to tell…cats can be weird).
ETA: I was not paid, this was a favor and what I did was exactly what the owner asked for. I was not expected to sleep there or spend hours a day there playing with the cat.
Okay, then cover the gas, but she should be paying for her food. Otherwise she could be calling Uber eats 2x a day and you’d be on the hook, or not buying as much as you’d anticipated. If she buys her own food, then you know exactly how much you’ll be paying her and can decide the rate accordingly.
She is not really a guest who is doing you a big favor, unless you aren’t paying her at all. At, say, $40/day, that’s $1400 pay.
My kid gets around $125 - $150/day for 1 to 2 dogs. She’s at the very high end of Rover. She is almost always booked. Most people wouldn’t pay that much, though. Rich people really want the best for their pooches.
Keep in mind she’s going to be 400 miles away from friends, family and spouse for a month. Regardless of the accommodations, there’s a certain amount of hassle with being away from home for that amount of time. Make sure the compensation accounts for that fact.
As an alternative, consider if your cat can stay at her house. That would likely be much less of an imposition on her time. The compensation for that would be less than having her stay at your house. If the cat is with her, then you would just need a local friend to come by your house 1-2 times a week to check on things.
Regarding the mail, contact the USPS to hold your mail until you get back. They’ll keep it at the post office during your trip. You can either pick it up yourself or they’ll deliver it to your house when you return.
Not even a possibility. The original plan was that our daughter and SIL would come over every other day and tend to the cat/mail/plants. So having Casey stay here is an unplanned but advantageous bonus. And should something happen and she has to back out, we go back to the original plan. It’s not a huge deal for the house to be empty - I can program lights to make it look occupied. I just prefer that someone be here.
And not to be snarky, but at her home, all she’s got is her husband. They’ve only lived there a couple of months, so no established friend network, and her parents live in Florida, so no other family being left behind. She’ll get to spend time here with her long-time bestie - just a little more time than she’d planned at first.
Yep. He’s got work, so he won’t be coming along. She starts her PhD in August, so this will be her break before diving in. She’s not compelled to come here or stay - it’s her/their choice. And if she decides to return home before we get back, that also is her choice. If it matters, she’s 39, not a kid. (OK, to me she’s still the little girl at the bus stop with my kid.)
Ah, that makes sense. It sounds like Casey is doing it because she wants to do it and hang out with your daughter. I didn’t realize your daughter would be in town at the same time. So it would be kind of like a vacation for Casey as well. What you might consider is bringing back some special Alaskan souvenirs as her compensation. Stuff like smoked salmon, reindeer sausage, art, wood carvings, a Kuspuks, etc. In a situation like this, thoughtful gifts might be more appreciated than money. And if you want to bring back a bit extra for your helpful friends at the SDMB, that would be okay as well
Except we’re going to Norway, Iceland, and Greenland! Souvenirs will be few and small - luggage weight limits, yanno.
But, yes, her original plan was just to spend a couple of weeks with our daughter. It kinda ballooned from there. Still she’s doing us a big favor, so we will compensate her, even beyond a tacky mug with her name on it.
Souvenirs will be few and small - luggage weight limits, yanno.