Is there any way to contact owners prior to application for a sit? We would like to apply for some sits but cannot do the entire 2 month period. If there was a way to contact the owner to inquire about splitting dates that would be helpful.
@mncpalmer Welcome!
That is a great questionā¦but unfortunately, the only way to establish any contact with home owners is to apply for a set of dates. With that said, you are more than welcome to apply for the dates and say what specific dates in that time period you are available. On longer sits, we have found some home owners are perfectly fine splitting up the dates.
One thing to noteā¦especially if you are apply for the back end of that 2 month time period, just know that the home owner would likely have a sitter there right up until the time you show up (meaning they wonāt come home, inspect the house, clean up, etc). So the condition of the home would be entirely up the the previous sitter.
We call these āsplit sitsā and have done two ourselves. Upon arrival to the home, the floors needed to be desperately mopped, supplies running low (toilet paper, paper towels, basics in the fridge, etc). In both cases, the sitters knew they were leaving the home and another sitter was coming to it firstā¦not the home owner. So we feel they āfudgedā some cleanup duties. We probably wonāt do a split sit again because we like the process of meeting the home owners and knowing that the house is in a good condition. Also, IF any damage is done by previous sitters (and hopefully they reported it to the HO) might fall back on you. Same with the cleaning aspect. So your review probably would also be slightly based on how the previous sitter left the home.
Just our two cents and best of luck on here! 
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Hi @mncpalmer
Welcome to the Forum!
You can reach out to a HO to inquire about splitting dates; however, you would need to apply in doing so.
Many sitters (including myself) wonāt do split sits. If you are the first sitter and you leave the HOās home in pristine condition, how would the HO know and give you credit?
The second sitter comes behind you and makes a mess and / or something gets damaged. How would the HO determine what sitter did what?
Or, you are the second sitter and the sitter before you make a mess and / or something gets damaged, and leaves before you arrive. You walk in āblindā having to figure out where everything is located.
Either way, whether the first or second sitter, how would the HO give you an accurate review?
Split sitsāno thank you, but good luck to you.
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I asked a similar question some time ago, and got a lot of feedback on split sits. Iāve learnt a lot and will probably avoid, as @Couple_travels_fulltime and @sharondc suggests. You can check out for instance
Iām doing a split sit at the moment in Utah as the first sitter doing the first month out of a six month total sit. The HO specifically mentioned they were open to it in their listing. In my case, I am looking to build up to several months sits abroad and this one helped me get two offers in Europe of 4-6 weeks over the holidays.
Iāve been in close contact with the homeowner and Iāll take pictures and a video of everything clean and ready for the next sitter who starts next week. I just picked up toilet paper to replace what I used that the homeowner left too, and would hope that other sitters will do the same though as someone mentioned above, not every sitter will do that! But I generally want to leave the place and clean (or cleaner) as I found it.
Good luck!