It’s very common to put in the location(s) you’d like to go, dates and duration and see what comes up. Some people howevet put in the location(s) and leave the dates/duration more wide open. If they see something appealing regardless of dates, they “apply” saying that they are very interested but not in the area at that time and perhaps the homeowner may wish to keep them in mind for future sits.
Anyone have comments on one approach as compared to the other?
Hi @Leftcoastofcanada. Great question!
I usually favorite listings with specific date ranges when I hope to be in the area, but there are two areas I go back to again and again. One is where my Mom lives, and the other is where my doctors/dentists/etc. are. For both I create saved searches with very wide date ranges.
Instead of reaching out to owners for sits I can’t do, I periodically search in these areas and favorite the listings that are intriguing. That way I’ll be notified when they post new dates, and I’m not putting the onus on the owner to reach out to me.
What do you do?
I have done both. Most recently messaged someone for future consideration and got a very positive response that included contact info and an invite to meet. It’s in a country where I am going to.
Real time has been most successful.
Hi just usually set my dates and have a look at a particular area although when doing that, I do see ads that I would consider except for a factor such as season/climate, (could be 6 months hence) but the HO isn’t showing dates for that time. Just wondered if people apply pre-emptively and how that may be interpreted by an HO. I’ve read here that some HOs struggle to manage the apps they are already receiving for their open time-frame, never mind a future date. Suppose I’ll just try it and see.
I’ve heard of a few people doing that, and we’ve done it once, but as a general rule, I avoid it. I’m sure it can work, but I figure there’s a greater chance of irritating a potential homeowner than having them keep us in mind for future sits. I find favouriting sits lets me know when they’ve got new dates and gives me the option to apply then.
On the other hand, we recently had a homeowner reach out to us and ask us to keep them in mind for future sits. They set up fake dates and invited us to sit then said to ignore the dates (it was a single night in the near future), and just wanted us to keep them in mind if we’re ever in the area because they can up and leave at the drop of a hat. Kind of interesting way to do things.
An owner recently reached out to me too. They asked me to keep them in mind. Guess it goes both ways. I think I’ll just go with what feel right in each instance, even if no dates are posted (think I’ve answered my own question : ) Thanks.
Absolutely. Even situation is different and there’s no single right way to do this!
I have done that twice with success. One was a sit in Portugal that I just felt like I had alot in common with her cat situation and we are sitting for her in October. The other was a close local sit that I used the “application” to introduce ourselves and told them ‘if we looked interesting to her for a future sit we’d be up for meeting them ahead of time to see if we were a match’. We met them yesterday and hit it off, so I am sure we will do a sit for the in the future. I am selective and don’t do that for every housesit I like. I also withdraw my application upon a message back from the HO so it doesn’t count towards their applications.
Hey, good to hear that approach works - bonus that you both agreed it was a good match. Thanks for the reminder to withdraw too 