House Keepers : SITTERS: Ways to Match Right Person With Your Needs : How to Find Best Sitter to Care for Your Home or Pets When You’re Away

Allen Teem had retired after 22 years as a bus driver for the Southern California Rapid Transit District when his wife, Lucille, answered a newspaper ad looking for senior citizens interested in housesitting.

“My husband had recovered from open heart surgery and was bowling three times a week, but I don’t bowl and I don’t drive,” she recalled. “I knew that I wanted to do something away from the house, so I called on the ad.”

That was three years ago. Since then, the Teems, who live in a small one-bedroom home in Pasadena, have housesat many times. “We don’t make a whole lot of money at it, but it helps, and we meet lots of nice people and see lots of beautiful homes,” Lucille Teem said.

The Teems work for Sharon and Bert Kelley, owners and operators of Home Sitting Services of San Gabriel Valley, one of the seven statewide members and 21 nationwide members of an association started by Al Sutherland, 85, of Denver. The group’s first meeting is planned this fall.

“We’re a network of independent owners who use retired persons as house- and pet-sitters,” Sharon Kelley said.

“I feel that housesitting and pet-sitting can be synonymous,” said Linda Stern, owner and operator of Reliable Housesitting Service in the San Fernando Valley. She is also a director of the Pet Sitters Assn. of Southern California.

Housesitting services can be found in the Yellow Pages and through pet stores, veterinarians, referrals from neighbors and other acquaintances, and conferences and conventions designed to attract seniors, travelers and animal owners.

Sitters and services also advertise in newspapers and on bulletin boards. Prices range from $20 to $35 a night, and some services offer drop-in visits starting at $10.

But finding the name and number of a housesitter and getting the right price is just the beginning. To hedge against getting a bad sitter and to make the sitter’s job easier, here are some tips:

* Get a bonded sitter or a sitter with references if the sitter is not a personal friend or someone referred by a friend or business associate.

Sutherland’s organization provides group bond and liability insurance to its members, who find their sitters through senior centers, churches, housing complexes and publications.

“Our liability insurance covers a sitter’s negligence,” explained Linda Crowley, owner and operator of Home Sitting Services of Beverly Hills, which is also affiliated with Sutherland’s organization. “If something in the house is wrong, that’s covered by the homeowner’s insurance, and the bond is for theft.”

“I would never recommend using someone as a sitter that you know nothing about,” Sharon Kelley said. “I’ve found that the ads (in newspapers) are often placed by students looking for a place to work or someone looking for a free place to live.”

Lou Robinson of the San Gabriel Valley uses seniors as house- and pet-sitters for his two Russian wolfhounds, “because it’s a nice alternative to a boarding place. But I have a friend who used his cleaning lady as a housesitter when he went out of town, and it worked out fine.”

Even using a family friend as a housesitter can be risky, however. A West Los Angeles woman who left her apartment in the hands of a girl her son knew returned to find the kitchen appliances painted black. “She also stuck me with a high phone bill,” she said.

Give the sitter plenty of notice.

“We do emergency service if there is a death in the family, but we appreciate a week’s notice,” said Phil Wolf of Ace House Sitting Service in North Hollywood. “We had one once when we weren’t given any notice, and when I went through the back gate of the house, the owner’s dog chased me away. We need time to get acquainted with the house and the animals.”

* Make sure necessary provisions are on hand, particularly if there are animals to watch: such things as kitty litter, pet food and cleaning supplies.

“Suppose the dog or cat has an accident on the floor,” said Wolf of Ace House Sitting. “We were taking care of a dog once that had chronic diarrhea, and it was rough cleaning it up without so much as a paper towel on hand.”

Make sure instructions are written down for the sitter.

“Our sitters don’t allow anybody into the houses who isn’t listed on our registration forms,” Crowley noted. “There was a situation once when someone came to the door trying to deliver a bed, and the sitter wouldn’t accept it because there was nothing on the form about such a delivery. When the clients came back from their vacation, they said they had never ordered a bed.”

“Leave clear instructions about watering plants, feeding the animals and answering the phone the way the homeowner likes,” Sharon Kelley suggested. “Also, say when to admit service people and what to do with the mail and newspapers.

“Emergency numbers should also be left for repairmen and where to contact the homeowner. We must also know emergency numbers in case of an earthquake.”

Debbie Newman, a Santa Ana receptionist/secretary who also house-sits, remembers when some gardeners left a sprinkler unhooked “and it flooded, because I didn’t know what water company they were hooked up to.” Since then, owners of the house she looks after have prepared a list of such contacts that she can access in their home computer.

Stern of Reliable Housesitting recommends a guide titled “How to Get the Most From Your Pet Sitting Service.” It’s available by sending $2 to the National Assn. of Pet Sitters, 632 Holly Ave., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101.

The booklet prompts pet owners to do such things as provide written verification that the pet’s shots are up to date, make a list of the pet’s favorite hiding places and leave clean water and food bowls.

“Sometimes you have to microwave and do everything but taste the food for the animals,” said Lilli Maxson, a retired legal secretary from Covina who house- and pet-sits, “but the bottom line is love, love, love. People love you to love their pets, and I do.”

* Check to see that security, fire and smoke alarms are in good condition.

“One time I was housesitting, and the power source to the security alarm was running low and activated the alarm at 2 or 3 in the morning,” Newman said.

* Treat the sitter with respect.

“Provide sitters with a clean, comfortable environment, and make them feel welcome and appreciated,” Kelley said. “They shouldn’t be considered as hired help. They’re staying in your home to do a valuable service.”

“I clean my house as I’ve never cleaned before the housesitters come,” said Joanne Conley of Glendale. “Then my biggest problem is finding something to buy for them on my trips.”

“You have to feed the senior sitters,” said Kathy Smith of Malibu, “but they don’t eat ravenously, and you can leave a food allowance if you don’t choose to shop. You should also leave clean sheets on the bed for them, but they leave clean sheets for you too.”

* Arrange for a hidden house key, or leave a spare house key with a friend or neighbor, where the sitter can go if necessary.

Newman remembers winding up in her nightgown and robe outside the house where she was sitting after hearing a commotion and going to investigate it.

The wind had been blowing around some large metal objects in the driveway, she found. “When I went outside to see what was happening, the wind pulled the door shut behind me,” she said. “Because it was locked, I was stuck outside in the wind, the rain and the mud, and I had to take a brick and break the glass in another door to get in.”

* Introduce the sitter to the neighbors, who can then vouch for the sitter’s identity if any problems develop.

This might have spared some embarrassment for a young woman who housesat in Manhattan Beach.

“I had come in from dinner with friends and not entered the security code fast enough,” she said. “With the alarm howling, I dialed the security firm and explained that I was the housesitter and couldn’t get the system to return to normal.

“A short time later, the police arrived and asked for my ID. He asked me if the car out front was mine and if it was registered to me at the same address as my license.

“He seemed to accept my story and went away, or so I thought. An hour later, I realized that the patrol car was still sitting across the street and had been joined by a second car.

“So I went upstairs, changed into lounging clothes and walked back and forth in front of the windows so they could see that I was settled in and not going anywhere anytime soon.”