Hi there I have done a few sits now and every time I apply the arrival date changes to a day or 2 prior to the advertised fit. The reason is always they want to meet me and Orientate me to the house and animals. Sometimes I find 2 days with the owners too much. Anyway my suggestion is that overlap time is added to the sit so we are aware of the exact dates we are required to be at the property.
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I believe the real reason is that the HO are worried that the sitter will get delayed. Unless you are applying to farm-like sits or to humongous estate-like properties, half a day is more than enough: get introduced to the dog, go on a walk, share a dinner. Then the owners can leave in the morning.
To deal with the worry that I could get delayed, I keep the owners informed about where I am, how my approach to their place is progressing. Two days before a sit, I am never too far away.
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I personally wouldn´t mind the overlap to be added so that the duration of sits is accurately reflected in my calendar. However, it’s currently not feasible to apply for sits with even one overlapping date, let alone two. Adding more overlap would only complicate things further.
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We ask people to arrive 1, or for a longer sit 2 days in advance, because a sit here is more complicated than a sit in an apartment with just a dog or a cat. So we can do everything that needs to be done together. We’re open about this on our listing and have a seperate guesthouse with all privacy. Never a problem; the sitters we had all agreed that it was useful and the loved the place. Everybody happy 
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I can only talk about our sits but as most of them are expats in foreign countries the overlap is more about social interaction than getting us settled with their pets. We don’t mind that at all as we are very social types (my wife calls me a social sl#t .
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I am confused about this. So the sit says 15-19, but they want you there on the 14th? Why wouldn’t the overlap days be included?
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Because you don´t actually sit?
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They should be included. I search by the dates I’m available. If the posted dates don’t include the fact that they want me to arrive the day before then I might not be available that day. I recently had that situation. I took the time to apply to a sit that was listed for dates I was available, had a couple messages back and forth setting up a virtual chat. Got 15 minutes into the chat and I asked what time she would like me to arrive on the start date. That was when she said I would need to arrive the afternoon before to meet with her (and then go stay in a hotel at my expense). I wasted a lot of time because the HO just assumed I was available to come the day before and I was not.
HOs should list the dates they want the sitter to be there. If they don’t want to due to the overlapping policy, at least state clearly in the listing that you would need the sitter to arrive the day before the listed date.
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I disagree, mostly because of the issue with not allowing an overlap.
It’s one thing of the homeowner wants you at their place for 24 hours and have a place for you to stay there,
But more commonly it’s “come over for a run through” which makes sense when they don’t want to do everything on the day they depart.
I see this as a grown up decision to ask before committing to a sit what the expectations are and make an agreement.
If I can only commit to the start day of the sit, I tell them. If it’s a new country or I’m flying I let them know I’m more comfortable being in town a few days before and I can meet at their convenience.
However, I am completely nomadic and don’t mind paying for hotels nearby, I hear some people expect a homeowner to pay for a hotel if that is needed.
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This is one of the things I include in my pre-accept discussion. For example I’m talking with folks about a holiday sit and the only flight I can manage arrives at about 11 pm and then an hour to the sit. I’m giving the HO a choice of arriving the day before they depart or the day before that.
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Totally agree it’s super cheeky to ask for a “run through” @systaran on a date not included in the sit listing and then “go pay for a hotel as I’m done with you until tomorrow.” and no offer of a bed or meal. It’s not a paid service and we’re not the hired help! And we’re also fully nomadic. #backtotheoldmutualexchangechatagain
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@tlubkin I don’t see any reason the HO can’t just state in the listing that they would want the sitter to arrive the night before the start date if they don’t want to include it in the listed dates. If they don’t it’s a huge waste of both the sitters and HOs time when they find out the sitter isn’t available to arrive a day early. The issue in the example I posted was that there was no way possible for me to arrive the day before and I would not have wasted my time applying and meeting with her had she provide accurate dates.
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@Cuttlefish, Yes, I withdrew since I wasn’t available to arrive a day early. But I would have declined anyway due to her requirement that I arrive the afternoon before, basically just to pick up the keys, and then pay for a hotel because it was more convenient for her that way.
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Yes I agree it would be helpful if the homeowner made this clear in the listing -
We had the reverse but equally time wasting scenario.
A 14 day sit was listed, we applied and had several chats via THS in box and then a video call was arranged -( it took a couple of weeks because the owners were busy and as the sit was more than 6 months in advance we weren’t in too much of a hurry) . Towards the end of the chat ( after talking about the pets and their routines etc etc ) we asked what time do you leave on Friday xx and found out they weren’t leaving Monday ( 3 days after the date they had listed )and this was only actually 10 day sit. ( if you count only the days that the owners would be actually be away ) .
That didn’t suit us at all and we withdrew our application. I’m not sure when this information would have been disclosed if we hadn’t asked the question!
The owners had to relist the dates because the other applicants had found other sits in the meantime.
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I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable staying with the owners for 3 days before they left. Quite bizarre! Did they have hundreds of animals with complicated regimes?
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Yes! Stating in the ad is helpful- I just don’t want the dates to reflect it. But, I am biased because my husband and I used to be able to offset any small overlaps by each of us staying at a sit for a day or 2.
Now we can’t apply
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I stayed for 3 days at the neighing of a sit recently and found it helpful. Mostly because the homeowner was so busy with work and social life we had to learn everything in small bits. But, medication was involved, lots of plants, and it is a 2+ month sit.
In the beginning of sitting we always felt strange staying with people but now with 50+ sits we have found no regrets.
We just learn to busy ourselves so aren’t on top of each other, but typically we find people so busy that we don’t even sit for a meal together!
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No 1 dog!
They had a previous incident when a sitter from overseas didn’t arrive before they left because of flight delay so had to scramble at the last minute to get someone else to do the handover . So they had built in an overlap to try to avoid this happening again.
Which is fine BUT wasn’t explained in the listing. Had this been stated we would have not applied ( since we were not arriving from overseas and we were not comfortable with staying with them for 3 days and we didn’t want a 10 day sit we wanted a 14 day sit ) and wasted everyone’s time.
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Even when the start and end dates are the same can be a little issue. I need to be in the LA area in Aug. I got one sit until the 18th and the other starts on the 18th. But they are close together. And I could have managed. But my daughter will be inbetween dates of her summer program and moving into her dorm apt. So she can stay at one, while I go to the new one. And then I pick her up later in the day. Otherwise it would have hectic going back and forth, as the sit was to end late in the day and other started early.
Yes I think that on the listings the owners need to stipulate the overlap dates so we are all aware.
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