Contracting stress

It's been stressful around House Sitting Couple's household the past few days, as evidenced by Jeremy ending up at the bar yesterday morning. I worried only moderately, however, for it was the bakery bar to which he bellied up--not an alcoholic one. As a veteran of the consume-sugar-to-combat-stress war, I did my best (to no avail) to convince him that a chocolate croissant was not the best solution for his angst. Fortunately, he's not overweight and heart disease doesn't run in his family so, yeah, I let that one go.

One source of our stress has been trying to get a contract signed with the couple with whom we'll do our first full-time house sit. Prior housesits have been done on a handshake but since we're now turning pro, we've decided to make things all official-like, with crossed t's and dotted i's etc. Having used and refined the contracts for our wedding officiating business over the years, we figure we know a thing or two about the contractual process. So, where's the stress?

Well, we made the mistake of asking the Homeowners for their input in the contract. What was I thinking? I know better. What I should have done was craft the contract and then sent it to the Homeowners for signature. If they had any dispute with a particular contract term or terms, we would have gladly negotiated and/or edited it. We want the people for whom we sit to be happy and comfortable with us even before we show up on their doorstep. But, as so often happens when their are too many cooks in the kitchen, the changes that came back to us were not at all what we expected. There was little, if any, challenge to our terms, but yet the contract came back with much red ink, suggesting changes that were minute, unnecessary and that made the contract look amateurish and unprofessional (in our humble opinion).

We can't blame these folks--they have been wonderful to work with thus far and we're so looking forward to taking care of their home and dogs. Jeremy and I have been steeped in contract language for years, it's virtually our second language. We shouldn't expect the people for whom we sit to also be skilled in this department. That's our forte, so therefore our job--not theirs.

I've tried valiantly to incorporate the essence of their changes into our contract while still maintaining the integrity of the agreement. We've put a ridiculous amount of time and energy into it and as of this writing and still don't have a signed document. While the assignment is still a go in our eyes, I would still feel better if all parties signed off on it.

Okay, so Lesson #1 learned in the Housesitting Department. Professionals don't ask for input on their contract. Professionals present their terms and then cooperate with any Homeowner objections to said terms to ultimately end up with a written Agreement that is amenable to all parties. Got it!

To be fair, that was only one small source of our stress--and one upon which we can only blame ourselves. But the rest of the story will have to wait for another day.

Now, where did I hide those chocolate cookies...?

Husband and wife Maureen Thomson and Jeremy Myers are professional housesitters caring for homes and pets around the world. Visit their website at www.HouseSittingCouple.com.