AGREED. The amenities feature was added between my 1st and 2nd sit this year. I go in and update my profile before every listing and saw it, but I know a lot of HOs don’t. I don’t understand how THS could roll out new features without communicating to existing users.
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It happens all the time!
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Except that they might well be hiding the messiness in hope of snaring a sitter, LOL.
There will be folks who lack even basic tech skills or the ability to follow directions. They might also post few photos.
Personally, I’ll skip those sits. There are plenty of good sits with reasonable info posted and I’ll pursue those. I’m flexible on destinations and can travel without sitting if I want to go somewhere specific.
@Carpenter69 Hi there, I totally agree and for me, I don’t even give the time of day to sits that have crappy or minimal pictures. To me that shows that the HOs are not up to my standards, so it’s a hard pass. Onto the next.
If I can tell folks have taken their time in writing their profile, taking thoughtful, well-lit photos of the living areas - that draws me in because I too have done the same. If HOs have shoddy and minimal photos and minimal descriptions, I just know it’s not a fit for me. (And the excuse that folks don’t know how to take good pics doesn’t fly with me. They can ask a neighbor or friend who is more tech savvy if that’s not their thing. The amount of photos that folks take of their homes at nite, with poor lighting is wild to me in this day and age of all people taking photos all the time!)
You’d think that having these higher standards would limit my sits (also, I only apply to cat sits!) - well, it cannot be further from the truth. The more I pass on what is an 'ehh" profile to me, the more the right HOs have landed in my availability and I’ve landed those sits. All cat-only sits, beautiful homes, within the areas I desired. (This just happened a week ago. I passed on an ehh sit that was within a window I needed b/c it was EHH. Literally the next day, a way better cat sit landed that filled up my availability for that time frame and it was a great fit!) You have to believe in your magic a little too! 
So, in my experience - similar to dating - you shouldn’t have to try so hard. What they post speaks VOLUMES and either it’s a match to what you want & it feels like a YES, or it’s not and you swipe on it. Don’t engage with shoddy. If you have to work hard in the beginning to make it fit, it’s likely it will be not-a-great-fit all the way through. I would say there may be some exceptions to this, but I tend to go for the This is a YES feel over anything.
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KellySue,
Good for you, that is awesome!!
We have been looking in high-demand areas and find ourselves having to apply to sits with insufficient photos because the location and dates are what fits for us.
I wish it weren’t the case (we are always chasing the sun and warm weather, so our choices are very competitive times and places).
We literally just came across a sit listing of a city we would like to be in with zero photos of the inside of the house. (there are precious few listings there)
I just wish THS would prevent them from posting unless they provide the required photos. I am sure there’s a way IT can do that.
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Recently, I was looking for a sit to fill a gap between two other sits. One sit came up in my search that was the right dates, location, and pets. However, they had no photos of the inside of the home. There was an outside picture of the house and a bunch of pictures of the pets. Even though it was the only sit available, I still didn’t bother with it. Sure, I could have asked for photos. But to me, that says they haven’t given any thought to the fact that this is an exchange and that a sitter would obviously want to see where they would be staying. I understand that newer homeowners might not know or not have thought about it. But if they are offering accommodations in exchange for home and pet care they should think about what they are offering and what the sitter might need to know. It’s not my responsibility to educate homeowners, I just scroll on.
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I agree - but it’s frustrating when it might be the only sit listed in an area you are hoping to be in.
I usually just scroll on as well but easier said than done when you’re looking for a specific area and specific dates.
I just wish THS would make it impossible for HO’s to post a sit listing without the required photos. It can’t possibly be that hard.
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@carpediem16 I agree, it’s very frustrating. If the one I mentioned had been a long sit I might have been more inclined to take the time to ask for photos, but it was shorter and I decided to just get a hotel or see if last minute sits come up. Typically, I book out several months ahead so if I see something without photos I just scroll past and wait to see if other sits in the area become available later (usually they do).
Personally I find it incredible that HO don’ t explicitly detail their requirements and equally sitters don’t theirs! If either do not to It’s a miracle they agree at all!!! Perhaps this is why there is so much discontent! talk to each other for heavens sake!
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Hi KellySue_Nate,
I think you may have sent this to the wrong person. While I am a member of the forum, I did not post a question. I think you meant to send to Carpdiem16.
Take Care
HO–point taken…i do need to ad more…i am miserable at tech even with simple sites like this one …my laziness and feeling I never get it right so tend to not try to go back and ad more but I’d like to…one way tho to get really get some really info is reading the sitter’s reviews of the HO…they often share good points about the sit. Also , we always talk to the applicant on FaceTime so they get to see all the rooms,where they would sleep etc etc. Then they commit and the dates we ask for the sitter to spend the day before departure with usso dogs see the friendly interaction between the strangers and us… we have a dinner together, let the sitter feed them…we walk them together----dogs then trust and we don’t worry about them being nervous …and then of course we show them around everywhere…even the refrig and pantry — eat up …
Thank you…that’s the very reason i avoid tech as much as possible…never seem to get it going easily…
This is great to hear from sitters! When I first signed up for THS as a HO and joined a conversation in the community, it was mentioned that my profile was too lengthy (too many details about the dog) and I should only include the basics. The rest could be left for the welcome guide.
Now I’m questioning if I should add more.
I’ve since added a section about each specific sit to explain our travel details, when I would like the sitter to arrive, and the earliest they can leave if they aren’t staying until we arrive home or after.
I also regularly have sitters apply who seemingly don’t bother reading my full profile which has made me think it might be too long. 
What specific bullet points would sitters like to see included? (sorry if I missed it - I tried reading through this entire thread before posting, but it kinda went off the rails)
Here’s what I would like to see from sitters:
- tell me more about yourself
- share your interests
- share your social profiles (if you’re comfortable with that)
This all helps me understand who you are and builds trust. I don’t enjoy inviting people into my home if they’re very secretive or not comfortable sharing information. I want to know more about you as a human not necessarily to become best friends, but to make sure you’ll work well with my dog. He’s very quirky and I’ve grown to learn that although a lot of sitters have had a great time, others were stressed out and not sure how to work with him which in turn stressed me out while on vacation. That’s not fun for anyone and I don’t want to put people in that situation, but I won’t know unless sitters are honest and open.
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Hi @pergamino, as a sitter I’m likely too verbose but since we do long sits (at least 30 days), I try to make sure to be thorough.
As a sitter, I prefer more info than less so I would read your entire listing typically, although with the 5 application limit, I might only glance and then fire off an application or I’d be at risk of missing the application window.
Pictures of the living space how you want it to be is super helpful. That way, we can reference the photos so we make sure your pillows, dog beds, etc are exactly how you like them when you return. Because we work from home, often times we’ll move dog beds around for example so they can be right beside us for regular attention when we can give it.
The one I haven’t seen yet but wish everyone did was IF you have high speed internet, please post a screenshot of that. Because my wife and I run online businesses, we use Zoom multiple times a day for calls. Zoom requires at a minimum an upload speed of 10mb/s to work correctly so if we can see that, we can save everyone time and apply or not rather than take up an extra application for a sit we can’t even do because that’s not fair to you or the other applicants.
Beyond that, since you don’t have any sits in the calendar, I can’t read what you wrote previously so I’m not sure what else I would need from you.
Hope that helps.
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Awesome, thanks for this! I never even considered the internet mention. I’m adding that now. I work remotely, so I understand the importance of that for others.
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I’m pretty sure it’s not the length of your profile. Lot of sitters are applying without reading any profiles (see the many posts here about the 5-application rule for details)
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Exactly!
I am very thorough but with this annoying new 5 app limit I’m forced to be rushed.
I don’t want to waste anyone’s time applying for sits that I can see are not a good fit, so in my mind, the more info the better about everything! This includes the house. I see listings that say (about home and location) “we live in a comfy home in nice neighborhood with the town just 10 minutes away”
No details of the home!
There’s no question the more info the better the chances at not wasting time with unsuitable sitters. IMO
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I totally agree with this. There needs to be better moderation of HO post requirements. Lack of suitable photos and info is just unacceptable.
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I’ve just finished a 3 night sit (my first) for a HO who only had a photo of her gorgeous garden. But as earlier reviews showed this as being a good sit I decided to go with it. Her home is gorgeous, worthy of a lifestyle magazine and I’ll suggest to her via email that she considers showing potential sitters what delights they will experience.
Oh, and the cat was absolutely wonderful!
OTOH, my next sit (tomorrow) came with lots of photos but very little information, but the earlier reviews were good so I applied and was accepted. The Welcome Guide is empty apart for a post code which is for the whole village - I’ve asked her twice for her address which she still hasn’t given me (but I eventually found it through an internet search) and I asked for the info which would be in the Welcome Guide - she’s answered some of my questions and I have a list to ask her tomorrow.
To be honest I’ve considered cancelling, but who would take care of the cat & dog? I will reflect the empty Welcome Guide in my review feedback after I get home.
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I think some homeowners may be reluctant to put up too many photos not only because it isn’t that easy to take great “real estate” type photos, but because once on THS it’s all very public and part of the THS’s recruitment/real estate scheme. I’m wondering if it makes sense when you apply to ask if HOs could share some additional photos or would be okay with a video tour during a video chat. As a HO, I would not be pleased if someone surprised me with a request for a video tour DURING a chat, but I have video housetours and if someone requested before making up their mind, I’d have no objection.