4 Comments July 29th, 2009

I was offered a FREE stay in Hawaii to house-sit. precautions i should take?

Heyya asked:


I posted an ad to ask if anyone had a room for rent since i am surprising my fiance and taking him to Hawaii in August.

Someone responded to the ad saying they are going away to Italy, and would like to know if we would house-sit, and in return they would not charge us to stay there

I dont want to go through the process of booking a flight only to find that this is some kind of scam or not legit… can anyone please help me in deciding what kind of precautions to take? (ask them for references, etc?) Thanks!

P.S Its in Maui, any good beaches there?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Kihei Maui. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “I was offered a FREE stay in Hawaii to house-sit. precautions i should take?”

  1. sydney c Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 12:36 am

    all i can say is make a back up plan

  2. Seán_18 Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 10:42 am

    I’d be really careful especially since you don’t know the owners.

    Matter of fact, I’d probably turn it down.

  3. azflyboy6477 Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    sounds too good to be true

  4. hot chocolate Says:
    August 4th, 2009 at 7:54 am

    If you are surprising your boyfriend with a trip to Hawaii, why are you considering renting a room? I am not sure he would like that. Why not book into a hotel? Maui is romantic but not in a situation like that. Moreover you would have to go purchase food and cook every day. So what would be different from your routine life? You are on V A C A T I O N!!Oahu is a better bet any day. There are so many hotels to fit your budget. As well, Oahu is THE fun area in Hawaii. It never sleeps; you don’t need a car to get around and there is so much to do. In Maui for sure you will need a car……an added expense, and yes there are nice beaches, not crowded like Waikiki Beach. Use the car money to pay for a hotel in Oahu without the responsibility of house-sitting. You will have more time to spend with your boyfriend in different settings!

    If you are determined, you can talk to the person on the phone, use a web-cam, get photos online. Make sure that the owners detail and sign what your responsibilities will be and most important of all make sure that the two schedules coincide. How long will they be in Italy? Can you housesit that long? If something happens, is the property insured? Who will be responsible for paying the excess? Make sure that everything is in writing and since you don’t know them legal advice would be good. Ask them to secure personal items like jewellery, so that you are not held accountable for a missing piece. Also know what pets they have if any, so that you can also be psychologically prepared for the experience of caring for them too. In my mind if the area was safe, why get desperate enough to have a stranger house-sit for a few days??