Danita & I have decided to become urban nomads. We’re selling the house and, being very open to options and possibilities, have investigated house sitting. As we’ve talked to others about this we’re finding it’s much more common that we had expected.
Our main tasks at this point are :
– Sell the house
– Find somewhere else to live (this is where the housesitting comes in)
To find somewhere to live:
– We’ve registered with a couple of house sitting sites: happyhousesitters.com.au & housecarers.com.au
– Sent out a message to our Sydney connections on LinkedIn
– Told friends
So far we’ve found a few places and are quite excited about the prospects. We figure it’ll be challenging but fun as well.
Selling the house is a bit more daunting (but has a definite time frame).
– Prepare the house:
We decided to have the place styled in order to maximise our return from the sale. After all, we can only sell it once and we need to get as much as possible. Having the place styled (co-ordinated by Laura from House Candy) involves painting, remodelling the back garden (getting rid of my vege patch – bit sad about that), house washing, refurnishing …. Laura has been fantastic and has made the process as manageable as possible.
– Find an agent:
This is a serious challenge. As we can only sell the house once choosing right one is important. We’ve interviewed 5 and are now working on the short list. Of course they each have their strong points and so deciding which one to list with is an “interesting” process. Laura had a number of suggestions which we found helpful.
– Packing the house:
This is serious fun & games. Boxes everywhere (thanks John from Box$mart for supplying them) and regular trips to the local Vinnies. It’s amazing how 2 people and a dog can fill a 4 bedroom house. Currently, we’re living in a state of chaos but it will all be sorted soon as we have to have our furniture out by Friday and our first housesit starts 28th May.
Stay tuned for the next exciting installment.
BTW If you or anyone you know is in need of a housesitter – very mature & responsible 🙂 please let us/them know as we have some available time slots.