Hey everyone
I’m doing some house sitting here and there for some extra income. I’m not really sure what to charge.
I’m looking at overnights and day visits. For chickens, dogs, or a whole farm etc.
Thanks for your help
Hugely dependent on location. What part of the country are you in?
Ditto, hugely dependent on location.
Also dependent on number of animals, types of animals, number of visits per day, staying overnight, etc.
I’m in the northeast. I’m just looking for ballpark ranges
I would expect no less than $50/overnight for even a gold fish. Otherwise, it’s not worth your time. So, you could start with $50 and add on based on additional visits/animals, etc. I would think around $100/night for dogs plus a farm, assuming it’s not too taxing. I would be happy to pay at least that for in house farm-sitting at my house with 2 dogs and 5 horses, and my horses require very little for a weekend kind of job. It’s mostly the dogs…and I even have a kennel.
I should add - I’m in NY in the Capital Region so near the state capital. Overnight boarding in my area is around $50-60 average per 24 hour “day”, plus or minus.
Maybe a place to start looking for amounts would be boarding kennels.
I add the cost of boarding the inside animals (Dogs $10/day, cats $6), plus what I pay for someone to come feed the horses ($15/feeding no hay in summer --just put grain in the buckets and check all 3 are ok; winter it’s $20 due to added hay to pastures) [no stall cleaning as all my horses are turned out 24/7 with run-in sheds].
For me that adds up to $60/day --and for me a “day” is 24 hours —so if I am gone for three days, I’d pay the house sitter $180. I always put the payment in the text --“Hey, Jenny, can you watch the place from XX to XX. $180.” That way we are clear on how much house sitter can expect. If I am gone for more than a week, I will offer an extra $100 if the house sitter will vacuum the house before I return --cat hair can get deep.
I have a “deep bench” of house sitters --currently I have 4 I can call --I’ve found in talking with friends, they expect a lot more for a lot less money than I pay. One of my house sitters called me and said she wasn’t taking a job with a neighbor of mine --I’d recommended the girl. She said, “I don’t want to change a dog’s diaper and feed 100 chickens for $20 a day.”
A good farm sitter is worth the money!!!
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I live in Georgia about 45 minutes from Atlanta on the south side. We pay $60 a day for two feeds a day for four horses and stay in the guest room and feed two nutty dogs that have a fenced backyard, so no walking. Maybe have to muck stalls if the horses are in because of rain.
