Hi AlohaAina,
I do sympathise as I have a dust allergy. It’s under control with medication but a severely dirty house would set an asthma attack off. I usually assess the photos first i.e. have the owners tidied up for the photos. If not then I assume (rightly or wrongly) they wouldn’t clean up because housesitters are coming. Also older houses with lots of nooks and crannies are that much more difficult to clean, so a house with a more modern interior are generally easier to keep on top of cleanliness wise.
During an initial conversation if I have worries on the cleanliness level I ask the HO to tell me something about their cleaning routine. I.e. Once a week, cleaner in their employ etc I usually pave the way by saying that through living in the Netherlands I have become rather direct in my communication! Which to a certain extent is true.
Only one person took umbrage at my question, saying they thought I was too interested in my own comfort. For two house-sits we both agreed that the levels of dust would not be acceptable for me. Hope my comments help and good luck!
My husband often ends up cleaning/fixing dishwashers and washing machines (black mould around the door and in the dispenser) I often find that people are very grateful rather than taking offence. But that could differ from household to household.
This is tricky. It’s something that THS needs to address themselves I think. We also have spent many hours cleaning not so welcoming homes when we arrive. We do long term sits so for us it balances out. For short termers I don’t know. It seems unfair. I’d say ask for a video home tour during the initial zoom call. Not a guarantee but you can get an idea of whether someone is clean or not from that. I’d say if it isn’t clean in the zoom it probably won’t be when you arrive. I guess we all just have to balance out what is worth it to us and what isn’t.
I would really like to get a better report, through reviews, from previous sitters. It would be really useful to know what they think of all the aspects of the house and pets, not just one indicator. It’s established that it’s of questionable accuracy anyway.
It’s not like I can ask them to move the trash can and see if it’s filthy behind it. I can’t ask them to open their fridge and show that there isn’t stuff that’s moldy/old/expired/etc.
Did the house look really clean in the pictures and then ended up being really dirty?
Photos aren’t everything though. You can’t appreciate the smell of a multi-cat household over a video call.
I hear you! I recently completed a house sit where the owner’s dirty laundry was in the wash and some in the dryer. A leftover, uncovered meal in the oven and the floor wasn’t clean. I’d love to spend more time with the pet rather than having to clean a house I expected to be reasonably tidy upon arrival and I am more than happy to do a thorough clean and leave a place better than before I entered.
One of other house sits I did had the owner impressed with my cleanliness and said the place was cleaner before I arrived.
I may need to take some of the comments and advice I have read in this thread; for my next application about cleanliness expectations and be more selective with the sits I accept. I also will know there are alarm bells when I see the owner commenting but the sitter hasn’t. I have seen this on a few occasions and they remain empty.
To answer your question about the pictures: I only apply to sits, where I can find enough pictures from the flat, too and not only the pet. Because for me, it is really important to feel comfortable in a flat and I just don´t, when it´s messy or not clean (enough).
But even with that, I got surprises. Flats that looked incredible in the photos and were messy in reality. Also: people normally don´t take photos of their sink or toilet so there is no way to tell from the photos, if a house will be really clean or not.
That’s exactly how I think about it. Mind you when ive said this to people, that i get the chance to live lots of lives in one, they think I’m a bit weird…
I agree. . I do a deep cleaning before sitters come. I don’t have a cleaner, and I work hard to make sure the apartment is uncluttered and guest ready.
However, when I’m trying to choose a sitter and arrange the videos, having to have my home tour ready would not be realistic. There are two people working from home. Three cats. Packages arriving. Sweaters thrown on the couch. Coffee cups on messy desks, etc. God only knows what the bathroom or kitchen would look like. I would probably just say “no time for that” and offer to send them the two house tour videos we made. I’d feel “judged” in a way where it would just be uncomfortable, and I’d be more likely to move to the next candidate.
I get it that some sitters feel they’ve burned by sits that weren’t as described. Just like some pet parents may be overly suspicious of sitters based on past experiences. But there also are reviews with no red flags of my home. This hasn’t been a problem in real life for me with my sitters, and as a sitter I haven’t been unpleasantly surprised in homes. I don’t think this mutual distrust is the norm. So I guess my bottom line is I would just rule someone out if they asked for a “surprise” video tour in the same way as I’d be freaked if a homeowner showed up 4 hours early and expected their home to be spotless.
I’m a sitter and I wouldn’t request this. It seems too invasive. I think you can tell what a home is like by the photos, if there aren’t enough I don’t go for it. You can usually tell what HOs are like by their interactions with you in messages and obvs on the video call. That said they’re have been sits I’ve never had even a phone call with and it’s gone fine!
I’ve had very nice sits where the HO may have forgotten to remove a moldy something from the fridge. I don’t mention it and they probably assume I ate the item. NBD and I’m including that in my review.
I would be offended if a sitter were to question the cleanliness of our home. It is always clean and tidy and before a sitter comes to stay it gets a special clean. Sure they may well find the odd cobweb or move a chest of drawers and find some dust but if that were the subject of a complaint I would think the sitter is weird! As has been suggested all this sort of thing should have been sorted at the initial stage anyway.
In our original TH profile had that I am OCD with Cleaning, you will come home to your Home Deep Cleaned, I said it in a light hearted way, however I had HO say, they loved the sound of us, everything seems like it would be perfect, but they were not sure that the house we be up to our standards, I include it in my application now, something like you will arrive home to a clean house I have OCD I physically and mentally can’t help it, it often opens a chat, often a video walk through. I get feedback from my regular sits that their cleaner is worried I will take their jobs, lol.
I get feedback from One of sits too who are impressed the house is so clean when 3/4 of us have been living in their house for a week plus.
Maybe on your profile, put your a very clean and tidy and if you didn’t know I had Pets you would think I lived in a Pet free home or something like that… Then in your application you could mention again that you are very clean and tidy. If a HO is worried they will touch base or if they know full well, there Home is not for you they will just decline your application.
I tend not to apply for sits under 7 days, unless it’s a regular and I know full well what I am walking into in some cases, I know that I am hoovering and moping all the floors, cleaning the kitchen surfaces, hob and bathrooms before we unpack, some are as clean and tidy as myself, I can just turn up unpack and we both know the house will be the same when we leave and they get home, if it’s an away sit, it depends on how long we are there etc, I have had some I just had to breathe my way through it.
Hope this helps.
Happy Sitting
Perhaps I have yet to meet people who have a very low idea of what is ‘normal’ but up to now everyone who has ever sat for me, and there have been dozens, have left the house as they found it. I don’t expect, or want, over the top nonsense about ‘cleaning’. It is, as far as I’m concerned perfectly normal to keep a home clean and reasonably tidy. It is so normal I never even mention it! I read all the time about sitters 'looking after the house and keeping it clean" That is what normal people do and expect! Do these same people keep talking about personal cleanliness, having a shower so they don’t smell etc! Of course not so why suggest that keeping a house ‘Clean’ is out of the ordinary?
Everyone lives differently but you can usually tell by the pics they post and the number of animals they have. Use common sense. All of the homes I have sat in were beautiful and clean, those are the homes I choose. I put a lot into the pictures they show and what they say on their request. However, you too have to ask questions with your first correspondence with the Owners. For instance, I require a fenced yard to let the dogs out in because I am not comfortable walking a dog at night in an unfamiliar area and sometimes the dog just needs to go out at night. I also require to go over to the house before the day they leave if it is large dogs that I am sitting for. Sometimes I am invited to stay 1 night early in order for the dogs to get used to me.
so there is no way to tell from the photos, if a house will be really clean or not.