Confirmed sit: communication with owners

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

Hello, I am new to THS and have confirmed 2 sits for July and another in August.

My question is when do most people reinitiate contact with the HO once they have confirmed? Or do they wait for the HO to make further contact with them?

I’m thinking in terms of arrival/leaving times etc (for context its a short sit both times and pretty local so no flights or anything).

Would a couple of weeks before be ok? Or should it be earlier/later?

How do you all handle further communication after a sit is confirmed?

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There’s not really a right or wrong time, it depends how far you need to travel to get to the sit, but I’d say 1-2 weeks before the sit seems like a reasonable time frame.

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3

Have you requested the Welcome Guide?

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Hi @hellyp and welcome to THS and our community forum … it’s great to hear you have 2 sits booked already. It sounds to me that maybe you haven’t had an initial chat with the owners to talk through the details of the sit, which would include things like the handover, and to make sure all your questions are answered, as well as theirs?

My advice would be to initiate these calls, or, if you have already done this, send a friendly message to say you would like to confirm the arrival and handover details so that this is all organised from the outset. We always ask for an email address so that we have an alternative method of contact offline and we then check in regularly on run up to sit, the timing of which depends on how far ahead we’ve booked.

There’s another thread on this topic here:
Communicating before house sit starts
which will provide you with some alternative feedback on this topic. Have a read, and if you’ve still got questions don’t hesitate to ask. Our friendly members and moderators have a wealth of experience and are always happy to help those new to house sitting.

Where are your first house sits? Please do share your experiences once underway!!

All the best, Vanessa and the Forum Team

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Thanks Vanessa, I’ll have a read! We have had a lovely video chat but it was a few months ago and on the day details weren’t finalised yet as it was too far out.

I’m sure once we have a couple of sits under our belt we’ll be more comfortable on the pre-sit organisation of things!

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6

Yes we’ve requested the welcome guide but we’ve not received it yet.

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8

I agree. I would contact them about this right away and also ask for an alternative contact method - email, text, WhatsApp or whatever. It’s always handy to have a back up in case they don’t check their THS messages.

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9

3rd vote for contacting them. “hey there! i’m looking forward to my visit with {pet name(s)} in x weeks. I just wanted to check in and make sure that everything is on schedule for me to arrive on x day. Is there a time that works best for you? If it’s easier, you can also contact me via whatsapp at x or email at y. Take care and look forward to speaking to you soon!”

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10

Hi!

I’m just starting with my first sits locally, so I have set up a pre-visit about a week prior.

When I go overseas, that will be a different story. My thought is to have another person with me when I go overseas.

AnaRose

11

why would you have another person with you when you go overseas? will they be a member too or will you change your membership to couple?

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I would assume they’d change to a couple membership?

I think if I was single, I would probably only do overseas sits with a friend. But that’s just me - uncomfortable travelling alone. :joy:

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If there were any issues, I will have another with me to navigate and problem solve. I’ve been in foreign countries with a different language and culture and it can be very challenging when alone

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