I get asked to sit by pet owners who don’t know me beyond my profile, but who live in my small hometown. I always thank them, but mention that since TH is an exchange of pet care for travel, sitting for them wouldn’t make sense.
Is there a better way to respond? I want to help people and I love the pets, but I should be getting something in exchange.
What would get me to say yes is if they had a pool, and it was 100 degrees out.
Yes, I get invites in my city and beyond. Whatever I’m not interested in, I just say: “Unfortunately, I’m not available for your sit. Wishing you the best in finding a good sitter.” Then I move on.
I think your response is already fair and honest. Most owners probably appreciate the polite reply rather than being ignored.
One thing worth remembering is that not every sit is really about “travel value” in the holiday sense. Some local sits can still offer something useful - a quiet change of scene, a break from routine, time with different pets, use of a pool/garden/workspace, or even just an easy low-stress sit close to home. So I probably wouldn’t rule them all out automatically.
You could also frame it less as “I need something in exchange” and more as “I usually use THS for travel opportunities, so I mainly accept sits that give me a bit of a getaway feel.” That lands a little softer while still setting boundaries.
Something like:
“Thanks so much for reaching out. Your pets look lovely. I mostly use THS for travel and getaway experiences, so I’m usually less likely to take local sits, but I really appreciate the invitation and wish you the best finding a sitter.”
And honestly… if there’s a pool during a heatwave, all rules may suddenly become negotiable 
I really like your response to the hosts. It’s honest and said pleasantly. I think that is better than just saying you’re not available. If you just say the latter they will ask you again.
In my profile I’ve written that I’ll occasionally do a brief cat sit local to me to get my ‘cat fix’ as my husband is allergic. My next sit is for a local HO but the main attraction is the fabulous garden!! I’m told that their old Ginger Tom is somewhat ‘offhand’ 
I think in theory, the sitter locations would be helpful, but in reality, they often are not as a lot of people are not actually looking to do sits in the general area in which their profile states.
Of course there are people who do primarily sit locally in a particular area-- usually a bigger city-- that want to save on rent. You do have people who change their location to where they currently are, and would be interested in staying–probably most often for more vacation-like spots. I have been housesitting in California since the new year and changed my location to there since I am actually interested in getting sits in the state. I have gotten a number of invitations–more than I usually do–and actually accepted one a few weeks back. Many of the others were attractive too and I would have been open to doing them but they didn’t work for my schedule.
But the issue with all those examples is there is no way to discern such people from the rest. For lots of other reasons as well, securing a sitter via this method usually doesn’t pan out, though it definitely can work sometimes.
I think it is polite that you reply but probably don’t need to give any particular explanation beyond saying you aren’t available. Of course, what you say now is fine too.
Yes, I do get them and I don’t mind doing it. You can tell them you do paid sits for locals.
I’ve yet to be asked twice for an unsolicited sit I previously rejected, but I don’t mind leaving the possibility open, because who knows. I have for instance done local sits while having my house remodeled. Maybe I’ll be interested for other reasons down the line.
And my rejection message is on a keyboard shortcut, so I type three characters and it spits out. Low effort.
Yes, I don’t want them to ask again so I want them to know why.
Hi Chayot, I have sat locally when invited. They have been sits I would not have been looking for. One was a weekend and only a 15min drive away. However the owners owned a health club, just over a mile away from their home. They had a lovely house with a stream running along one boundary. The perks of doing this sit were amazing as I had a free pass to the health club. I only used the indoor swimming pool but then I also was able to have a free lunchtime meal and a drink in the club restaurant. They also absolutley stocked their fridge up with food for me, fish, chicken etc. and a huge fruit bowl. I can’t remember all but far more than I could eat, as after a meal at the club I would not normally have cooked another large meal. As they had bought so much for me I did. I had a great weekend away.
Another one I did as felt sorry for the couple, as had two lots of sitters cancel on them. This was a long weekend but by the beach and nice weather. Again only about 20 min drive away and somewhere I would just go on a hot day. But I actaully enjoyed being there, as a nice home with views of the sea and I was able to just walk to the beach for a swim. And they did leave me a few things in the fridge.
Another local one, well about 30 mins away this time was a huge house with grounds and they had a very large private indoor swimming pool. They also said I could invite who I liked to enjoy it with me. They actually suggested this. My daughters and grandchildren joined me one afternoon and loved it. There were also peacocks walking around the grounds. Sometimes it is nice to receive sit invites and accept them .
But if any sit invites are not to my liking or unavailable, I always send a polite rejection by saying something nice about either pets, location, house or all, and just say that, I am really sorry but uavailable for your dates and hope they find somebody. Then I just wish them well etc.
I don’t have a home town per se, I don’t own or rent a property and live a nomadic life style. The town where I lived the longest and where my children were raised is somewhere that I like to return to and see my friends. I’ve completed a few sits for someone I previously knew vaguely. Through that person I’ve been referred to someone else and I’m doing a short sit for them in June. Both are THS members, but the sits have been arranged off platform.
They could ask again as a THS member cannot actually read any previous correspondence until they have invited you again.
Just an hour ago I received an invitation for the fourth year running from a HO for a local sitting. Each year I advise them why I will not be accepting.
I fully expect that they will contact again next year.
@Jenny I have mentioned this new feature on the messaging system countless times with nothing done. Can anyone in the Product Team explain why it is impossible to read previous correspondence apart from scrolling down thousands of messages in my Inbox?
Consider this - in another thread the question was raised from a HO if other HOs were seeing a decline in sitters volunteering to take the sit. Many responded that due to increased travel related costs, cost of living, etc. that might be a reason for the decline HOs are seeing.
If that’s the case then to me it’s understandable to reach out to someone who is more local as the costs would be greatly reduced.
I took a sit 25 minutes from my home. The benefits for me were that it was in a quiet, wooded area full of wildlife that I could see from the windows. Beautiful garden. Great touristy town just down the road. And..I could still nip home and have lunch/dinner with my husband 1-2 times!
This would be so helpful to see your previous messages. I had an experience that I applied to a sit and after I hit send I was able to see that I applied a year before I did not remember.
I didn’t like their message to me when they declined me the year before. This time they offered me the sit but the way they declined me a year before was a red flag so I declined. Other platforms let you see past correspondence which is helpful especially if you’re on the platform for years.
We used to be able to read all previous correspondence until the new improved messaging system was launched.
I’ve had this happen around Christmas and Thanksgiving. To be fair I have one sit listed in my city because the homeowner had a second home at the time that they were living in, but because they are now only in my town, the sit appears to have taken place their in the system. So I always just politely explain that and that I only do THS sits to travel.
Personally I prefer to do sits away from home and to travel to countries of preference however I have done sits in my hometown or cities within easy reach to build up my Quantity and Star rating for my profile. I’ve really enjoyed those sits despite being so familiar with areas.
As a homeowner, I never understood why the location would show the sitter’s home location instead of where sitters are planning to travel to. A suggestion to find sitters if you’re not getting replies to your listing is to actively search for sitters and reach out to them. I had about 4 different sitters who were local sit for me due to different personal reasons, which worked out well for us both.
On the other hand, when I became a sitter briefly after my dog passed, I wanted to give back and preferred to only do local sits. I put this in my profile and would actively reach out to locals needing sitters. I rarely got responses from homeowners. During my one year that I was on THS as a sitter, I never had a local reach out.
It’s all a bit wonky, but it also might help to put something in your profile that says you don’t do local sits. It’s great that you’re responding to the homeowners as well. 
We live on an island in Washington and get local pet sit requests often. It’s jarring st thank them so much for thinking of me but that I prefer to do sits that take me further away from my home. The replys I get are always thankful and understanding.
We get invites like this occasionally. We now travel perpetually and our “hometown” isn’t really where we live. It is, however, a place we visit every few months to see our children and hubby’s father plus lots of friends. Sometimes we will do a sit in the area and sometimes we prefer to get an AirBnB so we have full freedom of our time.
If we get an invite outside the time we will be there, I politely tell them we won’t be in the area at that time but ask them to keep us in mind in the future. If I like the listing, I "favorite " it so I get future notifications
Do you get a lot of these invites? You may not want to close the door on them so firmly as your life may change at some point. I find most of these invites come from HOs who are starting to feel a bit desperate about their listing.