How much to house sit?

[VoraciousReader]

I did this for a while, but on a regular basis. The woman I was working for had to be out of town for 3-4 days at least twice a month, and more often she'd have a short overnight trip. She paid me 25 dollars a day, which always seemed excessive considering my "job" consisted entirely of "go to her very nice house after school, play with and walk her dog, feed him, and then watch cable TV on her very nice TV until bedtime. Sleep, wake up, feed dog, done. She let me eat anything in the fridge (which btw is something your girlfriend should clarify about their expectations along with whether she is allowed to entertain), and occasionally would leave me a note to please move wet laundry from the washer to the dryer. Easy work.

Note: This was 10 years ago, and it was a regular source of income for me, so I think 40 dollars a day would be reasonable now for a one-shot deal. I live in the Midwest, so I'm probably not in a more expensive area than you are.

[Blarg]

Very market-driven, I think, and it depends on the number of dogs/pets. That's why the suggest to price kennels is so good. My folks like to go on trips but they have four dogs. They pay much more to board all their dogs than 50 bucks a day, and would be very happy to pay that or anywhere near that as a flat rate.

[z28dreams]

What are actual expectations? Are you supposed to be in the house every night? Just check in to feed the dogs?

There's no way in hell I'd want to be stuck in some random person's house for $25 a day, 5 days in a row.

If you're just dropping by to feed the pets and then leave, that's fine.

I can't remember how much my roommates paid to have their dog boarded during vacation - but I want to say it was something like $20-$30 a day.

[Peter Harris]

do you have to walk/clean up for the dog?

do you reside during the 5 days?

i think it's entirely dependent on proximity to family and duty of care.

[wet work]

I'm sure the people are aware of local kennel prices which are probably somewhere around 20-30 per day depending on size, extras etc. I'd probably go with the 50 per day.

One of my friends worked for a veterinarian in HS and would house sit for him when he went on longer vacations. It was awesome we partied like crazy in that old dude's house. He had a huge footlocker filled with all sorts of pills that we gobbled down. So don't forget to check the medicine cabinets!!!