House Sitter in Miami, Florida

My name: Thomas Ruppert Employer: University of Florida and the Florida Sea Grant College Program (my professional website is at https://....org/). About us: My wife and daughter and I lived in Gainesville for over 10 years. While I studied, my wife has homeschooled our daughter and gardened. We bought two homes during our time in Gainesville, and I did extensive renovations on the first one as I spent 10 years as a carpenter before going to law school. We have traveled extensively and now find ourselves moving around quite frequently due to both my work and my daughter’s swimming. We rented out our home in Gainesville and moved to the Tampa Bay region and have been taking care of a house that is for sale for the past 2 years. While in Gainesville, in between homes, we also took care of a home that had been on the market for sale. In both cases we have taken care of the grounds, done maintenance and improvements ourselves, and, when necessary, contacted and coordinated with other service providers. We can provide references for from both homeowners and as many other references, professional or personal, as desired. Being home owners ourselves, we understand the value of someone that will take good care of your place for you. We are seeking homesitting/caretaking opportunities in the Miami, South Miami, Pinecrest, Coral Gables area of Florida. We are moving there so that our daughter can transition from being homeschooled to attending a school there where she will also compete on their swim team. As mentioned, I am extremely handy due to growing up on a farm and working there as well as many years as a professional carpenter. I am fluent in Spanish (and some rusty German), have spent time in Latin America (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil). I am an avid bicyclist and like animals. My wife, Carolina, is a native of Bucaramanga, Colombia and worked her way through college on a tennis scholarship and was several times an All-American and rated top 15 in the country at the time. She has a masters from Tufts University, and has been homeschooling our daughter for the past several years. She loves to garden and landscape and has also done some dog sitting. Our daughter, Marcella, is 16 and is an elite swimmer. She is a member of the national team of Colombia. She is fluent in Spanish, enjoys drawing and writing, and playing the piano. And she absolutely adores any and all pets.