July and August 2026 in Sayulita, Mexico

About this assignment

A housesitter for my place should be physically fit and able to to handle some yard work. Previous experience living in Mexico, hopefully some basic Spanish, and not having a problem with the fact that it is hot and humid here in July and August are necessary. Having your own transportation is recommended, as it is a 20 minute walk to the centro and beach. And of course, I expect a housesitter to be clean and tidy and pay attention to anything that seems remis and contact me for instructions on whether it needs dealing with and how.

What responsibilities are required of the house sitter

I have one cat that needs to be fed 2 or 3 times a day. She isn't a cuddly pampered housecat- she mostly stays outside and there is no litter box to clean.

I have some small areas of the yard that are presently barren, but where grass will start to grow as soon as the rainy season kicks in (which will be mid-June). That grass needs to be cut with my electric weedeater. This is a chore which takes about 20-30 minutes every week- 10 days.

I don't expect housesitters to weed or manicure the garden, but they should be attentive to plants which are flopping over onto the walkways and paths and cut them back or tie them up.
The yard and paths should be raked of debris when necessary.

Although I have no roof leaks or anything like that, when it rains hard here, there may be areas that need checking to make sure no water has come in and to mop or sponge up the water.

Other than that, and a few other minor things, just keep the house clean and tidy and be careful not to damage anything. (I do have a housecleaner who normally comes once every 2 weeks for a few hours, but I don't pay her to come when I am away. However if you wanted to continue that service, it is 400 pesos a cleaning. She dusts, cleans behind the stove and fridge, cleans the appliances, washes the floors, collects the trash from all the baskets, etc. She is not here to clean personal messes like washing anyone's dirty dishes, washing bedding, etc. )

What are the good features of the property and location

This is a two bedroom house, artistically designed and decorated, with one-of-a-kind tile work and architecture. I am a minimalist, so it isn't cluttered with stuff and dust collectors. Both bedrooms and a bathroom are upstairs (outside staircase to the balcony which the bedroom are off of). The master bedroom has a queen bed, the guest room has a single. The bathroom is in between the two bedrooms. (I don't care which bedroom housesitters use, as long as I come home to a clean bedroom with clean bedding)

The downstairs has a large, well-equipped kitchen, with a covered terrace outside of it where the dining table is, a small living room and another bathroom.

The yard is a tropical garden, with lots of palm trees and other plants. My property is a few meters from the arroyo, which can become like a raging river during heavy rains. But my property is on high ground, so it has never flooded at all, even a couple of times when there were major floods here. Although the ocean is a couple of km away, sometimes you can hear the ocean out of one window and the river out of the other, depending on which way the wind is blowing. There are jungled hillside views from the balcony.

The neighborhood is generally quite quiet. although it is Mexico, which tends to be noisy, so there is the occasional event with loud music, which even if it is 2 kilometers away, can often still be heard loud and clear. On those occasions, earplugs are your friend. :-)

What does the house sitter need to consider before applying for this assignment

It will be hot and humid here in July and August, although the almost daily (late afternoon or o'night) rains cool things down. I do not have AC, but the living room and kitchen and guest room have powerful ceiling fans and I have stand fans which can be moved around as needed. (I don't leave in July and August because of the weather here- I actually love the rainy season, don't mind heat and humidity, and still experience it for weeks before I leave and after I get back. I leave in July and August because that's when my family in Canada have time off work and school and can hang out)

There are also lots of insects during rainy season. Personally I find the insect life fascinating, but if you are a bug-phobe, this isn't the place for you. There is a mosquito net which can be used, but having lived here for 20 years, I have never needed to use it- the fans keep the flying insects away. (However, I do realize that some people are mosquito magnets)

I am on the city water line, but they don't send water 24/7. It is sent to different neighborhoods on different days and times. When it is sent, it fills my cistern, which then pumps up to the big water storage tank on my roof, and gravity fed into the house. If you don't hear the water pump go on for several days, and check the cistern and find it empty, there may be issues with the city water (there often are in this town). In that case, you would have to climb the ladder to the roof to make sure the tank isn't dangerously low- it can't be allowed to run dry, or all the house water lines will need to bled of air, which is a big chore. So you can't be scared of heights or climbing a ladder (the ladder from the balcony to the roof is very secure and the roof is only very slightly sloped- it isn't scary to walk around up there).

The cell signal is good here, and so is the Wifi. However, during a big summer storm, we can sometimes lose the electricity in the whole area, and then it is a matter of having to wait for the electric company to get it fixed. If there is no electricity, you won't have Wifi, so anyone who works online and needs constant connectivity should be aware of this. Usually the cell signal is still fine, so you can always use cell data if necessary.

Also regarding my dates- I am actually leaving on July 8, but I need a housesitter to arrive several days to a week before that, so we can go over how everything works here at a reasonable pace, rather than try to cram too much information into too short a time. And I don't have my return ticket booked yet, but plan to be back the end of August or the first few days of Sept. I have no problem with a housesitter staying on for a week or two after I get back, if you need to do that.

Can I bring my own pets?

No, sorry.

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