“Please check the house” leaves the sitter to decide what to inspect, what they may touch and when to contact you. Write house sitter instructions as a short agreed visit plan: the task, the place to find its supplies, the limit of the sitter's role and the note you want afterward.
Give the sitter a concrete action and a clear stopping point. The original fictional packet here includes a mail task, an unresolved plant-care question and a final handoff. It contains no actual address, absence dates, entry codes or contact numbers.
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Walk through the tasks in visit order
Begin with the dates and visit arrangements you have actually agreed. State whether the person is visiting or staying, which areas they may use and how you will pass access information privately. Confirm the arrangement with the sitter before treating the sheet as the plan they accepted.
The example's visit labels are First visit, Middle visit and Final visit. They are preparation sections, not scheduled appointments. Actual dates, times and time zone remain blank.
| Visit | Owner instruction supplied in this fictional exercise | What still needs agreement |
|---|---|---|
| First | Put collected sealed mail in the blue folder labeled MAIL on the hall shelf. Do not open it. | Actual collection arrangement, access and first visit time |
| Middle | Return the empty yellow watering can to the shelf labeled GARDEN after the walkthrough. | Plant identity, owner-demonstrated care and any authorized watering task |
| Final | Leave the blue MAIL folder on the hall shelf for the owner's return. | Final visit time, private key-return arrangement and owner acknowledgment |
The middle instruction identifies where an item belongs. It does not tell the sitter to water a plant. Keep that distinction visible rather than turning an equipment location into a care schedule.
Resolve the ordinary details in advance
Wheeling's vacation checklist includes arranging for a neighbor to collect mail and packages and providing a way to reach the traveler. Those categories are a useful starting point for a conversation. This packet is independently authored; it is not a police house-watch registration or a guarantee that a property is secure.
Ask what mail or deliveries will arrive, where collected items should go and whether anything should be left untouched. If a delivery requires a decision, identify who can make it. Do not assume the sitter may sign an agreement, let a contractor in or change a delivery destination merely because they can enter the home.
For household equipment, write down the instruction the owner actually demonstrates and the boundary of the task. Leave a missing procedure as a question. This document should not improvise repairs, electrical work, alarm procedures or instructions for an unfamiliar appliance.
If animals also need care, keep the confirmed routines in a separate pet sitter instruction packet. An agreement to collect mail does not establish an agreement to feed an animal, administer medicine or change a care routine.
The house manual guide addresses a different handoff: helping a guest find household information while staying there. Reuse a relevant owner-supplied reference if the sitter needs it, but keep the agreed visit tasks and limits in this instruction packet. A guest reference does not authorize additional work or replace the private access handoff.
Put the contact route beside the unresolved question
Provide the owner's agreed contact route and the backup arrangement privately. For a routine question, name the information you want the sitter to send and where a response will be recorded. Keep urgent-response arrangements in the real handoff with the appropriate local contacts; an invented template number is no substitute.
An instruction is a plan, not a completed visit. Leave the actual visit time, observation and follow-up empty until someone has something to record. The example includes a reusable note with those blanks rather than prechecked tasks or a reassuring “all secure” label.
Copy this preparation prompt
Prepare house sitter instructions from our confirmed notes.
Visiting or staying, dates/times/time zone: [ENTER]
Agreed tasks with exact owner wording and supply locations: [PASTE]
Areas/items the sitter may use or must leave alone: [PASTE]
Private access/contact/key-return handoff reference: [ENTER]
Questions still to resolve with the owner: [PASTE]
Arrange tasks in actual visit order. Keep a plant/equipment location
separate from an authorized care instruction. Preserve task limits.
Do not invent access details, contacts, appointment agreement, repair
steps, security assurances or completed observations. Add an unfilled
visit note: actual time, task, observation, contact and follow-up.
Keep credentials, the home address and private absence details out
of any demonstration copy. Return the complete instructions and the
open questions. Make a self-contained HTML reading copy only if
requested; include its full source and no pretend completion controls.
Finish the handoff with the sitter
Walk to the actual supplies together. Ask the sitter to find the MAIL folder, explain what happens to collected items and identify the plant-care question that remains open. Record any agreed correction in the maintained instructions.
A fictional HTML reading copy in NOS can help you check whether that order is easy to follow. Keep the real contact, access and key-return arrangement in the private handoff. Before leaving, both people should know which tasks are agreed and which questions still need an answer.