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A friend has asked me to housesit for her while she's away at the New Year, for one week. This will also involve taking care of her pets (2 dogs, 3 cats). I have NO idea what to charge for this! I know when I've hired a petsitter, they charged $15 per visit, and they'd visit twice a day, so that's $30/day just for the pet-sitting.
I don't want to take advantage of her, but also don't want to sell myself short. I work from home, so would be working my regular job while I was at her place.
Has anyone done this before, or paid for this service? What's the going rate in Charlotte?
My pet sitter charges quite a bit for overnights, maybe around $75 or so. You will be staying at her house the entire time she's away? I would say $30 per day is more than fair. When I was a teenager I pet sat for a family and they paid me $15 a day, and that was 15 years ago and I didn't stay at their house.
I used to do ALOT of pet/house sitting a few years back when I was single and I charged $25 a night. Now that I look back on it, I wish I had charged a little more. It was hard to ask for more because I felt awkward and wanted to be reasonable to family and friends. I also loved and adored all the pets I sat for and wouldn't want them to wind up in a kennel instead. Nevertheless, I also had to "rearrange" my daily habits, be responsible for someone else's home and "children", then travel back to my home in between to take care of my own responsibilities. Not to mention you may have to change any holiday plans if you've got "kids" to take care of.
If you research some of the local pet sitting services or daycares you will find it's very expensive and doesn't have the luxury of "24hr" in home care that most pets need and owners want.
For the record, if I had a trusted friend who would offer to pet sit, I would WANT to pay as much as I could knowing that my pets were safe and comfortable at home.
Good luck with what you decide!
Petsitters aside, boarding each pet would run quite a bit also. While you want to be reasonable as she's your friend, would prob. not do it for less than $50 per nite (am assuming you're buying your own food etc, if she's supplying it that might factor into it). Hopefully her yard is fenced so you dont have to walk them, that's something else that would increase the price IMO.
I asked for $130 - figured that was less than the $210 ($30/day, without charging extra for overnight), but still a nice amount for me. I'm staying there, and walking her dogs. I'll come back home here & there to make sure my place looks "lived in". That amount feels right to me.
A family friend offered me $200.00 to watch their 2 dogs (med & small) at my home for 7 days. That price would include walking them both together 2xs a day (they supply food, treats, bedding, etc). Their dogs have been around cats but my 3 cats have never been around dogs. Before i could give them my answer they found someone else. I think it was for the best. I did suggest $35.00 a day & i would be sure i was off that week but i guess they didnt want to pay the xtra 40.00.
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