My firm belief is that transparency is key to any successful partnership.
To ensure a great fit for both parties, I ask that you please carefully review the criteria outlined.
Checking through this list of deal breakers will help you determine if we would be a good fit for your housesitting assignment. Some criteria are a little bit flexible, but many are a "Hard no, sorry".
If the requirements for home security, pet health, or environmental standards cannot be met, I respectfully confirm that my service is not the ideal solution for your current needs.
My commitment is solely to assignments that align with agreed upon professional standards and integrity.
I prioritise chemical-free living environments to protect my health and ensure safety for long-term residency sits. (Recent means within the previous 4 weeks.)
Category: Safety; Health
As a non-user with strict health standards, I require an environment free of these substances to maintain air quality and personal integrity. If you are a predominantly outdoors smoker of nicotine, that is probably ok; more discussion required.
Category: Integrity; Health
My professional agreement requires mutual trust; surveillance of my private living areas or my electronic devices or my motor vehicle or any aspect of my business, or those of my family members and friends, at any time before / during / after the sit compromises that trust and privacy and violates basic human rights.
Privacy violations will be reported to the relevant authorities.
Category: Trust; Privacy
I neither endorse nor knowingly engage in any form of insider trading, which is prohibited by law. Furthermore, unreadable invasions of personal privacy are a fundamental violation of basic human rights also prohibited by law. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Legality; Trust; Privacy
Apart from routine tidiness and upkeep, I WILL NOT provide any form of personal care and assistance services. You should seek assistance for those services via appropriate NDIS or Aged Care or other service providers. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Integrity; Professional Standard
Consistent with security protocols, I must be the sole point of access and accountability for the property's security during the assignment. Should access by anyone else be required, it must be pre-arranged unless there is a clear and active emergency in progress. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Security; Accountability
For health and respiratory safety, I must decline properties with known or suspected or visible mold, mildew, or severe damp issues. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Health
My value exchange includes a secure, comfortable internal bedroom for the duration of my live-in, professional care commitment. For health and hygiene reasons, I bring my own bedding and manchester.
Category: Professional Standard; Health; Hygiene
Adequate climate control (A/C) is essential for maintaining a safe and comfortable environment at all times, but especially during extreme heat, for both me as the sitter and for your pets. Cooler seasons, on a case by case basis, provided adequate heating is also available.
Category: Comfort; Pet Safety
As a standard professional practice, I require a functioning alarm system to effectively manage and maximize the home's security protocols during your absence.
Category: Security
Secure, off-street parking is necessary for the safety and protection of my vehicle during my commitment to your home.
Category: Logistics; Safety
My service scope is based on a pre-agreed contract; managing unforeseen or extra duties risks compromising the care standards for the agreed-upon tasks.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis, subject to the scope and nature of additional requirements.
Category: Scope of Work
I require a clean, tidy, insect free, and safe working environment to focus on the home's security and maintenance, and to prevent health hazards.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis and if your home is under rennovations, but otherwise safe to inhabit then let's discuss options.
Category: Professional Environment
While I do carry my own mobile broadband for my WFH business, reliable, high-speed internet is highly preferred for efficient communication and streaming.
Some Flexibility: Assignments lacking adequate high-speed access are accepted only on a case-by-case basis after detailed discussion to ensure work continuity.
Category: Business Operations
To maintain professional standards, my commitment is capped to approximately one hour of active house/pet management per day to ensure balanced, focused care.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis, let's have a discussion.
Category: Time Management
In the value exchange model, accommodation and utilities are provided by the homeowner in exchange for my professional care services. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Value Exchange Model
Limiting the number of pets to domestic animals, with maximum numbers adhering to local government by-laws, ensures I can provide meticulous, high-quality, individualized care and attention to each animal.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis.
Category: Focused Care
Unfortunately, I am unable to offer assistance for large breeds of dogs.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis; if your animal is large but otherwise easy to manage, let's have a discussion.
Category: Focused Care
Consistent with my high standards for home hygiene and cleanliness, I must maintain an environment where pets are restricted from sleeping on bedding. Hard no, sorry.
Category: Hygiene
I must ensure the safety and suitability of the assignment. Complex veterinary health care needs or contagious cases fall outside my general expertise and are better managed by a dedicated veterinary professions house-sitter or verterinary hospital.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis; in an emergency, and provided I am adequately briefed and shown the how to's by a qualified veterinary professional, I will provide a short interval of interim care of no more than 6 hours, until a suitably qualified veterinary sitter or a veterinary clinic stay is arranged.
Category: Competency; Safety
For the safety of the sitting assignment and to mitigate health risks, all pets must be current on core vaccinations and required treatments.
Category: Health; Risk Mitigation
I require a pest-free environment; managing active pet infections or household infestations (fleas / ticks / worms / other pests) is a preparatory task for the homeowner, not me as the sitter.
Category: Hygiene; Prevention
My experience is limited to common domestic pets and urban avian livestock (chickens, quail, ducks, geese); specialized care requirements for exotic or non-domestic species are beyond my scope of competency.
Some Flexibility: Each sit is on a case by case basis, and some exotic animals might indeed be ok; open for discussion.
Category: Expertise
My experience does not extend to the husbandry or handling of rodents, and I must respectfully decline sits involving them.
Category: Expertise
Care for native fauna requires specialist permits and expertise which I do not possess, making it inappropriate for a routine house sit.
However, I do know how to handle a rescue, what not to touch, and have contacts for the appropriate agencies to step in should a situation occur on your property during my stay.
Category: Expertise; Legality