Excellent advice here; I can see where I can improve my listing. Thank you so much.
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Recently, I saw a listing where the photos only shows details of a room. For example, the sofa, a table, the bed so that you have no idea about the whole room.
The photos were taken at night, or during the day the curtains were closed so that no sunlight could come in, which I found very unflattering.
The text must be structured; you must notice that someone has put some thought into it. If the text is unstructured, one can perhaps assume that the owner is also instructured. But if it has too much structure and detail, it can become compulsive and pedantic.
But the most important thing to me seems to be that the text comes across as warm, hospitable and inviting.
I find phrases like “We expect you to” to be rather out of place.
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This is excellent advice to owners. It should be compulsory reading! Well done @Nagy26 I am a sitter and was just invited to- what looked like - an attractive sit but after reading the enormously long and detailed responsibilities list, and strict ‘type of sitter’ requirements… I was exhausted and completely turned off! The HO even had a word at the end of this ‘novel’ that had to be quoted to prove everything had been read and understood ‘before your application will be considered’!! All too much. Some HOs forget this is an unpaid exchange!!
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Thanks very much!
Oh dear… Well, I hope if things don’t turn out well for them, they may be able to gain advice from this thread and re-evaluate their listing!
This is a really great article! It should be required reading for HOs.
One more: For dogs, I wish HOs would include the number of hours they can be left at home alone in their listing, since there is a wide range. And if they are let out in a yard rather than taken on walks, it would help if that was visible in their ad.
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@Traveler99 and also to know, in advance, where the dog sleeps!! Always a question we ask in the video chat if not clear as once we discovered, on arrival, that the dog usually sleeps in/on the bed- which is a bit of a no go for us!
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So solid! Every HO should read this!
Yes to the photos - they are my 1st yes or no. If profile pic is of the bathroom or a scattered kitchen, I pass. If there are minimal and dismal photos, it’s a no. If the photos 3 of the house and 18 of the pet, I pass. If the pics are real estate pics and obviously not lived in, I hesitate. If owners aren’t great with the pics & the tech of setting up their profile, ask a friend to help! It makes a huge difference.
Well written and thanks for sharing!!
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I am always amazed and off put by the photos taken at nite, with the curtains drawn and awful lighting! It makes the profile feel rushed, like I can’t wait until the sun rises to get my profile live. Just wait, take nice sunny photos and your home will shine and attract more and higher standard sitters! I pass on dark, shoddy pics!
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This is also true! Sometimes even feeding routines are different in the current sit & welcome guide vs. the listing.
It would be good to update listing each season or any time a routine changes for sure, to not cause confusion.
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Fantastically helpful list - well done!
As a new sitter, I have already been overwhelmed by some of the detritus one has to wade through in order to have a clear picture as to what the sitter is looking for! The one thing I would love people to do better is be clear about the amenities available, especially the size of the bed which is a dealbreaker for myself and my husband, as we have been so used to a super king size bed that anything less than a king size is not acceptable! I can put up with most things not being home from home, but not my bed!
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Adding to the list, all responsibilities are not listed in description. After I agreed to a 2 dog sit, the owners told me I had to feed the birds and the foxes. I then had to ask her to remove me.
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@monday, maybe you can let this sitter know, because they want to see foxes in particular:
Do You Live in the UK and See Foxes in Your Garden? - #13 by Maggie8K.
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Totally agree with this. We were told on a sit the dog may try to get up on the bed, it turned out the dog slept in the bed and sat at the table at meal times. (Needless to say we didn’t allow this but not fair for the dog having no rules)
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This is an excellent post, thank you for creating it! I have been amazed by the number of listings that don’t seem to offer a fair exchange, asking sitters to be home almost around the clock, to walk dogs 3-4 times a day for 30+ minutes each time, requiring loads of home/garden maintenance on top of spending time with the pets, etc. I’d say at least a third of the listings I see are best suited for pald sitters.
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Those owners are unlikely to get many applicants
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Update opening paragraph when listing new sits. It’s confusing to read that you are looking for a 2-day Memorial Day weekend sit and read those related details and then see the dates are actually for 3 weeks at Christmas.
Personally, I really need to see good quality interior photos of the home I will be staying in. Just like when I’m staying in a hotel, I research photos of the accommodations, the common areas etc. If you only have pet photos and no home photos, as cute as the animals might be, I would skip the listing. It would be time consuming and I would feel uncomfortable asking for pictures of your home before agreeing to a sit because there’s a chance I would see the photos and not want to accept the sit. That’s just too awkward for my comfort. I’ve been lucky enough to stay in some really lovely, clean, welcoming environments. The location/city and the interior photos (or something like a beautiful exterior sea view) are the first things to get my attention and then continue reading a listing.
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That happened to me once. I was concerned that there was no bed shown, so I asked for a photo of the bed. HO sent me back a photo of an unmade bed with three dogs on it. I went with, “Oh, sorry, hadn’t realized your dogs were that large – I don’t think I’d be a good fit!”
This was not a sit in a high-demand area. It was a house in small town Indiana, an hour from a city of any size, nearest restaurant was an Applebee’s at the highway junction, an area where you’d really have to have a clean, uncluttered, comfortable-looking home in order to attract anyone who wasn’t just starting out and needed reviews. Which was what I was at the time – it was a couple hours’ drive, it was a shortish sit, the yard was fenced, I’d considered it. But that photo…it just made me think if they thought that was okay to offer sitters, what else did they think was okay?
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This was super helpful! Even though I didn’t have a long bio, I decided to make my own tweaks to the intro. The comments about the dogs were really helpful too. I’ll be sure to add some extra info about that too. Thank you!
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THS should employ you. A comprehensive analysis lucidly explained.
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Haha thanks 