Caretaker

The term caretaker sometimes refers to a person caring for other people (normally the elderly) however the correct term for a person helping the elderly is a “caregiver”. The most common definition of a caretaker is a property caretaker. A property caretaker is a person who cares for someone else’s property usually in exchange for rent-free living accommodations. The caretaking profession includes positions such as housesitters, property managers, ranch sitters, bed & breakfast and innsitters, estate managers, and hosts at resorts or campgrounds. Caretaking is a very old profession, rooted in the British tradition of land maintenance. In 1868, The Times of London defined a caretaker as “a person put in charge of a farm from which the tenant has been evicted.” Today that definition has been expanded to cover a multitude of landowner/caretaker relationships. The number and diversity of these relationships has increased during the past decade. The property caretaking field has been covered by The Caretaker Gazette since 1983. Caretakers are sometimes utilized by property owners who do not want or are unable to hire a professional management company. In modern times, it is not unlikely for a property owner to hire a caretaker who will not be residing in the property. In fact, many homeowners who rent their properties hire caretakers instead of property managers in order to save money. Caretakers are not licensed by any state or local authority and can often be less expensive than their professional counterparts.