The best house sitting in Canberra

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Planning a holiday? Need to travel last-minute? Concerned about the safety and security of your home? Want someone to care for your pets? No worries. Opt for a top-quality, trusted house sitter, and have total peace of mind that your property and pets are cared for while you’re away.

House sitting is a fantastic service – but most of us wouldn’t feel comfortable welcoming just any old stranger into our homes. That’s where house sitting service providers come in. These websites connect homeowners with verified sitters.

If you are looking to enlist the help of a house sitter, we suggest working through one of the following three companies. These sites have fantastic track-records and are top picks among the region’s locals.

Let’s get started right away.

What makes a great house-sitting service?

Not sure what, precisely, you are looking for in a house-sitting service? We are here to help. Start by keeping a lookout for the following must-have traits:

  • A large selection of sitters. This is especially critical if you have made last-minute travel plans. The best house-sitting services offer up a large selection of trusted sitters, so you can always access the help you need.
  • Robust verification process. As we mentioned above, most of us wouldn’t feel comfortable letting a total stranger live in our homes. The best house-sitting service providers have a strict set of criteria to verify their sitters.
  • Reputable services. One of the best ways to gauge the quality of a house-sitting service is to ask around. Chat to your friends, family, and colleagues and ask for their recommendations.
  • Excellent customer service. If something goes wrong or you need additional help, the customer service team should respond promptly and accurately.

The top house sitters in Canberra according to you

RiotACT’s editorial team has combed through 19 years of on-site comments to compile a list of the most recommended businesses according to you.

To be listed in our Best of Canberra series, each business needs to have consistently received positive feedback on RiotACT and Facebook as well as maintaining a minimum average of 4/5 stars on Google.

Ready to introduce the best house sitters in Canberra? The following companies were the top pick among the region’s locals.

Happy House Sitters Canberra

The team behind Happy House Sitters understand that when you set off on holiday, the last thing you want is to be worried and stressed about the safety and well-being of your home and pets. That’s why they have created a trustworthy platform designed to connect verified house sitters with Canberra’s holidaymakers. Whether you’ve got the luxury to plan your house-sitting service months in advance or you need a last-minute arrangement, give Happy House Sitters a go.

Aussie House Sitters

Aussie House Sitters is the country’s largest house-sitting website. This multi-award-winning, 100 per cent Australia-owned and -run business is dedicated to providing a safe and effective service. Every month, more and more Australian homeowners list their properties on Aussies House Sitters, so you can rest easy knowing that your home will be in safe hands.

Trusted House Sitters

For more than nine years, Trusted House Sitters have offered a safe and secure way to travel – even if you have pets. We all know cats, dogs, and other animals are happiest at home. What’s more, boarding services can become costly, especially if you are travelling for an extended period. With Trusted House Sitters, you can have your home and pets looked after for free by one of their 23,854 verified sitters.

Who did you pick?

Thanks to our commenters who have provided insightful feedback, if you believe we have got it wrong, please let us know.

Have you used one of the above websites to find a house sitter in the Canberra region? How did it go? Share your experience – whether good or bad – in the comments section below for our readers to check out.

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Woody Mann-Caruso said :

Wouldnt this have been something you planned for before the renovation?

It’s Captain Obvious’s helpful sidekick, Super Dvaey! With his amazing powers of 20/20 hindsight, he can tell you exactly how you should have prevented an issue – in the past!

Who needs hindsight to understand that if you have children and are planning a major renovation, that you should have thought about accomodation for yourself and your children during that period of major renovation?

If your house was in a fire and unlivable that would be an entirely different situation, but if youve planned for long enough and spent enough money for major renovations to your house, why wouldnt you think long enough about where you might live while this takes place.

If you do decide to leave it to the last minute to look for rental property in a market as slim as the canberra rental market, theres really no cheap options available, whether that is useful or not, it is the fact.

TheDancingDjinn10:28 pm 13 May 12

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

Wouldnt this have been something you planned for before the renovation?

It’s Captain Obvious’s helpful sidekick, Super Dvaey! With his amazing powers of 20/20 hindsight, he can tell you exactly how you should have prevented an issue – in the past! Marvel at his boundless capacity to make statements that are technically accurate, but utterly useless for solving the problem at hand! Coming soon to whine and eye roll at a meeting near you!

I laughed so hard at this i choked…. love your work man

Woody Mann-Caruso9:13 pm 13 May 12

Wouldnt this have been something you planned for before the renovation?

It’s Captain Obvious’s helpful sidekick, Super Dvaey! With his amazing powers of 20/20 hindsight, he can tell you exactly how you should have prevented an issue – in the past! Marvel at his boundless capacity to make statements that are technically accurate, but utterly useless for solving the problem at hand! Coming soon to whine and eye roll at a meeting near you!

I don’t blame you for wanting to get out, but make sure there is a clause in the contract with the builder to ensure the work will be finished in time. You don’t want to be stuck at the end of 2 months with the owner coming home and you needing to vacate while your house is still unliveable. A nice little penalty clause allowing for the builder to cover the cost of short term accommodation should ensure you don’t get stuck out in the cold.

Holden Caulfield9:25 am 11 May 12

MrMagoo said :

Holden Caulfield said :

Don’t be soft, stick it out! 😛

Otherwise, I think your best bet is going to be some sort of executive rental or word of mouth. Know anyone taking long service leave or the like?

I’d have preferred to Cauf but our builder has actually asked us not to stay.

Haha, even more reason to stay.

Builders aren’t my flavour of the month at the moment.

Things should go more smoothly for you not living on site though, so good luck all round.

Growling Ferret said :

Put an ad up at your work bulletin board. With hte announced job losses and redundancies going, there might be a few people disappearing for winter with their wallets full of cash…

And I’ll check my neighbour, as they always go away for a couple of months once it gets cold.

Living next door to the Ferret, that could be dangerous

Holden Caulfield said :

Don’t be soft, stick it out! 😛

Otherwise, I think your best bet is going to be some sort of executive rental or word of mouth. Know anyone taking long service leave or the like?

I’d have preferred to Cauf but our builder has actually asked us not to stay.

Growling Ferret9:23 pm 10 May 12

Put an ad up at your work bulletin board. With hte announced job losses and redundancies going, there might be a few people disappearing for winter with their wallets full of cash…

And I’ll check my neighbour, as they always go away for a couple of months once it gets cold.

We did renovations in another house about 10 years ago. I put an ad in the Canberra Times for a house for three months, and was contacted by a person who had to break their lease, who put me in touch with the agent. Could be an idea.

Gosh you’re helpful Dvaey.
Seconding Cegee and suggest looking at UC too. Otherwise have you looked at the short term leases on allhomes? People who are away for a month or two sometimes advertise there, and they are more likely to be furnished. http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/rent-residential/canberra/1039112/short-term-lease

I think you will probably have to go by word of mouth because most full time house sitters come with an armful of references and experience. You are a random, so you may find it hard for anyone to choose you over them! I would definately be a little bit choosy about who I let live in my house for months!

Wouldnt this have been something you planned for before the renovation? If youre gettting your house renovated to the point its not livable, surely youre looking at a fairly decent budget. Wouldnt it have made sense to add another 1-2k on top for accomodation during the reno?

Have been through major kitchen and bathroom renovations in the past 2 years.. its not difficult, however I guess not having kids makes things easier.. but on the other hand, having kids, why didnt you plan for what was to happen to your family during this time?

Holden Caulfield4:10 pm 10 May 12

Don’t be soft, stick it out! 😛

Otherwise, I think your best bet is going to be some sort of executive rental or word of mouth. Know anyone taking long service leave or the like?

you could put an ad on ANU classifieds. lots of academics go over sees for a couple of months at a time, some of them use house-sitters.

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