How to Live Rent Free as a Luxury Property Caretaker

Wouldn't it be great if you could take a few months off and just write?

Actually, if you don't mind walking the dog, doing a little light gardening, and dusting off the antiques now and then, you can indeed do just that:

That is, if you don't mind that it's someone else's dog, someone else's garden, and someone else's antiques.

The real estate crisis has created a glut of luxury homes currently sitting empty on a depressed global marketplace, and banks, mortgage lenders, property management firms, and wealthy individuals are suddenly in need of responsible persons willing to stay in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Professional caretakers are in greater demand than ever before, and new opportunties are opening up every day worldwide.

Caretakers typically receive a small stipend and have everything else provided for them in exchange for simply occupying a high end property that might otherwise become a target of vandalism or fall into a state of disrepair. Duties are generally light but vary greatly according to the needs of the owner; and may include tasks as simple as walking dogs and doing daily checks of the premises, all the way up to heavy duty work like trimming massive tree limbs so they don't hit a slate roof, or caring for extensive formal gardens.

A recent article in the real estate section of The New York Times describes a growing market for unemployed professionals who are willing to temporarily look after expensive digs by living in them. Caretaking used to be the province of blue collar widowers and moody axe murderers, but now, quite suddenly, unemployed American stock brokers, bankers, real estate agents, and former entrepreneurs are jumping on the caretaking bandwagon.

If you're just looking for a free place to crash and introspect while you sort out your life and twirl your hair, you're not likely to snag any of these cushy gigs, but if you take the time to spruce up your resume, develop and present real skills in pet care, gardening, and property management, then post your expertise online at your own website, you can quickly find yourself staying in some of the most breathtaking places on earth absolutely free.

Actual earnings from caretaking jobs can be quite low, but since expenses are nil to nonexistent, you can still come out ahead financially while having lots of time to write, paint, walk along the beach, think, imagine, or whatever it is your heart truly desires. The key is to present yourself not as a recently unemployed deserate person, but rather as a professional (and you also should strive to be a professional). This simply means you have to be ready and willing to accept real responsibility for the place you are watcing should the occasion arise, which typically it won't. And you have to seem like the kind of person who could handle an unexpected event, even you're not.

Caretaking used to be a job offered by wealthy clients to footloose artistic types and older men, but these days, your employer is just as likely to be a bank or financial institution stuck with a high end property it knows it will not be able to unload for the foreseeable future.That reality is creating many more of these positions than before the crash, and it could well be a very positive thing for people who already work at home. 

If any of this sounds appealing to you, you can go to www.mindmyhouse.com and check out the short and longterm listings there for free, or for $29.95 per year you can subscribe to The Caretaker Gazette and have new longterm caretaker openings delivered to your e-mail box every other month.

As the saying goes, one man's loss is another man's gain.

Rich people still have some of their old money, and so do the banks.

With a little luck and effort, you could get a little of that money too in exchange for lots of glorious free time and a few chores.

It's not for everyone, but if it's for you, it's not half bad.