Good Day Everyone -

We are going to move to the States at the end of July of 2012 and were
looking for possible homes/apartments to look after for a few months. We would
be available from April 1 - July 30th 2012. We are 3 - myself, my wife and our daughter.
My wife works in Kantonspital Baden so we would need something within 40km (i.e. Basel, Zurich, Luzern) or so.

Also, would anyone know of any possibilities or resources to look for whereas we could find
information or families/individuals whom are in need?

As we are not looking to profit, only for an interim place to stay before we leave, we would not charge for the sitting.

LOL you want somewhere free to live and wont charge for living there, class!! LOL

I'm with bigblue, I read the OP and thought maybe I am misreading but it seemingly implies you want somewhere to live for couple months, whole family, and rather than ask whether anyone can temporarily lease a place at said date, your structuring it as we'll look after your place free of charge.

Very clever

You guys are so cynical. There is a at least one established company that offers this service to both house-owners and sitters, and for whom the arrangement is mutually beneficial.

Thank you Nicolas, I will look into the website.

Don't mean to sound crass to the likes big blue, and I'm really not trying to be clever or pull something. We can move out of our apartment either in April (end of March) or at the end of August. Working circumstances denote that we cannot leave until June. Not many leasing agencies will let families start a rental agreement which only lasts 3-4 months here in Switzerland.

Also, some people may travel internattionally or something for a few months and would better like someone to look after their place. Most people charge for the watching over of the home.

It might help if you list the work you are willing to undertake while you are house sitting. For instance:

Will you do house cleaning, garden maintenance, organize repairs?

What household work are you not willing to undertake?

Do you speak German well enough to handle emergencies?

Will you do pet care? And if so, what animals are you able to care for, and what experience do you have?

Have you done housesitting before, and can you provide references?

What about insurance? Have you researched what your Privathaftpflicht covers, and what the homeowner's insurance must cover?

Also, it might be a good idea to get an 'Auszug aus dem Strafregister', most homeowners would require this.


Good luck.