My girlfriend is going to be house sitting for 5 days. She is a grad student and got this by posting an ad on craigslist so she does not know the family. They have a cat and dog. She was asked how she charges but neither of us really know what a reasonable rate is. Any help or experience appreciated.

$50 / day?

So she's not really house sitting, because who need someone to watch their house if they were only going to be gone for 5 days. What she really will be doing is looking after their pets. What this is worth, I have no idea.

that was closer to my thinking. I looked online and there were some services charging 15-25/day for coming to check on/walk/feed pets but without and overnight stay.

Does $50 seem unreasonable. it's a small college city, with a relatively low cost of living (ie not an LA, SF, Boston, etc)

$200 a day plus expenses

Find out what a local kennel would charge to board the pets for 5 days as a starting point. That is the alternative cost to the owners.

Excellent Idea. We will call around, get a good range and go from there based on what else they want. Thank you!

Yeah, do this.

Also, maybe this is just the cynic in me talking, but I find it kind of strange that complete strangers would trust a random girl from Craig's List with their home. Is this normal? I've only ever heard of a family friend or neighbor housesitting before.

thinly-veiled sex slave search on their part.

Females are trustworthy. Bonus points for college students. I'm not even being scarcastic.

Find out what the owners are doing away. If she's house sitting while they're robbing a bank, it's $5k/day minimum...

Word. I dunno, I just think about all the crazies on Craig's List nowadays, and the thought of one of them living in my home makes me shudder.

I think it was because she put in her ad that she is a phd student and I'm sure they will want to meet her first

College age females tend to have real level-headed, reliable boyfriends.

Go with her on the interview, and ask if there is any place in the house it is NOT okay to have sex in.

Instead of boarding up your house why not just stop hiring them?

^^^
The spelling police, to the rescue! Hooray!

Fixed.

Not police, just making a joke.

Me too. S'all good.

Don't settle for less than 3 popsicles from the freezer.

And she gets to keep the birdcage she found in the garbage.

I did this for a while, but on a regular basis. The woman I was working for had to be out of town for 3-4 days at least twice a month, and more often she'd have a short overnight trip. She paid me 25 dollars a day, which always seemed excessive considering my "job" consisted entirely of "go to her very nice house after school, play with and walk her dog, feed him, and then watch cable TV on her very nice TV until bedtime. Sleep, wake up, feed dog, done. She let me eat anything in the fridge (which btw is something your girlfriend should clarify about their expectations along with whether she is allowed to entertain), and occasionally would leave me a note to please move wet laundry from the washer to the dryer. Easy work.

Note: This was 10 years ago, and it was a regular source of income for me, so I think 40 dollars a day would be reasonable now for a one-shot deal. I live in the Midwest, so I'm probably not in a more expensive area than you are.

Very market-driven, I think, and it depends on the number of dogs/pets. That's why the suggest to price kennels is so good. My folks like to go on trips but they have four dogs. They pay much more to board all their dogs than 50 bucks a day, and would be very happy to pay that or anywhere near that as a flat rate.

What are actual expectations? Are you supposed to be in the house every night? Just check in to feed the dogs?

There's no way in hell I'd want to be stuck in some random person's house for $25 a day, 5 days in a row.

If you're just dropping by to feed the pets and then leave, that's fine.

I can't remember how much my roommates paid to have their dog boarded during vacation - but I want to say it was something like $20-$30 a day.

do you have to walk/clean up for the dog?

do you reside during the 5 days?

i think it's entirely dependent on proximity to family and duty of care.

I'm sure the people are aware of local kennel prices which are probably somewhere around 20-30 per day depending on size, extras etc. I'd probably go with the 50 per day.

One of my friends worked for a veterinarian in HS and would house sit for him when he went on longer vacations. It was awesome we partied like crazy in that old dude's house. He had a huge footlocker filled with all sorts of pills that we gobbled down. So don't forget to check the medicine cabinets!!!