Hi, I’ve been on Mind my House for several years and loved it, until it got to be over 20 people applying for the same sit. Since I don’t do it that often, I was rarely chosen, despite good reviews! This one is a lot more expensive so I never really considered it but now I’m wondering… what has been your experience in being chosen for sits you’ve applied for?
Welcome @pambam57 .
We joined THS 18 months ago and we arrived at our 16th sit today . So the membership fee has definitely has been worth it for us .
Which country are you looking for sits?
TrustedHouseSitters is better for some countries more than others.
On THS you will never be in competition with 20+ others as THS pauses applications once 5 sitters have applied. However for highly sought locations this means that you may not get a chance to apply at all .
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After the first one, it has not been that difficult.
In your case, you also lack THS references. Maybe you can put images of earlier ones up among your photos, that would probably help.
The first THS reference should not be too hard to get if you apply to a last-minute listing.
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Ah, so this is where all the sitters are. You’ll be pleased to know there’s a shortage of sitters on this platform. Good luck 
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Thanks, all! Helpful advice.
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Welcome! You’ll find such a great community here and I hope you’ll poke around the forum. I’ve found it a wonderful source of information and encouragement.
Boy. Hate to jinx myself but have been selected for each sit I’ve applied for. I focus on picking sits I know will be a good match for me and for the HO.
As recommended by THS, I write an introductory email outlining the specific reasons why I (or we if my husband and I are sitting together) would be a good choice for a sit.
I always offer a phone or video interview, or, if they’re local, an in-person meet and greet prior to the sit. That’s as much for their benefit as for mine.
I only have two available dates left through the end of this year and visit THS nearly daily to watch for that next perfect situation, and have multiple saved searches with areas/times I’m interested in.
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Welcome @pambam57
Starting on THS until you build up reviews can be tricky unless you are willing to start by doing local and last minute sits. It took me 23 applications over the first 4 weeks upon joining THS just over 2 years ago but have since done 21 sits all over Europe and UK.
Just be aware sits in desirable locations can go very quickly and get 5 applicants in minutes.
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Varies with your profile and when you join, like when there’s more demand for sitters than supply.
Some new folks have posted here that they were able to quickly get sits. My impression is that they tend to be older folks — couples.
Personally, I joined about 15 months ago and was able to quickly land sits — ones I flew to across the country (U.S.) or to the U.K., including one in London. I didn’t do local sits. I’m on my 15th sit, a repeat in the U.K. And I have more sits booked for the rest of the year.
Yesterday, I just applied for my first two local sits (less than an hour away), because I’ve moved across the country and want to get acquainted with various neighborhoods by doing short sits. Both sets of those hosts replied immediately to schedule video chats.
In my case, I think it helps that I sit solo as an older woman who telecommutes. That’s a profile that’s popular with many hosts. Older couples are as well. And for as long as I’ve been a member, there have been more sits than sitters. I’ve been getting strong reviews, so of course that helps.
It makes a difference how well you market yourself in your profile and photos. Best to put yourself in the place of hosts and address things that they’ll care about most, what they look for in sitters when it comes to trustworthiness, reliability, etc.
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Hey there and welcome to THS!
Definitely understand your frustration of other sites, we have an account on MMH too and some of those listings have been there, untouched, for months with like 150 applicants 
We much prefer THS and try to use it as much as possible. We find that most other sites are far behind THS in terms of quality, trustworthiness, usability, support & community feel. We’re on a few different sites and have found that many listings on these sites are somewhat lacking, questionable or downright dodgy 
Many of those owners also tend be rather clueless about site policies and how to host a sitter. When chatting to owners on Nomador, quite a few have casually mentioned “oh by the way, my mother or my tenant lives upstairs” haha nope, cya! 
Overall, THS is just much better quality. You get what you pay for!
Unfortunately though most THS sits in Europe only exist in the UK, so we often have to use other sites to find sits abroad in Europe (as full time back-to-back sitters travelling Europe). If you’re travelling the U.S, Canada, Australia or UK though, or hope to find an occasional odd sit in Europe, it’s the perfect platform to use! 
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We’ve also tried MMH with very limited success. I like the people behind the brand but the organisation & system is hopeless, the sits are there for months and are old and out of date and found the HOs super flaky. Not with THS. Am with @Nagy26 in that you get what you pay for. You’ll be fine. We do go across to FB pages for Asia sits though as THS has so few. Enjoy & welcome!
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I just took a look at the MMH site, and quite frankly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It does have an amateurish feel, but overall, it’s much better than Nomador’s to which I signed up, paid, tested for a few days, even applied for something, and then abandoned because its poor design and functionality were driving me crazy.
What I found worrying about the site is the very few sits they offer.
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I always liked the feel of the site but alas, too many sitters and not enough sits.
That’s so helpful. What sites do you use for Europe and Asia?
Well, I’m an older woman who telecommutes so that’s good news! 
Good to know, thanks for the helpful advice!
Great news!
Thanks, which countries do you think are best and which worst? I live in Germany, am frequently in the UK and in the US a few months a year.
@anon47943759 we mostly use Nomador for Europe. We also check Facebook groups, MMH & housecarers but have never found success from those. We have a 5 month sit in Holland next year booked though a Dutch site called ‘Huisdierenoppas.’ It helps if you Google search 'pet sitting" or “house sitting” in the language of whatever country you want to visit, because sometimes local sites for that country will pop up (like the Dutch one). Though obviously, it’s not guaranteed that people on those sites will speak English, so we write on our profiles what languages we speak.
As for Asia, we haven’t travelled there - I think that’s @Cuttlefish
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For SE Asia we mostly use FB house sitting groups, for Turkey & West Asia THS still works fine with FB as top up @pambam57 
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We LOVE it, but don’t focus on the cost as everyone receives an extension of an extra 2 months free if they recommend anyone that signs up (plus they get to receive a discount on signing up too), and we think it is a brilliant site so have recommended loads of people so we’ve got it free until 2028. We feel it is such a feel-good site, and we have met some beautiful owners via it, not just their pets.
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