Pic: Bill The Housesitter, June 2020, Darwin NT (Garramilla, Larakia country)

G’day. I’m Bill The Housesitter.

I’m a very experienced house-sitter and am available for short, medium and long-term house-sits in Fremantle and Perth from September 2022. I realise the following is long, however, I don’t want to waste your time in talking with me about a housesit if I don’t meet your requirements. Or vice versa.

Having operated in ACT, NSW, Queensland, and the NT for many years, I’m now living in Fremantle, WA and back in the housesitting game, but only on an ad hoc basis. Shorter to mid-term housesits preferably.

I’ve put all my references in one place here. Contact details for referees are available on your request.

If you’re after someone who can take good care of your pets as well as your house, flat, castle, bungalow, mansion, etc. please read on.

I’m a responsible, mature bloke, fifty-six years young, with lots of experience. I retired from the mainstream workforce in July 2021, but am now comfortably busy with a bit of community radio and music media.

I’m great with cats, dogs, chooks, other birds, rats, fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes, lizards, dinosaurs, unicorns, ocelots, lawns, pot-plants, pools, and pet rocks. I have a fistful of references from happy, satisfied client home-owners, and while I’m often very lucky to be in demand for repeat house-sits, my calendar has short to mid-term gaps.

Pic: Hanging out with this legend of a water dragon, watching baseball in Wynnum, Queensland.

I started house-sitting in Canberra in 2000 and have minded properties in Aranda, Bonner, Bruce, Downer, Flynn, Fraser, Hawker, Kingston, Latham, Canberra City, Braddon, Ngunnawal, Kambah, Palmerston, Rivett, Torrens, and Waramanga.

I moved to Greater Sydney in 2013 and have house-sat in Peakhurst, Miranda, Annandale, Matraville, Bilgola Plateau, Naremburn, Dundas Valley, Wangi Wangi (Lake Macquarie), Point Clare (Central Coast), Corlette (Nelson Bay), Wattle Grove, Kingsgrove, Riverwood, Baulkham Hills, Lane Cove West, Ourimbah (Central Coast), Northmead, Holsworthy, Paddington, Yagoona, Hornsby Heights, Avalon, Queanbeyan, North St Marys, Cattai, Surry Hills, Thornleigh, Singleton, and way further south in the state to Tuross Head (Eurobodalla Nature Coast).

In Queensland, my housesits have been in Witta, Palmwoods, Eastern Heights, Ipswich, East Ipswich, Riverhills, Sunnybank Hills, Coorparoo, Indooroopilly, Coolangatta, New Farm, Burleigh Heads, Wavell Heights, Ascot, Oxenford, Upper Kedron, Capalaba, Wynnum, Wynnum West, Bracken Ridge, Kangaroo Point, Eaton Hills, Algester, Mt Ommaney, Tannum Sands, Machans Beach (Cairns), Barlows Hill (Yeppoon), Birkdale, Berrinba, Scarborough, and Rothwell.

In Northern Territory, I’ve housesat in Johnson, Parap, Ludmilla, Wanguri, Muirhead, Rapid Creek, Alawa, and Wagaman. Northern Territory in March 2019 was the end of one very long road of relying on housesitting for a roof over my head. Now I don’t need to housesit, but I miss having furry, feathered, and finny friends to hang out with. Saying g’day to dogs and cats going for walks along the banks of the Swan River and around the harbour is great, but doesn’t quite fill the void.

I’m now living in suburban Fremantle and here for the forseeable future.

I’m open to any offers in south west Western Australia.

Pic: A housesit to plate in titanium and put on a shelf in the best room. Scarborough, Queensland. Across from the marina. I barely left the compound all week except to walk this absolute champion.

When I housesit, I’m not a big goer-outer.* Maybe a trivia night here and there, and the odd lunch and dinner with social groups. I am now fully retired from the government/corporate worlds, and I work for myself from a home location. So I can provide excellent companionship for your animals. If you have WiFi and will let me have access to it, that makes my life a little easier. But it’s not a deal-breaker.

You can be sure that I will take good care of your house and all in it.

I do not own a car, but am licensed to drive manuals and automatics. I’ve driven everything from a wind-up 1.1L Citroen to a two tonne truck. I’ve been driving for 39 years and have never caused an accident… except when I slammed my Dato-180B into a tree in Canberra in 1985, but that’s something of a right of passage for 18yo males. My son did something similar two weeks after he got his P-plates in 2014.

Like father, like son. He’s funnier on stage than me. I’m not jealous. Much. 😉 

If you leave a vehicle and allow me to drive it, I appreciate it, but don’t expect it. Please establish your coverage with your insurer and put in writing the rules for use, e.g. drive only in daytime, within a 25km radius of home, no chucking doughnuts in the riverside carpark, etc. 😀

Pic: In between housesits, I used to stay at a YHA youth hostel. This was taken at Railway Square YHA, Sydney in 2019. Now I’m retired and spending your tax dollars wisely with my APS superannuation pension, I generally stay a little more upmarket. But not always.

I have no pets, and my two adult children do not live/travel with me. In fact, with their busy lives in other states and current Covid restrictions, I think I can vaguely remember what they look like. I get updates through the medical jungle drums about my daughter in Queensland, and I watch the news reports and entertainment listings for rumours about what my son’s up to. 😉

Speaking of which, I am fully (quadruple) vaccinated with Astra Zeneca/Pfizer and have my certificate available. 

I have a Facebook page with pictures and odds and sods at:

https://www.facebook.com/BillTheHousesitter

I look forward to hearing from you.

Communication

After initial contact, my preferences when making bookings are (in order, where possible):

1. Face to face
2. Phone
3. Email
4. Other text-based services

I do NOT use Facebook Messenger, and will not see any messages that you send there. Best not to even try. Phone or email is always better to get a result for me.

Please always provide a phone number. I have unlimited calls on my mobile plan and can call you locally, domestically or internationally. I will not tee-up any housesits solely by text and/or email. It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, scammy, spammy world out there, friend.

If calling me, please leave a voicemail if you can’t reach me. I don’t return missed calls if you leave no message; it might have been a butt-dial.

Look, that’s probably more than enough for now. You probably have things to do and a life to lead. See you if I’m looking at you.

Cheers

Bill Quinn 
Contact details on the Contact page

 

Pic: Another great housesit in Berrinba, Queensland