Buying House Plans Online

The Benefits of Self Building

Investing in property had always been very popular - and for many very productive and lucrative. However, as the prices on property begin to soar, it is difficult for many to even get their foot on to the property ladder. The alternative is renting, which usually means paying extortionate sums of cash each month to a wealthy landlord - not something that many people particularly want to do, but something that they feel they have to do in order to enjoy their own living space and independence.

However, there is a cost effective alternative for those that really want to get on to the property ladder but feel that they can't afford it. Self-building with house plans has become an increasingly popular solution for prospective homeowners, enabling them to get the home of their dreams at a fraction of what it would cost to buy a ready built home of the same style and calibre.

How do house plans work?

House plans are designed by top professionals - architects and designers that know exactly what constitutes a high quality, desirable home. These house plans are designed to be as simple to follow as possible, enabling purchasers to see construct their homes with ease and speed.

House plans are available for a vast range of property types, so whether you live alone and want your own private little home, or whether you have a large family and need a home that will provide you with adequate space and facilities, you will find something that will suit your needs exactly, and for far less than you imagine.

Using house plans to construct your new home will also give you the benefit of being able to make it as unique as you dare. The construction of new homes by huge corporations has become a little like a factory production line, with entire estates full of identical houses springing up in the matter of a few weeks. There's nothing unique or special about these homes; you would simply be spending years living in a property that looks exactly the same as the one next door, and the one opposite, and the one down the road - you get the picture...

By using house plans to create your home, you can put your dreams in to action. Whatever style, size or type of home you want, there will be a top quality house plan that will suit your needs and budget perfectly. So you can get a house that is truly unique and special, and probably pay less than those that have opted for the "production line" houses.

Looking for unique house plans?

There are so many house plans to choose from that you can achieve just the look and style for your new home. You can even get custom house plans, so whatever your idea of the dream home you can still make it a reality.

Perhaps you are looking for a little hideaway near the lake; maybe you want a cottage in the countryside; perhaps a log cabin is your idea of the perfect home or holiday hideaway; or maybe you want to go for a sprawling, family home. Whatever your requirements and desires, these fabulous house plans can be a great help. With so many styles to choose from you can get a really unique home to suit your needs and your pocket, so why settle for less? Some of the excellent house plan choices include:

• A frame cabin house plans
• A frame home house plans
• Country house plans
• Log house plans
• Luxury house plans
• Small cottage house plans
• Vacation house plans
• Victorian house plans

Why use house plans?

One of the main reasons why so many people are keen on using house plans rather than buying pre-built properties these days is the cost. The rising costs associated with buying a pre-built home have made people realize that they can save a lot of money by simply opting for a self-build property, giving them the perfect home at a fraction of the price.

There are other things to consider as well. What are the chances of finding the perfect pre-built home - a home that suits every member of the family down to the ground? We all have different ideas when it comes to the perfect house. You may be more interested in a large lounge or bathroom, whereas your partner may want a huge kitchen and bedroom, The kids might be pestering you for a separate playroom, and you may be thinking how useful a large dining area could be.

When you use a house plan to construct your perfect home, you can incorporate everyone's design ideas in to the plan, thus giving you a home that is ideal for the whole family, and which you can all enjoy for as long as you live there. You can give your home a unique look, plenty of character and you can really stamp your personality on your new home.

Buying house plans online

If you are looking for widest choice and top quality when it comes to buying house plans, then the Internet is by far your best choice. You will find such a vast range of exceptional, stunning house plans online that you can't fail to find something that will match exactly what you are looking for - and at a price that you can afford.

The Internet will provide you with access to house plan by experience, qualified and very skilled designers and architects, so you can be sure of getting quality and durability as well as an impressive design and some really stunning features. And with such a wide range to choose from, there is something available for every budget.

You can browse online house plans from the comfort of your home or office, enabling you to find the right choice at your own pace and without any outside pressure. You can even sit down with the family, discuss your needs collectively and then look at the selection of house plans together to ensure that you get something that will suit everyone.

By going online to search for the ideal house plan you will enjoy many benefits, such as:

Affordability, with some incredible low prices available on house plans
Convenience, as you can browse house plans without even having to leave your home
Being able to discuss and compare house plans with your family
Speed and ease of browsing house plans
Unrivalled choice of house plans
Top quality house plans

With the convenience, ease and choice on offer when you go online to look for house plans, it makes sense to make things simple by harnessing the power of the Internet to take the first step towards the perfect home for you and your family.

Pre-drawn House plans the Benefits and Styles

Pre-drawn house plans are those that are drawn by architects or home designers and then offered for sale, unlike those that are drawn for an individual, with input from the customer. While this method may be a great idea, there are definite benefits to purchasing pre-drawn house plans. Architects and home designers that do custom home designing also do a lot of their own designs, and it is these plans that are offered for sale 

They are adept at making plans that utilize available space to the best possible advantage, and at laying out a floor plan to optimize curb appeal.

Custom designing of your home can take months to be completed and is extremely expensive, often up to ten times the cost of predawn or stock house plans. Using custom drawn plans can delay the construction of your home by many weeks There are dozens of home styles and literally thousands of plans to choose from, so you can be sure to find the home of your dreams.

If you find a house plan that you love, but want to make minor changes, most companies can have their designers do that for you, at an additional fee. It is also possible to have your plans reversed, for instance, if your breakfast nook faces west but the view from the north side of your lot is more attractive, you can reverse it. Many of the sites selling house plans will allow you to see a reversed view, of houses you might want to build.

Another service provided by the companies that design and sell house plans, is one that allows you to estimate the cost for building a particular house in your area of the country. The South is the least expensive area to build in and the West has the highest cost .The national average is somewhere in between.

There are dozens of house plan styles for you to browse and hundreds in each category, from A-Frame to Victorian, , from small to large, you can find the right home for your family. There are magazines, books and web sites galore that you can search

Beach houses, are small one story homes, raised above the ground, and usually have an open floor plan, with a lot of windows, to get a good view of the yard.. A low end Beach house with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen and Great room would cost, about $74,000.00 to build, according to the national average, and about $15,000.00 more in the west and $8000.00 less in the south. These little houses make great vacation retreats and are also suitable as a starter home or retirement home for empty nesters.

Bungalows are 1 to 1and ½ story homes, They often incorporate features of the Craftsman style house, such as natural building materials, exposed rafter ends and gables. They also sometimes borrow features from the Country or Victorian look.A two bedroom, one bath bungalow in the mid-range can be built for between $70,000.00 and 95.000.00, depending on what part of the country you live in. A low-end two bedroom one bath can be built for $52,000 to 70,000. These cute homes are great for newlyweds or retirees

Large front porches, dormers and a roofline that lies parallel to the road are the main distinguishing features of Country homes. Farm house and French Country plans can also be included in this category. Open floor plans are not common to this type of house. A small country home, 576 square feet, with one bath and two bedrooms, can be built for under $60,000.00 can be erected on your site for under $60,000.00. A three bedroom, 1 and ½ baths, will average about $84,000.00 to erect on your site. .

Craftsman style homes are characterized by the use of natural materials like wood or stone for exterior walls, and rock foundations that slope out towards the ground. They may also include dormers, exposed beams, and overhanging eaves. A two bedroom one bath house in the craftsman style will cost between $52,000.00 and $62,000.00 to build a two bedroom, two bath, home with a 2 car garage will run about $96.000.00.

Another popular house plan style is the French Country home. They are similar to Country style in that they feature front porches, dormers and roof- lines that run parallel to the road. A two bedroom, two bathroom house with volume vaulted ceilings, walk in closets, walk in pantry covered rear porch and two car garage can be built for approximately$112.000.00 to $133.000.00 depending on where you live.

Log homes make the perfect vacation home since they evoke feelings of comfort and peace. These homes come in various styles and sizes. Wood logs are the main construction material,. A one story, two bedroom, one bath, log home, with a covered front porch, will cost about $90,000.00 to build.

Victorian style houses are generally two stories, with steep roof pitches, dormers, octagonal turrets and of course the trademark gingerbread trim. A two story, three bedroom, three baths home of this style, with an open floor plan, and unfinished basement, can be built on your lot for around $100,000.00.

Luxury homes are huge house with at least 3000.sq. ft of living space, they are characterized by large master bedroom suites.1 walk in closets, and extra rooms which can be used as a library, music room, media center or home office to name a few. A three bedroom, two and ½ bath, luxury home with a two car garage with storage space, breakfast nook, and covered front porch .will cost you between $ 180,000.00 and 240,000.

There are dozens of other house plan style categories, such as A-Frames, Mission, Contemporary, Southwest, and Tudor to name just a few. A web search for house plans yields a mind blowing number of searchable sites. Most of these allow you to search for house plans, by style, number of bedrooms, baths, with or without a garage, or by sq. ft. of living space.

Top 5 Reasons To Sell Your House To A Real Estate Investor

You are probably wondering why you would want to sell your house to a real estate investor instead of listing your house with a realtor or selling it yourself. There are many very good reasons that you should consider selling to a real estate investor. I will share with you some different options that you probably have never even thought of before, or knew that you could do. I am going to give you the top 5 reasons why you should consider selling your house to a real estate investor.

1) A real estate investor will buy your house from you no matter what condition your houses are in. What this means to you is that you will not have to make any costly repairs to your house. Now if you listed your house with a realtor they are going to want you to make all the necessary repairs to your house before they will list it. The other reason is that most lenders in today's market will not lend money to buyers that are buying a house that needs major repairs. Now second of all, if you try to sell your house yourself you will still need to possibly change your flooring and repaint your walls. Most buyers in today's market will not want to move into a home and start making repairs. Therefore you will have a limited number of buyers that might show interest in your house but, they will want to get your house at a large discount.

2) Real estate investors will buy your house for all cash "as-is", or they can give you up to full market value for your house if you are a little flexible on your terms. A real estate investor will work with you to find out all of your goals for selling your house. Then they will do their best to meet or exceed all of your goals for selling your home. They are professional home buyers helping people solve their real estate problems. They have a lot of experience buying houses from people just like you in all different types of situations. Just to name some of the situations they can help you with are: if your house is just not selling in today's market, inherited homes, distressed property, vacant homes, probate houses, behind on payments, divorce, house liens and judgments, rental property, expired realtor listing, bankruptcy or if you are just facing foreclosure. No matter what the condition, area, or situation you have with your house a real estate investor can give you many viable options to sell your house fast.

3) If you sell your house to a real estate investor they can close on your house fast usually in 10 days or less. You will be able to get cash in your hand quickly without any of the hassles of selling your house the traditional way. Real estate investors are professionals with lots of experience in helping homeowners walk through the process of selling their house fast. The reason they are able to close quickly on your home is that they work with a large network of buyers that have cash and are ready to buy houses in your area fast. This is not like a traditional buyer that you will get from selling your house yourself or from a realtor. These types of buyers will take at least 30-60 days to close and that would be only if they make it through the loan process.

4) Real estate investors don't want to list your house they want to buy your house fast. When you sell your house to a real estate investor they will market your house to their buyers at hyper speed. By this I mean if you sold your house yourself you would probably put a sign in front of your house, put an ad in the newspaper or you might even list your house on the MLS for a flat fee. These things are good but at best you will probably only get a small amount of people coming to look at your house but, most of them will be tire kickers. In today's market there are more houses for sale then there are people to buy them all. The same goes if you were to list your house with a realtor; they will put a sign in your yard, list it on the MLS and wait for people to call. Most realtors don't continually market your property through other avenues past that. A real estate investor will market your property immediately after you agree on price and terms. They will market your house with all available advertising to get your house sold fast Plus they have a huge list of buyers who are currently buying houses and have the cash to do it fast. Therefore selling to a real estate investor is your best option if you want to sell your house fast in today's market.

5) When you sell your house to a real estate investor you will not have to pay anything out of your pocket. In fact they work hard for you and with you to get your house sold with no cost to you and very fast. The reason they can do this is that they actually get a fee from the buyer they sell the property to therefore eliminating any costs at all to you the seller. Not to mention real estate investors will give you a net offer on your house. What this means to you is that you will receive that net offer at closing. Now if you sold your house the traditional way buy yourself or through realtor you will only net at closing on average of 80-85% of the listing price of your home. The reason this is true is that you realtor will take their 6% commissions, then you will have to pay losing costs of 2-3%, then the buyer will want a discount of at least 5% in today's market. After all of those discounts the buyer will have a property inspection of your house done and the inspector will come back with a big list of possible problems which the buyer will want a discount on. This is usually another 3-5% off. most sellers do not realize that this is actually the amount of money that they will net at closing, after they have waited 4-8 months through this whole process to sell their home the traditional way.

As you have probably realized by now there's a lot more benefits to selling your house to a real estate investor verses selling your house the traditional way of for sale by owner or with realtor. Is your time and money really worth all the hassles and aggravation of selling your house the traditional way? If you sell your house to a real estate investor you will have a fast, friendly, hassle free sale of your house

How To Price A House When Selling A House By Owner

If you're thinking about selling a house by owner, otherwise known as "for sale by owner" (or FSBO), one of the primary factors that will determine your success is how to price a house. Setting your price too low, will get your house sold quickly but will transfer wealth (in the form of equity) from you, the seller, to your buyer. Set your price too high and you will have too few prospects looking at your home and even fewer offers. Set the price way too high, and many buyers may feel that as the owner, you're set on your price and will be difficult to work with. As a result, they may decide it's just better to not even bother with your house. So, if your goal as a seller is to capture as much equity as possible by getting as high a price as possible for your home, then you need to understand the factors that buyers will take into account when determining what is a fair value for your home.

There is a normal tendency by homeowners to overestimate the value of their house because it's very hard to be impartial to the house. Let's face it, as a homeowner, we've lived in it for many years, made improvements to the house, invested our hard-earned money in it to make it better and more comfortable, and now we feel that it's a great home to live in and anyone looking to buy it should see that. And because homeowners have such a stake in the outcome of the sale, it's sometimes hard to accept some cold hard truths.

The most difficult concept for homeowners to understand when considering how to price a house is the concept of Supply and Demand. When there is high demand for a product, and not a lot of supply, the product is scarce and so people are willing to pay MORE for the product. Because they're willing to pay more, the product is worth more. When the demand for a product is low, and there is a large quantity of the product up for sale, the price people are willing to pay will be much lower because they can easily get their hands on the product of their desire.

The same concept applies to your house. When the number of buyers looking for houses is greater than the number of houses available for sale (or the supply of houses for sale), the demand is greater than the supply and homeowners will be able to get a higher price for their house. When there are more houses for sale than there are buyers, the supply exceeds the demand, so prices will be forced lower. A good way to measure supply and demand of housing in your area is to ask a local realtor about the absorption rate for your area. The "absorption rate" is a measure of the local area's ability to "absorb" the supply of houses on the market and is calculated by dividing the number of houses on the market for six months and dividing it by the number of houses that sold during the same period. For example, if there were 1200 homes for sale over the course of a year, and 100 homes sold every month, it will take 12 months to sell all of the homes currently for sale. If the absorption rate indicates that it will take 6 months or less to sell the available supply of houses on the market, the demand is said to be greater than the supply, and it is termed a "Seller's Market". Conversely, if absorption rate indicates that it will take more than 6 month to sell all of the houses on the market, then the supply of housing is greater than the demand, and a "Buyers' Market" will be in place. A Buyers' Market leads results in homeowners having to accept lower prices for their homes in order to sell them.

The second most important factor that buyers consider when looking for a houses is what value they will be getting for the price of YOUR house compared to the value they would get if they bought someone else's house at a similar price. As an example, consider the following question; would you pay $75,000 for a car that's designed and built for just basic transportation - low horsepower, manual features, and a minimalistic interior? The most likely answer is probably not because you can get a "luxury" brand automobile for that same price, giving you better styling, more horsepower, more room, a more comfortable leather interior, better stereo, and just about better everything (with the possible exception of miles per gallon of gasoline).

Similarly, when thinking about how to price a house, you also need to consider the other houses that your house is competing with. These competing properties are called comparable properties, or in realtor terms, "Comps".

There are two types of Comps - Active Comps, and Sold Comps. Active Comps are other houses that are similar to yours in terms of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, style, condition and neighborhood and are also on the market looking for buyers. Active Comps give you a very good idea of what prices other homeowners are asking for. Sold Comps, on the other hand, are other houses that are similar to yours in terms of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, style, condition and neighborhood that have sold within the past 3, 6 or 12 months. It's important to look at sold comps because they will tell you what buyers were actually willing to pay for a house that is similar to yours. Look at how the other active comps are being priced. Are their prices similar to the houses that sold, over-priced, or under-priced?

When looking at your Active Comps to determine whether they are priced correctly, you will want to look at Days on Market, or DOM. Days on market will show you how long it took for houses listed at a certain price to sell, or how long houses currently listed for sale have been on the market and have not yet sold. A general rule is that a house should sell within 90 days of it being listed. If it takes longer than that, it's generally an indication that it may be priced on the upper end of the price scale.

In summary, when trying to decide how to price a house because you are selling a house by owner, you will want to have a good understanding of the local supply and demand for houses in your area. This information will tell you whether you have to price aggressively to sell your house, or if you might be getting multiple offers on your property. Next you will want to compare your house to other houses that are similar to yours and have sold recently, and similar houses that are currently listed for sale. Compare the prices of houses currently listed for sale (active comps) with the prices of those houses that actually sold (sold comps) within the past few months, and determine what buyers would be willing to pay you for your house.

How to Sell Your House For the Maximum Price

How to sell your house for the maximum price: 

To sell your house for the maximum price is probably the most important outcome that yourself and every other homeowners wishes for. There are several areas of the house selling process that you can control to help sell your house quicker while achieving the maximum sales price possible. In this article you'll discover what improvements you can make that will increase the saleability of your house to help you not only sell your house faster but they will also assist you to sell your house for the maximum price.

Sell Your House Tip # 1: Make small improvements to your house 

Making small, inexpensive improvements to your house will create a massive difference in the appeal of your house to potential buyers. And in most cases you can complete the improvements yourself thereby saving you more money, providing you have the time to do the work. Here are some ideas for minor house improvements within several budget ranges. Under $1000 (DIY) - Re-paint the house inside and out, mow lawns and cut back trees and plants, tidy up gardens, place fresh flowers throughout the house $1000 - $3000 - All of the above plus re-carpet/polish floors/re-tile, pressure clean paths, driveways and roof, plant new plants and shrubs, new prints on walls, small furniture items.

Sell Your House Tip # 2: Have an interior decorator decorate your house 

If you're not sure what needs to be done to 'freshen up' your house or how to go about it, hiring an interior decorator is a great way to ensure your house presents well at sale time. For a couple of hundred dollars you can have an interior decorator come into your house and provide an assessment of what can be done to improve the cosmetic appeal of your house.

Sell Your House Tip # 3: Rent or buy display furniture while your house is on the market 

To sell your house for the best price it's essential to either rent or buy new furniture for your house while it's on the market for sale. It is an excellent way to liven up your house and present it in the best possible light. Regardless of the style of your house, you could hire or buy modern, country or classic furniture to match the existing theme of your house. You'll be amazed at the difference it can make.

Renting furniture for an extended period of time can get expensive so depending on your budget you could choose to rent, buy expensive furniture (if you're selling an expensive house) or buy budget furniture from places like Ikea. Coupled with other cosmetic improvements to your house, new furniture can make an amazing difference to the appeal of your house.

Sell Your House Tip # 4: Improve the 'smell' of your house 

Have you ever walked into a house where there is a smell, odour, stench that hits you as soon as you walk in the door? This doesn't just happen on older houses either; it could be an odour from a pet, cigarettes or even dirty laundry in new houses too. This can turn off buyers as soon as they walk in the door. Ways to overcome this type of situation is to have the house professionally cleaned, freshly paint walls and ceilings, air out the house, replace carpet or simply place pot puree around the house. Often, if you're living there you don't notice any odour because you're amongst it all the time. Remember, to sell your house for the maximum price you have to approach everything from the perspective of the buyer. They are your main priority when you're trying to sell your house, so make sure you go the extra mile and have it cleaned to avoid this type of situation.

Sell Your House Tip # 5: Add color to your house 

By adding some simple color to your house you can create a completely different look and feel to your house. You can display fresh flowers around your house, paint feature walls, add new pot plants around the house and add color wall prints. On the outside of the house, you could paint the guttering to a livelier color or simply repaint the outside of the house for a huge impact.

Sell Your House Tip # 6: Get the best agent 

Having the best real estate agent representing the sale of your house can literally be the difference between a quick, easy sale or a drawn out, frustrating situation. In order to have the best agent you'll need to interview several agents that you've sought out yourself. Before you begin to sell your house, in the weeks leading up to putting your house on the market take notice of which agents are selling houses in your area and who seems to have the lions share of listings and sold signs on their listed houses. Approach existing homeowners that have just sold their house and ask them about their experiences with their agent, they'll be more than happy to tell you. I can't empasize how important this one step is to sell your house for the maximum price.

Sell Your House Tip # 7: Market the house better 

Generally it is the real estate agent that will provide direction in terms of marketing but one of the questions that you should ask prospective agents is what is his/her specific marketing plan to sell your house. Will they be doing open houses, print advertising, database marketing, flyers, the Internet or a combination of some or all of these methods? Ask them what type of results they've experienced using the various marketing methods for houses similar to your's that are located in the same area as yours.

How to Sell Your House Yourself and Keep Thousands in Your Pocket

Ok folks, here it is, the down and dirty on how to sell your house yourself quickly and keep thousands in your pocket (by not paying real estate commissions!) I'm going to give you an outline to follow and if you follow it to the T, you should be alright!

Do Your Research About Your Homes Value You need to find out what your house is worth so you can put a price tag on it. How can you find this out?

-Interview a handful of real estate agents (at least 3) and get Comps (Comparables of houses that have sold like yours) from them. Do not tell them what YOU think your house is worth, just let them do their thing and present you with their evidence of what they feel your house is worth.

-Check public records if you have online access or if you know how to do this at the courthouse yourself (or if you have a real estate agent friend that will allow you to look over their shoulder as they access their public records on the MLS.)

-Drive around your neighborhood and call on ALL of the for sale signs that you see. If they are having open houses too then GO TO THEM.

-Research your local papers classified section for houses for sale in your area. Call the numbers and get the facts on the house (remember, you're comparing all of these houses to yours.) -Hop on Craigslist and reseach the real estate for sale ads there that are in your area. A lot of times folks will have pictures and even videos in here, so you can actually see the houses. If there isn't much info then email or call the person who is selling their house.

-Go to Realtor.com and research houses that are for sale in your area. Again, if there isn't much info, then call the agent up and ask for some info about the house.

-Check out zillow and cyberhomes and see what they come up with as values for your house. Also, the comps that they list, drive past the houses to compare at least the outside of your house and the sold house. (I wouldn't put as much weight on these 2 sites, but there is definitely more information here for you.)

Now, you should have a good idea of what you could sell your house for. By the way, when looking at public records, comps from agents and places like zillow and cyberhomes you only really want to look at sold houses within the past 6 months. Some folks will tell you to go back a year, but I think that's even too far. Honestly, in this market, I'd say look at them in the past 3 months!

OK so you have a value in mind. Well I need you to be honest with yourself about the value and how you came up with it, OK? Does the value indicate a house that is in pristine condition and your house isn't that pristine? Does the value indicate a fixer-upper price and your house doesn't need any work? Those are the things you have to think about when getting the comps from all of your resources above.

Make note of the condition and location of all of the comps that you get from your resources above then you have to HONESTLY compare it to your house. Honestly being the keyword here. If your house smells like dog, well admit that to yourself and know that it's going to lower the price of your house. If your house is right next to an active railroad track, well don't ignore the obvious and know that it will lower the price of your house as well. If your house is totally trashed and needs a lot of work, please, please, please don't think that you are going to get maybe a couple thousand less than what a pristine house sold for. That is UNREALISTIC!

And always keep in mind the type of real estate market we are in. Right now at the writing of this posting, here in Pennsylvania we are in a BUYERS MARKET. Please recognize that and adjust your game plan (and more importantly) your thinking accordingly. If you don't adjust your game plan and thinking accordingly, believe me your house will sit there and it will NOT sell (until you come to your senses.)

House Sitters Are Coming to the Rescue of Many Travellers

Everyone seems to have accepted the fact that the days of leaving your door unlocked are over. The rise of crime is affecting everyone, not just those who live in the larger cities. In fact, homes in rural areas are being targeted like never before--due to the opportunity a secluded area provides to the burglar.

Statistics tell us that theft of property is among the highest of all personal crimes committed in the United States. While many families do install some type of house alarm, this alone does not bring complete peace of mind. Home alarm devices can be disabled by a crafty intruder.

These facts alone would explain why many people are turning to 

house sitting directories to help them find a house sitter when 

they need to be away from home for an extended time. The presence of a human is the main deterrent to a burglar. When you have a house sitter come into your home to live while you are away, you can almost be guaranteed your home will not be targeted by a thief or vandals.

While safety is the number one reason people are seeking out house sitters, they are quickly finding there are many other 

added benefits. First and foremost, they are saved the cost and worry of boarding their pets while they are away. Pets are happier when they are left in their own environment and kept on 

their usual routines. Many pet owners find they are not able to 

enjoy their vacation when they are forced to leave their pets at a kennel. For the individual or family who has to relocate for months at a time, having a house sitter greatly reduces the 

stress upon a family pet, and the money that is saved from 

boarding fees can be astounding. A house sitter can see to the 

many diverse needs of your pet such as feeding, walking, 

grooming, playing and health monitoring.

People that do have to be away from home for an extended time are finding it is much easier to have a house sitter come and live in their home--rather than renting out their house or imposing on family or friends to come by to tend to the day to day issues.

House sitters can do tasks such as checking mail, routine lawn 

maintenance, home repair, and more. Having a house sitter can 

bring assurance that when you return from your travels you will still find healthy house plants or gardens--and that your goldfish is still alive! Your house sitter saves you the expense of arranging for pool and lawn maintenance while you are away, as well. House sitters are also invaluable if a major problem arises within you home, such as a leaking hot water heater or storm damage.

So, how does one go about finding a house sitter? The safest 

way to locate a house sitter is to go through a house sitting 

directory. Here you can find a house sitter which can meet your 

needs. Standard guidelines for a house sitter generally include them taking responsibility of your home, pets and property in exchange for rent free accommodations. Other individual needs can also be added to your house sitters guidelines such as arranging for them to supervise a major home repair while you are away.

You may be wondering who actually does house-sitting? You may be surprised to learn there are many individuals who become house sitters because it gives them the opportunity to save money on their living expenses. This enables them to save money for their own homes. Other house sitters may be retirees who are looking for a change of environment after years of work, or they wish to relocate to your area to be near relatives. A few individuals who are temporarily relocated due to their employment may also look into house sitting. House sitters are everyday people just like you and me.

It is usually standard that house sitters will be responsible for paying the utility bills while you are away. This takes the worry off a home owner who is concerned about coming home to a large phone or electric bill. All other bills, such as taxes, mortgage and home insurance is still the responsibility of the owner.

When you contact a house-sitting directory you will have access 

to their data base of registered house sitters. Registration for home owners is usually free with most directories. You privacy is assured, and your personal information will not be given out to any prospective house sitter. You alone decide when you are comfortable with a house sitter and are open to having him or her know your personal information.

When selecting your house sitter, you should only choose one that can meet all of your criteria. Once you have narrowed down your choices, you will be given references for the candidates. This is an important part of the process when selecting a house sitter. Many times you will be able to talk with other home owners who may have used this individual as a house sitter in the past.

Once you have decided upon a possible candidate, you will want to interview them. During the interview you will want to let them know what you desire from them when they are living at your home. This is when you can tell them about your pets, home maintenance such as a pool, mowing or shovelling snow. This is also when you can get to know the personality and character of your prospective sitter. You need to be assured you are having an animal lover come into your home if you have pets. It would be unreasonable to have someone come into your home who is allergic to cats if you have one for a pet. Also, if someone is fearful of animals, your dog may not get as much interaction as they need.

When you have chosen the house sitter you are comfortable with, 

you should have a contract drawn up. This contract can be 

obtained through most house sitting matching services, or you may prefer to have your family attorney draw it up. This contract needs to be as detailed as possible. It should thoroughly contact information, etc. If you would like to have a major home project completed, such as having someone come in to clean your gutters, or replace your windows while you are away, you should have all the details included in your contract.