There’s been plenty commentary on THS Forums about excess demand for housesitters over the Christmas period. This may well frustrate some Pet Parents, if they are unable to secure “ideal” housesitters. To put comments into objective perspective, there are currently (12 Dec 2024) 2,647 and 944 available housesits listed in North America and UK/Europe respectively. Wow. It’s competitive out there.
Housesitters, if could give one piece of advice to a Pet Parent with an active Christmas listing then what would it be?
To get ball rolling, we’d encourage selection of a fabulous main photo for the listing.
First impressions count, especially for prospective housesitters that are scrolling many opportunities. Whether it’s a photo of property; key room; pets; local attraction; or another attribute then a great photo is likely to attract housesitter applications.
Probably still worth it for pet parents to post as lots of sits could also mean last minute unforeseen circumstances causes some cancellations and change of plans leaving some sitters scrambling. It could also offer opportunities to lots of new sitters looking for their first sit, especially if they are willing to look locally, as one of the reasons why it’s so hard to get sitters is because air fare is so expensive this time of year. So I would advise new sitters waiting for their break to consider a local sit over Christmas even if it’s not what you had in mind so you can get that first great review and move on.
@marion I agree about first sits at Christmas - last Christmas I had my first sit with a very chilled cat, about 2 hours drive from home. It was a good way to get a good review and have a lovely festive holiday.