Hello. I am in the US. I travel frequently for work. I’ve had at least 12 sits. Many of my sitters have become friends.
Lately, I am noticing a ‘trend’ in my sitter applications. I call them couch surfers.
Young, usually under 35. No home address OR a home address but a history of multiple sits in my area over the last 6 months. Young people who have never owned a home, looking to live for free, and wanting to settle in the area. So basically couch surfing until they find a place to live.
I have recently edited my profile and specifically addressed this issue. I’ve also put an age limit on my sitter requests. I have had damage done to the home and vehicle through ignorance and inattention. No one over 35 has damaged my home or vehicle. No one who has a home or permanent address has damaged anything.
Also notice, from home entry logs and cams, most of these sitters are nocturnal. First exit from home is never before 11AM last entry is often 11pm or later.
Is it just me or is anyone else noticing this?
This has been discussed many times. It’s a good idea to look up your query with the spyglass.
Edited to comply with Community Rules
I never think it’s a good idea to generalise. Have you had a difficult experience with someone under the age of 35, or that didn’t have a permanent home address? If so, might I suggest that this was the result of the sitter and their approach to house sitting, as opposed to variables such as age, home ownership etc. While those things can (at times) be contributing factors to a lax approach to sitting, I think there’s a risk of tarring people with the same brush. There are many amazing sitters in their twenties and thirties, and many who (through choice or otherwise) do not have a permanent base.
It is also worth noting that home ownership is a distant dream for many people, regardless of age, and rent prices are very high (at least here in the UK). As a result, house sitting presents an option for people who have struggled to get on the property ladder and who are saving for a house deposit etc. But, regardless of financial or housing status, the main (and arguably ONLY) thing that matters is how loving the individual is towards the animals and how well they look after your property. It is possible to glean a sense of how responsible and mature someone is from their profile, reviews and initial conversations and you may wish to mention things like not returning home late, if that presents an issue.
Responsibility is a personal trait, not reliant of age and/ or real estate. I say this as an older sitter with real estate. 
We are very proud to have been free from a fixed home address for the past three years and not to own something as burdensome as a house. 
However, being over 40 years old and with significant financial investments, we definitely don’t fall into the category of people who would ever intentionally or carelessly damage someone else’s property. 
I find such generalizations quite unsettling.
so you spy on people?
Well, the typical couchsurfer would be travelling. The guests that I had would be moving on after one or two or three nights, and that is also the way that I have used it myself.
@healykas full time sitting is promoted by THS and has been for sometime ( some of the blog articles below are from 2019).
Many full time sitters have dozens of 5 star reviews so being a full time sitter doesn’t of itself = negligent sitter.
I love travelers! I travel. I have made some great friends who have been sitters and basically sit all the time. But those sitters travel, they are not trying to stay in one area until they find a job and can afford housing.
Nope. I have a home security system. Just outside cameras at entryways. It’s been very helpful when sitters forget the door code and can’t get in, or there are large animals that get too close to the entrances (moose, bear, lynx).
Packages that are delivered and need to come inside. It is a safety feature. I don’t usually look at it unless there’s activity at odd times.
Thank you. New to forum. Will use search feature in the future.
@healykas maybe a paid sitter would be a better fit for you instead of THS. I think a fair amount of sitters on THS are nomadic or remote workers that have the freedom and flexibility to travel when they want versus when they can get time off from work or once every five years. I travel full time and often stay in some countries longer than others due to waiting for visa approval to the country I’m visiting next or setting up camp in Turkey for a month so that I don’t exhaust all of my days in the Schengen. Please don’t be so quick to judge as some people enjoy and prefer to live wild and free and there are some people like yourself that are more “traditional” - live, work in one location etc.
You seem to be bundling a lot of different traits into one stereo type. Yes it’s a fact there is a high number of car accidents with younger people, and yes there’s a greater chance of them staying out after 11pm. So if over 35’s suits you, go for it, it’s your choice, your pets, your home.
However, there is a certain trait that you mention as a negative, that actually makes an amazing sitter. I see those without a permanent home who are looking to settle in the area as a fantastic sitter, it means they are thinking logically and strategically about their future, as a lot work remotely so have an income. They are switched on, they have aspirations, a plan, a goal. I see those ones as potentially more likely to deal with any adverse situation that arises in a pro-active way, vets, plumbing, etc, they could be more likely to keep calm and deal with things. Plus you already know that they love your area, so you don’t need to sell the benefits of your area to them.
We’re in our 50’s and 60’s and sit full time with 30+ 5* sits. We have rental properties etc, and our own home is a holiday let, but for us, we will be using that exact tactic in future years, as there’s somewhere specific where we want to live, and we already sit in the region on a regular basis every few months of so, but at the point we are ready to move there, we will definitely be pet sitting full time in that area while we look for a permanent place. We’re just not ready to move there permanently right now. I see it as a brilliant way to move to an area, plus when we do, we’d be more than happy to sit the same pets, because we already return to the same pets there now anyway.
We ‘could’ afford to rent somewhere temporarily, but why would we when we can help someone out by sitting their pets in the meantime, and we get total enjoyment from being around pets.
What are the Pros and Cons of this type of sitter?
Pros - many reviews so you can see how other hosts comments and rating of how they have taken care of pets and home-
Look out for repeat sits for same hosts which are an indication that these hosts are very comfortable with the way that theses sitters took care of their pets and home . These are the kind of sitters that you can feel confident to entrust with your home and pets.
Pros - they are local so maybe willing to meet up in person to meet you & your pets before the sit is confirmed ,if you want extra reassurance of who they really are .
Pros -if they are house sitting for accommodation (either long- term or temporarily , for whatever reason ) they have an invested interest in getting more sits so they need good reviews and so will be even more focused on doing a good job.
Pros- they likely will be available for repeat sits so you and your pets can build a good rapport with them . Invaluable if you have nervous / anxious pets or pets that take a while to warm up to strangers .
Pros - perfect if need a sitter for a long sit(sitters who do house sitting it for a short vacation aren’t available for long sits)
Cons
I can’t think of any ?
It’s interesting how, if you seem to diss the younger generation, everyone will leap to defend them. But if the OP had said they’d become wary of anyone over 55… Well, they’re doddery, unhealthy, unfit, losing their marbles, likely to drop dead at any minute, right?.. no-one would bat an eyelid. - Maus, 65.
A point difficult to prove beyond speculation, I’m afraid.
From what I understand, most posts here, rather than “defending” younger generations are discouraging over generalizations of all kinds.
I may have got the wrong impression, too.
By the way, I am 62 and, if anything, I have felt some HOs trusted me because of my age when I still didn’t have many reviews on this platform.
There are owners that post on the forum that they are concerned that sitters only sit because they want a free vacation .
Other hosts come to the forum to that complain that sitters aren’t on vacation and are only house sitting for free accommodation.
Sitters that complain that they are being rejected because they are too young / too old / single / a couple / or a family .
Hosts that distrust the motives of local sitters that apply and hosts that reject all applications from sitters that live in another Country .
We can now start complaining about what the posts might have been had the OP been different.
Now that I think of it, I think I’ve already done that 
Yup, exactly this. My post was discouraging generalising/ stereotyping of any kind. That encompasses more mature sitters too, but they weren’t the topic of this particular thread (and, from what I’ve seen, tend to be preferred by home owners than younger sitters anyway).
Love nomads and travelers and people who work from home. I am by no means traditional. I travel for a living and I travel for enjoyment. Some of my sitters who have become good friends do this as well. Not homeowners, no fixed address, do THS for fun and world wide travel.
This was a different situation.