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House Sitter

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Mary Hatch Bailey
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Post by Mary Hatch Bailey » Sun, 20 Nov 2005 7:54 am

earthfriendly wrote:What about sending the maid to home country for a vacation and having friends/ family drop in to water plant etc...

Yes it is expensive to hire house-sitter. I have a relative in the US who does house-sitting. She charges fixed rate by the hour and daily rate if it is overnight regardless of the amount of tasks involved.
I need someone to look after the 'lads' (my dogs). I can't see paying anyone anything to live in my house and do nothing... :-|

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CardZeus
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Post by CardZeus » Thu, 01 Dec 2005 2:21 pm

You want someone to live in your house - thereby ensuring it's safety and you don't want to pay for the service....good luck with that. As for your maid not wanting to stay on her own - tell her to grow up
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Mary Hatch Bailey
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Post by Mary Hatch Bailey » Thu, 01 Dec 2005 8:07 pm

CardZeus wrote:You want someone to live in your house - thereby ensuring it's safety and you don't want to pay for the service....good luck with that. As for your maid not wanting to stay on her own - tell her to grow up
How exactly would they ensure the safety of my house? And considering what I pay in rent, I don't think their day job pays as well. My maid is responsible for the house and the pets and sends 90 percent of her money home, so no thank you. I won't tell her to 'grow up'. I will however tell you to sod off. :-|

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Post by CardZeus » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 9:15 am

You want them there for some purpose if only to placate your maid - you also want this service for free? Don't follow your logic here. What does the fact that your maid sends 90% of her money home have anything to do with it? (perhaps you should pay her more?). Bottom line is you want something for nothing - again, good luck with that.
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k1w1
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Post by k1w1 » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 9:27 am

CardZeus wrote:You want them there for some purpose if only to placate your maid - you also want this service for free? Don't follow your logic here. What does the fact that your maid sends 90% of her money home have anything to do with it? (perhaps you should pay her more?). Bottom line is you want something for nothing - again, good luck with that.
CardZeus, house-sitters in New Zealand are not paid. You don't actually do SOD ALL except live in someone elses house (using their electricity, water and gas as well as eating all their food). I think charging for the service is a bit OTT. I knew people who did it for months on end (or a year in one case) while at uni because of the huge savings you made - just nobody moves out of home here till they're 30 odd... Technically, it's free living for that period, so the idea is that you save money, not make it.

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Mary Hatch Bailey
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Post by Mary Hatch Bailey » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 9:28 am

My point is that she has the burden of responsibilities that most of us can't fathom -- she is quite grown up. And I pay her plenty. Why do you keep insisting that I want something for nothing? Why isn't housesitting with very limited responibilities, if any at all, in exchange for free rent be considered a fair deal in your world. On second thought don't answer that. I really don't care.

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Post by CardZeus » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 9:32 am

You obviously do care :D
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Post by CardZeus » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 9:39 am

You pay her plenty??

You already posted that you don't pay her $50 a day - so let's assume you pay her $40, also assume she works 8 hours a day - that's $5 per hour which equates to around GBP 1.80. Minimum wage in England is 3 times this amount. I know we're not in England but I bet you wouldn't work for $40 a day
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Post by CardZeus » Fri, 02 Dec 2005 10:00 am

Why isn't housesitting with very limited responibilities, if any at all, in exchange for free rent be considered a fair deal in your world
The only people this would apply to would not be paying any rent where they are now - otherwise it's not rent free - you can't stop paying rent where you are just because you're housesitting for Mary. This probably narrows it down to students living at home with their parents. Therefore why would they be interested as they are living rent free anyway?? Whatever you think, students would consider this either (1) a burden, and want reimbursement or (2) a chance to party at your house. By paying someone you instill a responsibility in them.
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