Gerard v.

We have used house sitters 4 times at our 3 story lake house near San Antonio. We have generally had good experiences with 1 unpleasant, 1 acceptable and 2 amazing house sittings. The first (acceptable) was a single somewhat disheveled man with a dog. He lived nearby, but wanted to rent his house out for extra money. Dd what was required fed 2 animals and watered 20 plants twice a week), but nothing above and beyond. He seemed to expect a tip upon our return, but I simply ignored his implications and body language as that was never discussed.
The second time (unpleasant) was the same man but with a brand new large 9 week old not housebroken puppy. He didn't tell us about the new dog, so we found out about it like 3 hours before leaving for a 4 week trip. What could we do? Return to a dirty house with several pieces of furniture damage. Reported him to "Mind my House," and was removed as a house sitter candidate.
The third and fourth were neat and clean, newly retired professionals. Both are now on our list of friends. They (both couples) left our house cleaner than when we left. The 4th couple even straightening up my tool shed and greenhouse, which I did not expect. On our 3rd experience, when Covid struck, and we were forced to return earlier than expected, they had made sure to stock us up with bottled water, toiletries, and basic food stuffs because they didn't want us to be left staring at empty store shelves. Both couples provided airport transportation both ways with very helpful attitudes.
Folks, Mind my House.com provides a "bare bones" use at your own risk service with almost no customer service per se. This is NOT a large corporation with phone banks of customer service representatives speaking 14 different languages and a large command structure. I believe it is simply a couple who had an idea and are trying to provide a service. Some tips for selecting house sitters based upon our experiences: 1. Use husband and wife married COUPLES. Not stereotyping anyone, but, in our experience, a single person just has not been as good. It does make sense to me somehow. 2. Use formerly professional people who are used to a nicer lifestyle and are enthusiastic about sitting your home. A reluctant or timid sitter is a bad sign. 3. Use face time or zoom to interview applicants. Notice the clothing, hairstyle, manicures, their house in the background and just general ways of handling themselves. This may sound petty, but you are inviting them into your house and asking them to look after your loved fur babies. Do you want to come home to a dirty house (bedbugs?) and mistreated animals? 4. Insist they come the day before to give yourself the opportunity to cancel, if they bring are not what they claimed to be (have their own animals, cigarettes, cigars, children, etc...
Basically, Mind my House.com is like a flea market that organizes a venue for interactions to take place. They do not even attempt to get involved in your transactions, with the exception of removing clearly unacceptable house sitters after a complaint. After a couple of learning experiences, we have been extremely pleased.