House Sitting , Monitering

[WilliamCave]

I noticed when it comes to hiring a thai company to moniter the house when we are gone for 2 or 4 months is hard to find. Wont let local family do it because it wont be done and the house will be used and aboused by cousins of the wife, not her family they live far away.

We talked to some friend who went away for work for 6 months and they paid a copany to look after things, like cut the grass, collect the mail water plants etc during there absence and keep an eye on the house...

U know if u are not watching 100% ,,,,,,they paid every month but when they gotback nothing was really done and after talking to the neighbours they also said the company was only seen at the house 2 times in 6 months plants had died in the house fish in the pond were dead....

sounds like a good business to start a honest trustworthy business even for thais. I think would pay for this service, eben thais wont trust there own family members going in to the house.

what is your thoughts on this

[seaeagle]

I noticed when it comes to hiring a thai company to moniter the house when we are gone for 2 or 4 months is hard to find. Wont let local family do it because it wont be done and the house will be used and aboused by cousins of the wife, not her family they live far away.

We talked to some friend who went away for work for 6 months and they paid a copany to look after things, like cut the grass, collect the mail water plants etc during there absence and keep an eye on the house...

U know if u are not watching 100% ,,,,,,they paid every month but when they gotback nothing was really done and after talking to the neighbours they also said the company was only seen at the house 2 times in 6 months plants had died in the house fish in the pond were dead....

sounds like a good business to start a honest trustworthy business even for thais. I think would pay for this service, eben thais wont trust there own family members going in to the house.

what is your thoughts on this

You know, I think it's a cracking idea, especially in somewhere like Phuket with a foreign population away so much from their homes. But, as you say, companies already "masquerade" doing this.

The difficulty I see is who would be doing the house sitting? No way would a foreigner be allowed to do this type of work, and even if a foreigner owned the "house-sitting" business, it boils down probably to a local Thai to do the daily / weekly checks, and, sad to say, we're back to the issue of trust and honesty.

[GungaDin]

How much do owners currently pay for "house sitting"?

I need to get away for 6 months.

[GungaDin]

Bump!

[ReThai]

I think there's Websites / businesses (not particularly based in thailand - but internationally), that deal with this - kind of a house swap thing... the swap is possibly optional, but a family looking to holiday will sit your house to save money on accommodation.

Not too hard to put your valuables in a safe place and let someone else rent / sit your house for the duration.

[GungaDin]

^^^^ Thanks for responding.

I had thought of that but a bit risky?

[johnnyk]

House swaps can work well. Its a swap so there is mutual risk/trust. As for house sitting I wouldn't do it. Let them rent if they want a house to stay in and if they don't want to rent they should stay in their own country.

There is a need for good management companies for sure. But in the end they all have the same problem: they have to motivate and supervise Thai workers and management can't be everywhere at the same time to check they are actually doing the job.

Edited November 13, 2009 by johnnyk

[GungaDin]

they have to motivate and supervise Thai workers

I guess that would be the hardest part......

[Nignoy]

A few previous comments obviously opinions of people who have no idea, we live in australia for 6 months of the year and travel for the other 6, we have been using both foreign housesitters and houseswaps since 1999, we use housesitters with checkable references, there is no payment neccessary at all , apart from our first housesitter who kept all the men in the village happy, we have never had a problem, we have just got back from 8 weeks traveling , everything well looked after and pets happy too, plenty of housesitters offering their services free in bona fide house sit sites, and as far as houseswaps gowe have done 11 so far worldwide all great successes, if you need any help please PM us

[phetaroi]

A few previous comments obviously opinions of people who have no idea, we live in australia for 6 months of the year and travel for the other 6, we have been using both foreign housesitters and houseswaps since 1999, we use housesitters with checkable references, there is no payment neccessary at all , apart from our first housesitter who kept all the men in the village happy, we have never had a problem, we have just got back from 8 weeks traveling , everything well looked after and pets happy too, plenty of housesitters offering their services free in bona fide house sit sites, and as far as houseswaps gowe have done 11 so far worldwide all great successes, if you need any help please PM us

Okay, so where do you find these house sitters here in Bangkok?

[GungaDin]

Nignoy,

are you referring to your house in Qld or TH.?

[Nignoy]

First things first, until we sold our house in Huahin we used foreign Housesitters from House Sit world, there are numerous housesitters also for our home in australia, the web is full of bonafide housesitters , we found with Housesits in Huahin we could literally take our pick, you have to do the hard yards yourself as far as vetting and checking references,we also put them on our household and car insurance, more and more home owners in thailand are going the way of non simultanous homeswap, hope this Helps

[Stormyn]

I use a friend's maid to check on my condo when I am away. She pops in once a week and dusts and sweeps the floors and just before I arrive she makes sure all is in order, the bed has fresh bed sheets and the fruit bowl is full.

It cost is minimal and she is happy to get the extra money.

Cheers

[NOKIA6969]

Hi, I am a Brit with a work Visa (Property Agency) I would personally consider house sitting, but only in BKK at the moment.

[email protected]

[bifftastic]

I noticed when it comes to hiring a thai company to moniter the house when we are gone for 2 or 4 months is hard to find. Wont let local family do it because it wont be done and the house will be used and aboused by cousins of the wife, not her family they live far away.

We talked to some friend who went away for work for 6 months and they paid a copany to look after things, like cut the grass, collect the mail water plants etc during there absence and keep an eye on the house...

U know if u are not watching 100% ,,,,,,they paid every month but when they gotback nothing was really done and after talking to the neighbours they also said the company was only seen at the house 2 times in 6 months plants had died in the house fish in the pond were dead....

sounds like a good business to start a honest trustworthy business even for thais. I think would pay for this service, eben thais wont trust there own family members going in to the house.

what is your thoughts on this

You know, I think it's a cracking idea, especially in somewhere like Phuket with a foreign population away so much from their homes. But, as you say, companies already "masquerade" doing this.

The difficulty I see is who would be doing the house sitting? No way would a foreigner be allowed to do this type of work, and even if a foreigner owned the "house-sitting" business, it boils down probably to a local Thai to do the daily / weekly checks, and, sad to say, we're back to the issue of trust and honesty.

I'm currently researching the possibility of providing such a service. Not house sitting as in occupying the property but daily visits to water plants/check for damage/collect mail etc. and a weekly house cleaning/gardening visit. The work would be done by Thai's but checked/supervised by myself and daily/weekly reports submitted to the owners. I envisage the service commencing a few days or a week before the owners leave so they are 'in situ' when the first few visits take place so they can show exactly how they want things done, provide a kind of checklist for their property which is then completed and signed off and emailed to them when they are away.

I think the key to the whole thing is regular contact with the clients so that they can be kept fully updated as to the work being carried out. Proper moitoring/supervision of staff and a secure keyholding arrangement. (I have experience in transport and logistics, management/supervision, monitoring and reporting on staff working 'off site' and the associated security implications).

Ideally this will be in the Chiang Rai area but I'm not sure if there are enough properties in a serviceable area and I would welcome sensible comments. As with any business model there needs to be suitable demand.

I can see how somewhere like Phuket may be more suited to such a business, just not sure I'd want to live there!

Please feel free to comment or PM me.

[GungaDin]

Can you speak fluent Thai?

[bifftastic]

Can you speak fluent Thai?

No, but i don't need to. I have enough Thai to speak to my supervisor/s who will have some English and I don't need to be fluent to see if work has been done or not.

Thanks for your comment.

[Mrjlh]

I've been trying to my Thai GF to do this for the last 3 years in Phuket. She just won't warm up to the idea. I think it has to do with farange's not trusting Thai workers and she is skeptical it would work. I have a friend in the states that does the exact same thing and makes as very comfortable living at it. I think if she knew I had customers for her she would do it. The services I proposed for her to offer was: Periodic weekly house checks, be listed as contact in case of emergency, provide basic maid service, general landscaping, pickup mail, taxi to and from airport for departure/arrival, and a few other services at cost to make returning to your home a complete turn-key proposition.

Most people don't realize the amount of work it takes to do this type business. Would you pay 1500-2500B a month for a basic service? 4000 B/month or more for extended service? What would be your idea of of a reasonable charge? If people are interested in this PM me and we'll go from there. I would expect any services to start in February when people leave the Island and give her time to set the business up. Other than advising her, this will be her business alone. She is extremely trustworthy and has the resources. I just need to get her motivated!

[bifftastic]

I agree it takes a lot of work and a full time commitment. Good luck with it I hope it works out for you/her.