House sitter Available May - August 2010

You forgot to ask for a refrigerator full of food, and some spending money....*-)

Lol. We'll take care of that part. 😉

Good morning ohagrad98,

poorthang was subtly remarking that your post comes across as. well, a bit naive. Most homeowners here with such to offer either have caretakers they already know and trust (a very big deal down here), or they charge close to market rent. And the house-sitting opportunities that do exist rarely come with free utilities and insured vehicles.

You never know, but it's very, very unlikely that someone will offer what you're looking for gratis.

Good luck to you.

We can pay for utilities, etc. We can also pay for car insurance if need be. I'm not looking for a free ride. 🙂

A house such as you are describing would rent for between $1500 - $2000 per weekm more on STJ, so yes, you kinda are asking for a free ride.

We just thought that someone would want to help out a struggling up and coming Doctor that is going to be helping there community . . . that's all.

If we do not succeed in finding a home to house sit at then there's always the possibility of renting. We just thought we would try this route b/c we met some locals that said this is a possibility and we should try it first.

Well I really didn't want to go here.... BUT... if your struggling and still coming to th USVI ... FOUR TIMES.... a year ....I'm just a little skeptical on this volunteering for the good of mankind thing.... Why don't you head a little to the west and give HAITI your kindness. Why ...because Haiti is not a paradise Island for you play on after all those long hours of "volunteering". HEY future DOC... get out of your comfy mind set and get your hands dirty like many of those who have come before you... Give of yourself to those who REALLY need it and test that ..compassion for the fellow man thing.... You come across as either extremely naive or OPPORTUNISTIC which is probably more realistic.I' m sure you could find some local hospital or clinic to give of yourself where you are Right??? NOW I FEEL BETTER ...See what a little tough love does...*-)

As an apartment complex owner, I'm obviously not a fan of the house-sitter, free rent arrangement, however, there is a call for it in some areas and instances. We had a couple rent from us a while back. They are retired (60x yrs. old) and spend their time traveling around the world, volunteering for a variety of organizations, usually in exchange for rent. As they explained to us, every situation can be different. Some include everything, some just a roof over their heads. The volunteer work is varied, some very easy, some harder. They are members of a couple of organizations( if I remember correctly, one is actually through the US government), that match people up with opportunities. They are also members of just a house-sitting org. that doesn't require volunteer work. I doubt very seriously a pre-med student working in a hospital will qualify. I assume there is course credit, right? But...you can pick some targeted words to google, and see what comes up. They gave me the names of their groups, but I don't think I kept them.

Thanks for your reply. That was very helpful!

There are professional house-sitting services out there; you might consider signing on with one of them.

Of course, a former landlord of mine once used such a service and returned home to find no sign of the original housesitter -- that person had rented the place out to two subletters. So the homeowners found strange people living in their house and caring for their animals, and they never saw a dime of the thousands that the housesitter had already collected in "rent"!

Unfortunately, that story is not the only one of its kind, which is why trust and knowing someone personally are major requirements for most homeowners down here who enter into such an arrangement. Even then... "it's a sunny place for shady people".