Betty & Peter – A house sitting wonder couple

Betty & Peter are two of our longest serving house sitters who between them have racked up an incredible 177 house sits. That must be some kind of record!

Over the years, we’ve kept in touch with Betty, and she emailed us recently to say that when their current house sits finish at the end of the year, they will be scaling back on their house sitting. We couldn’t let them go without sharing Betty’s thoughts on their amazing house sitting journey.

Can you tell us when you first started house sitting? 

We first started house sitting 13 years ago, back in 2010. Over the years, we’ve cared for many types of pets, not to mention lots of different houses and types of properties, both big and small. 

How did you hear about Aussie House Sitters and what made you decide to join?

I heard about house sitting from a friend and decided to check it out. I joined another group but didn't renew after the first twelve months as I liked what I saw on your site.

I found Aussie House Sitters the most interesting and informative of all the sites and haven’t been registered with any other sites for many years now. Your staff always answered my queries and were always very polite and helpful. You have a great group of people working with you.

How has house sitting changed your life?

I’ve made so many good friends through house sitting and enjoyed the company of hundreds of pets. 

I've also visited places I'd never been before, both here in Brisbane and in other states of Australia. House sitting is an excellent way to get around and see different regions. And doing repeat house sits, you get to learn all the back roads and how to get to the shops without going the long way around.

You’ve done an incredible amount of house sits. Do you have a favourite sit?

Between us, Peter and I have done 177 house sits. We’ve done some in New South Wales, and in Geelong, Victoria as well as a few in Hobart and Penguin in Tasmania. By far most of the sits have been in the Brisbane area.

My favourite sit is where I am right now, in Manly in Brisbane's southeast with one dog and one cat. I've probably been here about twenty times over the years. A lot of my sits have been repeats and where I am right now, I’ve been every year, sometimes three times in a year, since I started house sitting.

If you could offer any advice to people considering house sitting, what would it be?

The advice I'd offer to others is to find out everything you need to know about the house and pets BEFORE the house sit begins. Homeowners should tell the house sitter everything that is involved, like watering, how often and where, what to do with the mail, and exactly the right number and type of animals they have.

A lot of your sits have been repeat requests from homeowners. Why do you think owners keep asking you to come back?

I keep getting repeat requests because people have come to trust me completely. They can leave money lying around and know that I would never touch it. It also helps that I get to know and understand the routine of the pets as well.

The biggest compliment I ever got was from a lady near Cleveland in Brisbane who went to France with her husband for three months every year. She said she never had to worry about her house or pets when I was house sitting. I went there about six years in a row.

What will you miss most about house sitting when you stop?

The pets have always been the priority with me, and I’ve had a huge variety over the years.We love all types of cats and dogs with a huge preference for big dogs. I have been called 'The Schmackos Lady' as I always have Schmackos in my left pocket. You get to have favourites and I will really miss the pets the most. 

What does the next chapter of your life look like?

The next chapter of my life will be settling down somewhere but not with a pet for myself as I'm too old for that. At 75 the pet would outlive me and that wouldn't be fair. But if I ever found someone going into a retirement village who couldn't have their pet with them, I'd maybe like to take that pet and love it and send photos to them from time to time to set their mind at rest.

Congratulations on your amazing house sitting journey. On behalf of the Aussie House Sitters team, and all the homeowners you’ve helped over the years, we wish you all the very best with your future endeavours. We have a feeling there will be some pets involved whatever you do.

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