216: Successful House Sitting with Kylie Fuad from Aussie House Sitters
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Summary:
The house sitting industry continues to change and adapt to the world of Covid. With new lockdowns and vaccine rollouts across the globe, home owners and house sitters alike are trying to see where the industry will go. Kylie Fuad, co-owner of Aussie House Sitters and House Sitters America, joins the show to discuss the current state of house sitting. She gives us some great advice on preparing for life as a house sitter and how home owners expectations have changed. Kylie also shares her optimism on the future of travel and how we can be prepared to take advantage of new opportunities as staycations become more popular.
Topics on this episode:
Why start Aussie house sitters and House Sitters America
How has house sitting changed
Getting started in house sitting
What home owners are looking for
Future of house sitting
Main take away: The bulk of the work for a house sit starts before you walk in the door. The prep work is everything!
About our guest:
Aussie House Sitters launched in 2004 with a simple philosophy, to keep pets happy in their own homes while their owners are away. Since then we’ve grown into Australia’s largest and most trusted house and pet sitting site. Every day we connect homeowners with kindhearted house sitters who care for their home, pets and garden in exchange for free accommodation. The pets are happy, the home is secure and the sitters live rent-free. It’s a win-win for everyone!
In my role as P.R. Manager at Aussie House Sitters I am very happy to spread the word about the many benefits of house sitting. After six years living in the Northern Territory, I developed a love for traveling around the more remote areas of Australia. Being a house and pet sitter is the perfect way to get escape the beaten track and experience living ‘like a local’ around Australia.
As the proud owner of three crazy cats and one very cute puppy, I love knowing that pets can happily stay at home so pet owners can enjoy some travel adventures of their own too.
Links:
Aussie Sitters: https://www.aussiehousesitters.com.au
American Sitters: https://www.housesittersamerica.com
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
homeowner, people, house, australia, travel, jobs, houses, sitting, owner, house sitters, animals, year, pay, sitters, pet, home, gift, set, terms, questions
SPEAKERS
Kylie Fuad, Collin, Doug
Collin 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is pet sitter confessional, and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by a time to pet and pet perennials. How sitting and travel International House sitting is always a topic of interest, especially for the number of different ways that people can approach it. And it certainly has been yet another interesting year for that side of not just house sitting, but also pet care. And so we're really excited to have Kylie foolad, on owner of Aussie house sitters and housesitters. America to talk about kind of the state of the industry, how things have changed in what it means to be more involved in how to get started. So, Kylie, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Could you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Kylie Fuad 01:04
Thanks for having me. Well, I live in our lovely regional city, called Lismore in northern New South Wales, in Australia, part of the Northern Rivers region on bundjalung, country, local moppy. And it's a little piece of paradise, I live on five acres, have little cattle, or neighbors, three cats and a dog, too scary teenagers. Well, they're not too scary. They have their moments. And we run a small business of house sitting. So we have Aussie house sitters and house it is America.
Collin 01:42
And I would love to know how you got started with those and where the idea or need came for those.
Kylie Fuad 01:50
About 17 years ago, I was working in the Northern Territory in the middle of Australia, absolutely loving it. But looking at wanting to move into town, or trying to try and travel a bit more, but we didn't have a lot of money. And we looked at the idea of house sitting. So you know what a cool idea that you could go to someone's house and look after their house and their pets for a fortnight or a month, and then go back to work. Because we were living remotely at the time and our families were on the east coast. And so to be able to come back and stay was really expensive, just flying was really expensive. And my partner Nick thought, oh, okay, there's something in this and had a bit of a look was, you know, in the old the olden days where the internet was just kind of starting to take off. And he couldn't really find anything in Australia, that wasn't a website to support that. And he's such an ideas, man he got, I think there's a business in this though, he, you know, got very excited and worked with a web developer to create a very basic website at the time. And bit by bit by bit, eventually, it started taking off and house eating has just seem to get more and more popular. And so over time, he's expanded, you know, not only having an Aussie house sitters for house sitters in Australia, but he's branched out with other websites. And so houses America was one of those. And so it's been quite a journey from just, you know, wanting to do something for us to be able to travel to then create a website that's kind of taken a whole life of its own. I used to be a full time teacher, but now I'm living the high life working, you know, for my own business. So, you know, for us as a couple, you know, it's pretty cool. And yeah, and it's just been amazing to see that, especially over the last five years, maybe a little bit longer that house sitting has really taken off. Dead I mean, everywhere. I mean, we we live in Australia, so I guess we're closest the Australian market, but definitely it's grown, you know, in so many places, and it just seems to be especially with the sharing economy, I guess, you know, it's so much easier to be able to meet up with people online to organize things like housing, and it's such a great way to travel or live rent free. So yeah, yeah, it's been it's been a really cool journey from literally he would sit in the laundry next to the kitty litter. He had a desk and and a computer and we bought a little screen for $10 from a garage sale. And that was his office to start. Off with. And now we've got a little office building space in Lismore, and we employ a small group of local people. So yeah, it's been a pretty wild ride the last 17 years,
Collin 05:14
you had mentioned, as far as one of the reasons why house sitting has really taken off the last five years is because of the prevalence of the sharing economy. And so I was curious, what kind of house sitting you do you guys book and work through on your websites? Is it a value for value service? Or is it more of a paid service?
Kylie Fuad 05:34
Yeah. So on our website of the house, it is our health sitters pay to be a member. And for that they have a similar profile for 12 months. And they can apply for any house sitting jobs. But their house sitting jobs aren't paid. So basically, our house sitters on all the houses, they do that in return for free accommodation, and homeowners using our site, they actually don't pay, they can place a free ad. Or they can, you know, browse the sitters list and contact it is directly of our thinking behind that model was we wanted to, you know, if we were charging the houses, we wanted to make sure that they had plenty of house sitting jobs. And we felt that by not charging the homeowners that would hopefully lead to more homeowners using our site, which means more ads for the houses, which is certainly turned out that way. which is fantastic. So but yes, our house sitters don't usually get paid, if it is a big ask. We do have some rural properties and some farms. And from time to time, you know, they will be house sitters who might be taking care of a creek or a small farm. And sometimes they will be paid it's it's usually a nominal amount. It's not like our houses do it, you know, all the money. They do it for the lifestyle to live, rent free, or to travel around Australia. Yeah, so basically, the, you know, the students pay to be a member, but all of the negotiating and all of the house sitting jobs that happen to and fro, there's not usually any money that exchanges hands, obviously, if it's a long seat in the house, it might need to cover heating or electricity or, you know, different, different costs. But that's all negotiated between the owner and their staff, because every owner is different. And they will, you know, ask for different things from the house.
Collin 07:42
How do you think having that more value for value interaction? How does that impact the relationship in that transaction between the owner and the house sitter?
Kylie Fuad 07:54
Well, it's interesting because it, I don't know whether it's because of that. But we do find that there seems to be a real connection between those. And the owners, especially when it works really well. And some owners will get the same house It is time and time again. And the animal part of it is actually huge. Which I mean, I'm not kind of not surprised, in a way. We recently like interviewed some of our houses to get some feedback for them to, you know, help other people who are interested in healthy eating and learning about it. And, you know, going through all of the footage, the amount of times they talked about the animals they looked after, and the connections and the stock, like, you know, you ask them for a story. They all had these stories that were just adorable, and mostly about the animals. So it's interesting, it does seem like it has more of a communities. I like an online health studying community field. Because it's not like an actual job job. It's the Yeah, I guess it's like a relationship with the owner in the stator negotiating with each other. And the stitcheries get, you know, like given a house for free, which is, you know, something that they really treat with respect and care, and also having someone's animals and they're not getting paid to do it. So it's interesting, it does feel like there's certainly a sense of that kind of sharing community, rather than using the website to get jobs, counseling, paid jobs, if you know what I mean. It feels like that, that you know, and not to take away from that because there's certainly a market and a place for that as well. And with tariffs, it is America we actually have changed our model to include health and pet sitters who get paid Because in Australia, it's quite different. It's much more of people, people are very relaxed, I guess, to share, you know, live in each other's homes, it doesn't seem to be too much of a drama. But in the US, it's certainly it's a culturally very different place. And there's a lot more people who actually feel better about paying a seatbelt, because they feel like they're getting someone who's experienced and professional, and they feel more comfortable having them in their home. So that's something we've noticed a difference between how sitting in Australia and how studying in America is there does seem to be a lot more health competitors who do get paid. And so we've tried to adjust our site to give a space for those people as well.
Collin 10:44
Oh, that's, that's fascinating. When I think of that, that shared economy, I feel like it's, you get that tight relationship, because each party is has a vested interest in, in in the going well, right, they've each put some part of they've put something up to share with the other person, there's the house, and then there's the services on top of that. So there's, they're working together to meet a common goal. And I can really see how that would really foster some really, really lifelong relationships between them, or at least some some very positive feelings and interactions that they have. As you know, I'm sure they can go back to the same sits time and time again.
Kylie Fuad 11:20
Yeah, exactly. And that seems to be what happens a lot. And we've got also got a lot of them, grey nomads cruising around, in their caravans up and down the East Coast, predominantly, retirees, and they will go back to the same house if, you know, almost year in year out. And, you know, sometimes they'll work their way from Sydney, up to Queensland, North Queensland back down again, and just kind of keep going up and down and getting new houses. And going back to other people who, you know, once it's their time for their annual holiday again, well, they just make sure that they're back in that base. You know, that place, though, that they're there to house it for them again. So yeah, definitely, it seems to provide a really good way of, of house It is especially to be able to go back to the same house and the same animals, you know, and that's great. I mean, I've got three cats and a dog. I know what it's like, the cats are pretty cruisy. But, you know, we got houses in when the puppy was only really small. And I'd never owned a dog before. And she was this adorable, tiny little thing. And we were so stressed, leaving her here. And we got a lovely house sitting couple who were great nomads, traveling up and down, had heaps of experience with animals, and they just adored her, I think she had the best week of like, just constant attention and love the whole time. And it is really special in the way the house it is talked about my animals just after a week of being with them was really lovely. And then I was saying, oh, we'll come back. You know, we'd love to look after Sweetie, again, if you go away. And, you know, a lot of the time it seems to be not necessarily about the house. I mean, the houses are great. And some people obviously have beautiful houses and we've got a pool. So you know, that was really nice. But, you know, they just they just kept saying I want to come back and you know, hang out with Sweetie, which is so cute. Yeah.
Collin 13:28
Is Do you find the people who use your, your site, or both of them? Are they more full time or more part time in their houses that they're looking for,
Kylie Fuad 13:40
we really get a mix of both. There's a lot of people who do it pretty much full time, especially if they are trying to live rent free. And that they'll be constantly looking for long term seats to try and get back to back to back as much as possible. Also, people traveling some people who are poor, I mean, we've got a few people who are permanent house sitters, they've left their day job. And you know, they work a bit online, but they literally go house to house. They try and look for the longer term calcium. But we've also got quite a few people who do it. Because it's a nice lifestyle to do every now and then. Or if they want to travel. It's it's quite cheap, you know, in terms of you pay your yearly membership fee. And that's it. So you can stay somewhere for three weeks. And all you have to do is afford to get yourself there. So and sometimes, you know, we people's work schedules, they can't necessarily help it all the time. So definitely we get a really big mix. But we do I think, you know, like we're seeing more and more people really choosing house and pet sitting as a lifestyle, and I'm really working, they're paid work, what they do for a day job around that. And I guess you know, so many people are able to work online now. So it's kind of the perfect setup if you if you want a bit of an adventurous life, you know, being a house sitter for a few years is pretty cool. You can leave in all kinds of places like a local and meet, you know, different furry friends. And yeah, I think it's Yeah, it's an interesting thing to say it grow and evolve in terms of maybe in the past, people would have done it, here and there. But now it just seems so much more like a lifestyle choice that people can actually live that life if they want to.
Collin 15:48
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Collin 16:13
looking for new petsitting software for your business, give time to pet a try as a listener of pet sitter confessional, you'll get 50% off your first three months, when you sign up at time to pet comm slash confessional. When you mentioned they're able to have more flexibility in their day jobs, what are some ways that you have seen people make money while they are traveling, I was sitting for a more full time basis.
Kylie Fuad 16:38
There are some people who work online. So they work. And they can work while they're on housesit day in more of a writing capacity, you know, say journalism, or any kind of job where all you need is your laptop, your emails and some internet to be able to keep working. But also, you know, there's interesting things like, you know, hairdressers who go to different places. And you know, they might set up doing a few haircuts here and there to pay their way. So it's Yeah, it's kind of really varied. And a lot of people too will sometimes how sipped was some people actually still work their day job, especially if they're in the same place. For example, if they're living in Sydney, and they're trying to save money, then they might look at how sitting on a regular basis, but that was domain during their day job and coming home in the afternoon to the animals. But you know, there's some homeowners who actually specify that they want someone who works from home, or only works limited hours because their, you know, their animal needs mean that they like to have the house, you know, with their animals a lot more. And I guess, you know, a lot of people use it for travel, so they're not really needing to make too much money while they're on the travel side of it. And then they'll go back and make some money and then all over again.
Collin 18:16
Yeah, it really is dependent on the the goals or purposes of the of the house sitter who's looking for which kind of houses and you're right, if they're trying to string back to back to back to back to back for extended periods of time, obviously, they're going to have a different lifestyle and different setup, you mentioned how it is kind of transforming into more of a lifestyle thing, then these maybe one offs where it was, you know, 510 years ago.
Kylie Fuad 18:42
Definitely, I mean, we've just, you know, doing these interviews with some experienced householders they've been house sitting pretty much full time for the last four years. And, you know, like, if there's a space, they'll go stay with family, or they might get an Airbnb for a week to tide them over. But basically, how sitting around Australia has been their life for the last four, four years, which is quite amazing, really. And they had some interesting stories, you know, and right from the west coast of Australia to the east coast, which is quite a long way. So they, you know, been all around and it Yeah, it's really interesting. I think that you know, now that I've made I guess we've all witnessed it to be that and COVID so many people are working more from home because they kind of have had to and so it's almost like it's opened up a you know, a way of thinking that oh my goodness, there is so much about jobs we can do from home because we've just had to out of necessity. So and you know a lot of bosses are realizing that, you know, people are working really well from home. This could be a really good lifestyle option. I think a lot of people don't necessarily want to go back to the office eight till five every single day. I think it's, it'll have turned the corner. And who knows, you know, we might see me even more people choosing house sitting as a lifestyle because, you know, thinking outside the square now that we've got that permission to do so I guess. Yeah.
Collin 20:13
Well, and that was definitely a question I wanted to pose to you. You've got these two big websites one focused on that the house sitting in Australia, the other one looking here in America. How have you sensed the housing industry and community change over the last 18 months to two years with COVID? And everything going on? I know, you've mentioned a few things already. But But what's the sense that you're getting from both house sitters and house owners?
Kylie Fuad 20:43
Originally, when it all started happening, especially kicking off in Australia, and the US our memberships just stopped, income stopped, it was just everything came to a standstill. And it was quite, it's quite a scary time really. And watching everything going on in the world. And, you know, on the one hand, feeling well feeling concern for people and their health and their safety, and also looking at, you know, are we are we ever going to be able to have that same feeling of travel, you know, again, which, I mean, Nick, and I love travel. That's why we're in this industry. So and there's so many, especially our house that you're ever on, because I own as a traveling to. It was really challenging time for a lot of for a lot of our members and for us. And we decided to give all of our housesitting members, six months extension for free of their memberships, because we knew, you know, for at least six months, nothing's going to happen. And we've noticed this year, there's certainly been more housesitters joining up again, and feeling more confident about you know how sitting again. I know in Australia once we we had a good run for a little while. And all of a sudden everyone was wanting to travel. So we were inundated with homeowners or wanting to go away and needing house sitters. And you know, it's one of those rare times usually there's so many house sitters, and there's so many like, and they're all kind of fighting, not fighting but you know, competing for jobs, especially in the more sought after areas that can be quite competitive. But because so many people on the house sitting side, you know, with things so uncertain than they that they weren't housesitting as much at the moment because it was just really unreliable. Because they know like if the borders shut, how sitting jobs would just, you know, just couldn't do them. So. So yes, we found that all of a sudden we had all these homeowners and kind of not even like really enough householders or, you know, the owners, we were still trying to you know, we need someone we need someone and they were really good house sitting jobs, but I think it's going to turn of course now in Australia, things have gone difficult again, and we've got the Delta strain here now. So we've got lockdowns all over the place. And so I think, you know, for the rest of this year, it's certainly gonna be quite quiet. It's very uncertain time for a house sitter. And you certainly would be very difficult to be trying to leave that house sitting lifestyle when things are just so like they can change in a day or even hours. Sometimes when the different state governments will close borders, they will just close them. And so there's a lot of talk about vaccines and a lot of issues with AstraZeneca, or Pfizer and the Madonna's coming to Australia in a month. So I noticed that the government's rhetoric lately has been wanting to make Christmas normal. So I know we've had a lot of talk in the office in terms of when do we really look at kicking things off again. And, of course, we'll be watching the vaccine rollout. But I'm kind of thinking that it's August now. You know, it'll be spring in September, probably by October, November, maybe we'll look at hopefully, our house sitting members able to have some really great housekeeping jobs over the summer. Hopefully, you know, and again, you know, it's like everything, it depends on what happens with the vaccine rollout. And you know, how many people are willing to do that? So that you know, things can open up again, a little bit more close to normal, but enough for us to be able to travel again. Yes, so I you know, at the moment, perhaps it is It's a very uncertain place, though a lot of them aren't taking that on at the moment. But hopefully by summer, there will be opportunities to travel and get some fun.
Collin 25:12
I know for in the petsitting industry, we're all trying to figure out where that new quote unquote normal is. What does that look like? What's the threshold, you know how high is the high how's it low is the low going to be, or a number of clients and requests and bookings. And I can imagine it's probably even more volatile for housesitting. And given how quickly restrictions can change, and how people tend to plan those longer trips, prefer that they play them for a while in advance, they don't tend to be very last minute. So trying to forecast, six, eight months down the road gets really tricky. Whenever you're the homeowner, and then yeah, I can see how you would have this kind of imbalance of not so supply and demand of homeowners versus house sitters trying to swing back and forth between who's available for what
Kylie Fuad 26:02
exactly right. And I think, you know, moving forward, a lot of houses are having to have another option. Whereas they might have been a bit more relaxed moving house at Cal State not worrying so much about all we might need a combination for a week here or wait there. But I think a lot of counselors now have, you know, like they have a plan B. So you know it because it is much more possible than a job that they're going through, could be canceled, and they'll need some way to leave, basically. So I think that's kind of planning in factoring more now than it used to used to be much more of a relaxed Gypsy, you'd her lifestyle. But now it's you know, you really need a plan B just in case.
Collin 26:54
Yeah, I know, several house sitters who Yeah, the the gap stays would be in a hotel or an Airbnb. But if you are unable to travel, then to the next state over, or to the next place, because of certain lock downs, all of a sudden, everything gets thrown out. And so I had known a few who went out and had actually gotten small RVs I think you'd mentioned that a little bit earlier to have this backup, like, okay, we used to have a car now we're just gonna drive everywhere in the RV so that if if stuff really goes, we can just pull over and live there for a while.
Kylie Fuad 27:28
Exactly right. And you know, there's so many national parks all around you, like in Australia, it's unreal. And I remember when I traveled a few years ago, we got the camping book, which is amazing, is massive book that just tells you all of the free camping places to go all around Australia, and maps and each one it's whether there's toilets or shower facility, or a fireplace or internet and yes, so that's a really good resource. So like, yeah, a lot of houses, they can you know, if they canceled? Well, at least they've got house on wheels, and it's not going to be too expensive for me to find a really nice place to, to set up camp for
Collin 28:14
the wall. You know, there's been a lot of changes over the last several years. And it still sounds like many things are in flux. But it's if somebody's interested in kind of dipping their toe into the world of housesitting. What are some tips or what is some advice you would give to them in this world of COVID and and making themselves stand out?
Kylie Fuad 28:36
Well, I think it's really important if you haven't held set before, to try and get a couple of house sitting jobs for friends, just to build up some reviews, references, because a lot of homeowners will want to see evidence at your board help. Oh, good idea. Get your mates, you know, you can tell sick friends and then they'll be like you a review that at least gets you started. Writing a really good set of profile with a nice photo is really important, clear and to the point. And really focusing on your strengths. And why you want to be a housesitter because I think a lot of this success of of housesitting is matching up the right set of the right owner and so there's no point going for a job if someone is a you know as this amazing garden that has all of these you know high level needs for their plants, etc. If you're a dog person and you're really not very good at gardening and vice versa so like honestly I think the best thing to do was a house it up is being yourself you know and that's okay. You know if you're if you adore animals, well then you plaster all over your sitter profile. How great How would animals experience with animals, because then you get those jobs that have those lovely animals for you to care for. But you know, and and having said that, you know, if your cane gardener, put that in your profile, because then you'll end up with the right house yet, because, you know, especially with their model, you know, people aren't getting paid. Yes, they're getting free accommodation. At the end of the day, you're not getting paid for what you're doing for the owner. So it's really important that it's a really positive experience for you. So I think the more you can be upfront and honest about yourself and your skills, and your own experience, and what you will get out of housesitting will just mean that you will find the right hustling jobs for you, that you will really enjoy. The owners will love having you because you do such a great job, get more great reviews, and then you go on to do more jobs in different places. But those ones that really No, I just write for you. They're all different. Some people are mad, clean freaks, you know, and they just claim now so everything, that's not a I'm really good with animals. I would pick any job looking after the animals, not necessarily the neath breaks, I think, you know, like just being yourself being us trying to get some experience and not being afraid to ask questions. I don't know, like, ask someone who's done house sitting for a while, you know, what they think that the most helpful advice I think, that we've ever experienced. And we've been trying to collect that for thought for our new members is from experienced health leaders, who have done lots of different jobs. And they've learned all the pitfalls are in that process, and they can kind of go, look, this is what I recommend. This is what I don't recommend, though, you know, information is power. Communication is really important. And a really positive attitude. You know, like, how CBD is a very, very cool thing to do, you get to live in different places, you know, you get to experience different homes and different pets, it's actually a real gift for people who are able to, you know, even if you just spend a year or two doing it. It's a pretty amazing experience. So I think, you know, having that positive experience about this new adventure, and learning as you go not being afraid to change things up and, and kind of go Alright, well, maybe that didn't go that well. And this is why and on that the next one,
Collin 32:43
you've said that phrase of Be honest with yourself about the kind of sit that you'd want. And I think that's really powerful because it especially when we're looking at these kinds of opportunities, where there's this tendency to say, Yes, I can do anything and everything. Of course, I'll take on your 16 horses. And of course, I'll take on this and of course, I'll take on that and these delicate orchids that you have and, but if it's not within your strengths, you're just setting yourself up to get that bad review or to have it not go quite as you expected, and not be able to pull off the best service and have the best experience possible not just for yourself, but also for the owners. And so really taking some time to think about what what would I love to do in exchange to be in this different location. And that may take some trial and error. And I love your advice of, you know, start local work with family and friends, and then build from there. And at some of those things, you're not going to know until you try and not going to know until you start trying to put on some different situations. But to just be honest with yourself again about things that you like things that you enjoy doing things where your strengths are, and really late lean into those because then the more focused you can be, the more likely you are to be connected with somebody who's also looking for that same thing.
Kylie Fuad 34:03
Exactly. And then you've got the most chance to be a really successful housesitting relationship between yourself as that Elson picked it up and the owner. And there's, again, even that more chance that they will ask you that, which is a fabulous if you can get recurring aisle seats with the same house and the animals, you know, then it's like they know you, you know the setup. It's not like daddy over again, which is ideal really view, you know, the homeowner finds a house that they really like, you know that they'll want them to come back time and time again. And that's a dream for a house.
Collin 34:39
Now for the home owner side of things. I was curious how you've seen maybe homeowner expectations change or what exactly they are looking for when you see them reviewing or selecting house sitters.
Kylie Fuad 34:54
Well, it's quite fascinating because every homeowner is very difference. And what some people expect compared to others is chalk and cheese. Like, it's really quite amazing. So it's really important for the ciders to, you know, find out ask questions, get things down from your homeowner, don't just expect evenings as little as using a tomato sauce in the cupboard, you know, like stuff. Sometimes that's completely fine. And I know whenever I have house sitters, I'm like, how is this yourself? You know, like, whatever's left in the fridge, go for it, whatever's in the cupboard, go for it, you know. But, you know, I know there are other homeowners who will, you know, email us and say they used up extra tissues in the bottom left. Yeah, exactly. Excellent paper and tomato sauce. You know, you never quite know, it's, it's quite an interesting, very interesting. Yeah, so I guess the main thing is, we've seen the whole spectrum. And depending on what the homeowner needs are, some will be really focused on animal care, some will be really focused on the homecare, some will be very focused on the garden care, they seem to be free stand out. And if you look at different jobs, a lot of them, you can kind of put in one of those categories. So obviously, the expectations are quite different with all of those hyenas. Some homeowners are very prescriptive about their animals. And I mean, very prescriptive, you know, he needs to, at a certain times need this much time with the animals bleep in this, you know. So again, those are the kind of things that you know, whereas other homeowners, like myself, when I get I mean, except for the dog, because, you know, of course, we're, she's the queen of the house. But the three cats was kind of like, there's their food, just keep them alive, you know, they'll do their own thing, you just have a really nice week at my house now get in the pool, and just baby cats and make sure, you know, I've seen the whole spectrum of homeowners, everyone will have different expectations. So the thing is, you just find that out when you're applying for a job. So, you know, I know that some of the houses have compiled, like one of them. She said, he's got a list of 42 questions that she makes sure she answered. And she doesn't necessarily give it to the homeowner. And can you answer all these please. But in emails back and forward in phone calls, she makes sure that all of those 42 questions are addressed. And so that way, she has a very clear understanding of what type of house it is going to be, or the owners expectations are. And that way, then she can decide whether or not to seek for her as it is that she has very good strict parameters around knowing what is expected. It's, it's it's really tricky as a house sitter, if you're, if you're not quite sure, especially if something happens, an animal, you know, that can be pretty stressful. If you're not quite sure. What the owner would want you to do in terms of my mo you know, we all live in houses where things go wrong. It's no one's fault. Sometimes a tap burst or in a pool overflows, because it's raining too, too hard too quickly. So, you know, things can come up because it's live. And the more that you can, you know, just be really clear at the outset. That specific homeowner what their expectations are what a need. Because guaranteed you'd go to the next house sitting up and that owner will have a very different list of vacation.
Collin 38:59
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40:22
Exactly?
Collin 40:23
You know, and asking those, and sometimes you may feel like, Oh, I don't need to ask that. I know how to handle it. It's like, Okay, well, but that you might not handle it the same way that the owner would like, would they like to to solve it with super glue and duct tape? or wood? they actually want you to solve it by getting it fixed. Properly by the time Exactly.
Kylie Fuad 40:42
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. And even simple things, like things you think of like, where is it okay for me to put my clothes, you know, is there a section in the wardrobe? For me to put my clothes or not, you know, because even little things like that, it is their house. So, you know, sometimes people will or, you know, like, I know some houses who they take their own bedding with them. They make up the bed themselves with their own bedding, and then go away. So they're not even using Mona's bedsheet or oil for anything. So yeah, it's like all those things that you maybe don't necessarily think of when you're living in your own space. You're living in someone else's space, and they come back. Yeah, it's just interesting, you know, you know, how much Yeah, another thing, you know, like, if you're staying somewhere, that is, for example, either really hot or really cold, you know, in terms of the heating or cooling, because that all needs to be really clearly understood at the beginning of a house, you know, am I going to pay for the air conditioning costs, or the homeowner might say, I'm happy to pay $100 worth of air conditioning, but then anything above that you're responsible for, you know, those are the kind of you know, that those are the kind of details that can really make the difference between a really good experience. And when the owner comes home, they're really happy, and you great review. And, you know, it's a great experience, or someone saying they use this amount of electricity, it's cost me this much, I want them to pay for it, you know, but then the city didn't know that they had to pay for it. And then that happened, things can get a bit stressful, and no one wants that, when you've just done our set, you don't want to leave and then have to deal with all of that, that, you know, that's a stressful for everyone involved. So, yeah, all those little details are really important to kind of work out before the seat.
Collin 42:43
Yeah, it's kind of it's kind of like one of those things of in any good relationship, you want to have as few unspoken expectations as possible. You want to delete them all laid out there, that everyone knows what's going on. And sometimes those conversations can be a little uncomfortable to have, especially if you're brand new to this, I'm going well, how much are you going to pay? And can I eat your food? And where can I sleep? And those may seem like, well, I'll just figure it out kind of questions, but you don't want to have to quote unquote, figure it out, you want it to be known, and both parties agreeing on how it's going to go forward. Because when when you don't figure it out, or when something does happen. And then you have to make assumptions because you can't get ahold of the homeowner, or, or whatever. You don't, you just don't want to be in that situation. Some of that takes experience of knowing what kind of questions to ask or what kind of questions you need to ask to be successful. And some of it's just thinking through, okay, if I was having somebody come into my home, what are some things that I would like them to know? And I need to ask those so that I can be working with this person to have the best experience possible.
Kylie Fuad 43:47
Exactly. And I think that a huge percentage of the work to ensure successful house it is done before the house would even start. Because that is a big part of that communication. Communication is great. Because even as a homeowner that makes you feel reassured. I know I've you know, engaged houses quite a few times throughout our website. And I love it when houses ask me questions, because it makes me know that they they care, they want to do a good job. It also helps me because sometimes I forget to tell them things. And so I'm like, I'm really glad you asked that because, you know, I want to make sure I'm giving you all the information you need about my house, you know, and sometimes I forget that and we do on our site, we have like a handy how calcining form that if homeowners want to they can print out and they can write information about things and leave it at the house for those old school people like me who like paper and print out. But really yeah, it's like, the more you can ask the more both the home owner and the leader are on the same page before the house sitting job even starts. You know, this is a once you're there, you know that the hard work is over, in a way, you know, it's like, now you've got the house and the animals and you do your thing. And you know, you've you've, you have that confidence and security that, you know, you, you, you know what's expected of you, you know how to be in that space with those animals, that garden, do a good job. And also for the homeowner, they can drive off or fly off feeling really happy that they've got the right person. You know, and it, you know, like you said before, it really is a two way thing, and it's a relationship. So, communication is really important in every relationship. And, you know, when you think about, you know, house, it is a really fortunate. And also, you know, given the responsibility of taking care of someone's really beloved animals, home plants, you know. So it's great that that relationship can be really strong in terms of the communication, so that the owner can go away knowing that to worry about their gorgeous little dog or cat, you know, they're going to be fine, because the sitters asked all the questions and even all the information. So yeah, I think, from our experience, and of course, we get a mark on the site, we've got designated officer who deals with any issues that arise from House sitting jobs, and look not on that attend, it would have been solved if those things had been discussed. And in writing two really good advice, like actually have things written down. Like, I'm sorry, we have online communication private, so you don't have to share your email, you just log into the site, and you can message each other until you feel comfortable. And that way, everything's there, a record of everything is there. So now, if you're talking on the phone, you know, that's good in terms of like, eloping a relationship, but dealing with the details of who's paying for what or, you know, pet care, et cetera. So great to have that written down that you can refer to. And also then, in case, if something does happen, where an owner does say, Hey, I thought the house sitter was going to do a but they did be, you've got that right there to say, hey, this was the email discussion we had. And this is the message I got. And this is what I was referring to. So, you know, that's really helpful thing to be able to have that communication. Have it recorded so that both parties can refer that whenever they need to.
Collin 47:50
Yeah, yeah, there's the there's the cover your butt side of things. And then there's the so I completely forgot how many cups of food this dog gets. So it does help you out on both ends. Doing the set.
Kylie Fuad 48:04
Exactly. You can only remember so many things. Now I
Collin 48:06
know. you're managing these these two big websites. And you have also I'm pretty sure a crystal ball in your office. And so I would like for you to talk about maybe what you see the future looking like for housesitting, or maybe what you hope it is moving forward?
Kylie Fuad 48:24
Well, I honestly think as Australia that once there are more vaccines, and we are getting closer to the summer, I think we are going to see so many people wanting to travel. It already happened a little bit this year until we got another wave. Honestly, I just think it's going to not. It might take a little bit longer for house sitters to feel reassured to be able to do that on a more permanent basis again, like they were doing a couple of years ago, but honestly, I see that happen again, most definitely. I think that we are all going to be I don't know, I guess I took that for granted art. I went to Italy I travel quite a bit with work around Australia. I just took for granted in the last year and a half of not being able to go anywhere. My husband and I we snapped to Ken for night. We just got it in before borders closed. We were so lucky. And I think there are so many other people may who just love travel. And as soon as it is safe to do so I think there are going to be people traveling everywhere. And I think you'll find it's going to be quite expensive to do. And housesitting is a really, really great option because of the financial side of it. You know there's going to be so many people who are traveling, there's gonna be so many house sitting jobs that are going to be coming up so I To say, and also, I just think it's a great model that you know, environmentally much better because it's like you're using our extra resources at a hotel, you know, you're staying in a home that's already set up, you know, you're looking at animals that are already there. So sustainably, I think it's a really good thing to do. So I just feel like a healthy eating as a travel lifestyle model is only going to get bigger and better into the future, at least I hope, because I really, really wanted to Italy again, I really, really do.
Collin 50:37
Well, yeah. And I think I think we're all right, they're joining with you thinking and looking ahead, going, Okay, this, people are going to travel at some point in the future. What does that look like? In what numbers? Where are they able to travel? And so how can we What are ways that we can set ourselves to set ourselves up for success, to be able to be a part of that, in that, getting started now working on our profile that's doing some some basic sits in our area, that's networking with other people and figuring out what we want and just starting, so that when opportunities do come up, we can take advantage of those? Because whether that's next month, or whether that's early next year, you know, no one's quite sure. But we can there are things we can be doing now to prepare for that.
Kylie Fuad 51:22
And also, I think that the domestic side of things in terms of I know, there are some global housing companies. But um, I know what and in Australia, we've, you know, I think it's going to take a while before international travel is really happening again, yeah, especially on on a big scale. So a lot of people are going to be still wanting to travel, but they're going to be traveling, you know, exploring their own countries. And in terms of being a domestic offsetting website, all of the jobs are in that one country. So I think that's going to be more of an option at the moment in terms of housekeeping is that you're going to, I mean, we already saw earlier this year, I've been a lot of time out in the Northern Territory in the middle of Australia, and I'm visited over a few times, and I've worked out there in the desert. And, you know, there'd be heaps of tourists, all European adventures, you'd hardly ever see any Aussies. So I'm a lifeboat who had never been to the road never been to the center. And earlier this year, there was a huge influx of Australian, all going to the red center, because they couldn't go overseas anymore. So I think, and it's expensive to go to middle of Australia, you know, because I don't know why they make it very expensive to fly there and very cheap, Bali. But I think that that what is going to be moving forward travel and housekeeping, in particular, will be domestic travel, it'll be just a calculating, you know, it'll be, you know, if you want to travel around Australia, where you can house it around Australia, doing different jobs, you want to get out of your state in the US and have a road trip, you know, and leaving some other spots, you know, you go and chase the California sun or something, you know, like, I think that's going to be the next phase of travel, especially in housing will be domestic power sitting not, you know, flying overseas. That's it, I think it's going to be for a little while longer. We'll be learning to love and explore our own countries.
Collin 53:37
Yeah, no, it's really fascinating that you say that, because I know, here in the States, several places are really pushing several states and local tourist areas where they usually had a lot of people coming in, they're now changing a lot of their marketing to the locals and trying to push you know, what we call staycations, where you don't go to your home, and exactly where they're going, Well, we still the beaches are still beautiful, you might not be able to come out of state to see them. So how about let's try and attract the locals who might not have who may have avoided them previously, because that's where all the tourists go. Well, now let's try and pull local dollars and local people over there. So I think that's, that's really interesting that you're saying that as well. And so for us to stay in tune to those opportunities, those options, and to start seeking some of those things out and just seeing where, what options we have around us.
Kylie Fuad 54:26
Definitely, definitely, I think that it's going to be that way for the wall where we'll be we will be looking at Yeah, things vacations, though, like traveling. It's actually my think of things because I've always been a more travel further away. I live in New South Wales. I grew up in Tamworth, which is about six hours west from where I am, and I've never been further west than that. And there's these amazing towns in you know out regional areas with I'd always i'd love my time in the desert it right in the centre of Australia, I'd never thought to drive two hours west from where I grew up. And, you know, it's only just now that we've gone. Oh, well, actually, you know, we've planned all of our trips going to Queensland or Northern Territory or down to Melbourne in Victoria. That's very uncertain. There's all of these amazing places in New South Wales that my own home state that I have never been before, let the car and let's go for a drive. So. And I think it's a lot of people are kind of yet yeah, exploring plays closer to home and Epcot night. And like, I think that aspect is a really cool thing, because you're getting to appreciate the beauties, you know, and the great places in your local area, you know, this this bright places all around the world. But sometimes we forget what's next door or because it just seems next door. Yeah,
Collin 55:58
Kaley, I have really enjoyed our conversation, and you sharing your optimism for the future of how sitting and how we can take advantage of that, how we can be prepared for that, and what kind of expectations we can help share and how to set ourselves up for success. But I know that there's a whole lot more here and people are gonna have a lot of questions, and they're interested in getting connected. So where can listeners go to learn more about how sitting get connected with you? And pick your brain on stuff when you're not dealing with too scary teenagers?
Kylie Fuad 56:32
Yeah, yes, nice escape to have from the scary ages? Well, um, has it is america.com. And I'll see healthleaders.com.edu are two websites, depending on what you're interested in. We've got lots of resources on there, that you can check out. And we also have a Facebook pages Instagram account, that if you just Google Ozzie houses or houses, America, you'll find all of those. And I know that there's lots of resources around as well. There's lots of Facebook house sitting as a house sitting worldwide Facebook group, run by a couple of our members who are also members of other sites. They're fantastic, guys. That's a really cool online community of houses where people share stories and ask questions, which is really great. So I guess you know, get on the website, and then start googling. And who knows where you'll end up?
Collin 57:35
Yeah, just start doing some of that basic research. Absolutely, Kylie. Again, this has been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Kylie Fuad 57:42
Thanks for having me. It's so nice to be able to talk from about travel wearing a seven dock down. So I'm working from home and I'm just, you know, talking to you and imagining all the places that I could go to now. Just very nice, little escapism.
Collin 57:57
My big takeaway from my conversation with Kylie was the fact that the majority, the bulk of the work for any house, it starts before you even walk through the door. That preparation is everything. how true it is also for when we are running our businesses and when we are meeting with clients, showing up with no idea of what's going on or who the client is or what their pet needs for the meet and greet really sets us back several steps. Having all of that ironed out before we even walk through the door really a shows our professionalism. But be make sure that that time that we have with that client for that very first time goes as smoothly as possible. And then Little things like before you even walk through the door for the follow up visit or throughout the visit. You review that information that allows you to remember what that code was to remember the particulars about their training habits or their feeding regime. All of those little details really aren't so little in the end when they impact both the health and the kind of service that your clients come to expect from you. We want to thank our sponsors time to pet and pet perennials for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. Let us know if you've ever thought about getting into housesitting with a part time or full time. And if you are currently doing that, let us know how it's worked for you. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. And we'll be back again soon. Oh
