IHaving had one bad experience in all these years beg to disagree!
Sure, if I am offering a room or a small simple apartment- however , we are talking about TRUSTING someone in your house. Possessions (we can’t put everything away). Leaving a stove on, fire,
Based on some of the wild things I have done I think it’s a major trust issue.
And above all, the safety and love of my pets.
And yes I used to run a pet and house sitting business and I do sometimes hire for short sits.
And looking at it another way- if a traveller is going to travel on a budget, the cheapest hostel runs at a minimum of $ 70 a night $490 a week and that’s without any meals.
It’s a great saving to housesit.
Yes 3 dogs, cats, rabbits is a lot of work and you are essentially “woofing “
One sleepy cat, is cushy.
I also leave a clean home, gifts and some homemade food.
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Edited to meet posting guidelines
Just a quick comment about ‘no visitors’ part @Petlover64 . I have no idea, what @RKL 's reasons are, but in our case, we do not want sitters to have visitors because of our dog. She is friendly and easy going, but as she already has new people living in in the house with her (sitters), it would be too much to add a new set of strangers to the mix when we are not around. No, she wouldn’t be aggressive with them, but would be stressed.
Well that is a reason that might be legitimate for your pet who you know best. My dog is extremely well socialized and would probably really enjoy all the extra attention. As a dog trainer I am extremely particular of the sort of person that looks after my dogs. That person is worth their weight in gold and I would do anything to make them happy, comfortable and coming back. People suggesting someone would have to pay minimum $70 for a hostel so the sitter is getting a good deal are not my type of sits. I’m a professional I’m worth min $200/ day for my services. If I’m looking after your dog you will come back to an extremely happy pet that is often much better behaved. ( improved leash walking skills). I will have spent hours every day walking your pet, reading it’s temperament , helping it adjust to your absence and providing the emotional support it needs. So if someone is suggesting I can’t have a friend over that’s a hard pass for me. In fact if I start getting a list of rules that will not work for me. I live in a 4000 sqft ocean front home. I know about nice things. I’m doing this because I like the idea of a change of pace and I love dogs and I’m excellent with them. I’m Sharing my gifts. I’m giving you the opportunity to travel knowing your pet(s) and home are well cared for. I expect to be treated like the professional I am. I have 3 awesome adult children who are all caring compassionate adults and have been training dogs with me ( on the side) for 10 years. If they were with me your pet would be extra loved. So I will be extremely diligent about researching who I will sit for. I’m looking to find a few repeat long term relationships where I will go the extra mile to accommodate and HO will do the same. I can afford to rent if that’s what I want to do. I have already found the best sitter for my dogs she brings 4 large dogs with her to my house and leaves my house in amazing condition her skill level and compassion are unmatched. She is priceless. I would do anything for her and definitely would not have any no’s. I trust her to make excellent decisions.
@Petlover64 Sounds like you have your criteria for what a great sit looks for you well figured out. I do hope every sitter would do that before applying. When both the HO and HS know what they want and are able to express it clearly, it’s possible to find the great match we’re all looking for.
I got a lot of lovely applicants for my sit but no one quite right - I checked the people who had liked my listing and found someone who was perfect - invited her to sit and she accepted. I had a very long sit - much harder to find suitable candidates than I thought! It may be worth doing a search through the candidate pool to find the one for you!
In my opinion, THS probably needs to market differently – maybe more towards adventurous retirees
This! Companies so regularly chase after the young and pretty and treat anyone over the age of 40 as if they’re invisible… Even though they’re the ones with savings/money.
It would help to see your listing and provide feedback but additionally, if you are getting unsuitable submissions, I would take that as indirect feedback and update my listing to be more explicit and just state exactly what I’m looking for. As an HS, I appreciate when an HO is that clear because it wastes less time.
Re:unsuitable applications, eliminate/decline them immediately. It’s always nice to state why but you could also just say, you don’t feel they’re the right fit based on what you’ve outlined in your profile or something along those lines.
I eliminate people immediately if it’s clear they didn’t even bother reading our listing and my listing is very comprehensive and transparent.
There are tons of good HS on here…there are also tons of listings and if yours doesn’t have solid photos, it’s unclear that you’re an effective and clear communicator, etc as @Cuttlefish called out, many of the really good sitters won’t bother because they can catch even the amber flags and avoid them. X
When I started pet sitting, most of my experience was way back in my childhood and early 20s. Recently I had only looked after goats a few years back, and walked dogs locally. Still, people gave me a chance and now I’m an experienced pet sitter with over 30 positive references
In all honesty, I think you would feel safer if you paid for a sitter or took your pet to a kennel. Otherwise, like the rest of us, you need to give yourself plenty of time and have patience in finding a sitter. If you don’t live in a desirable area you are less likely to find someone suitable.
I am perfectly happy to be picky about my sitters. I have 3 cats, 2 of which have special diets, so I need to be absolutely comfortable that whoever is staying will be responsible and attentive. I listed restrictions that address much of what has been said here: I have a very small apartment, will not abide smoking, and the cats will not tolerate other animals or children. But I live in a sought-after area (Switzerland) so I usually have a good choice of applicants.
A few times I bent my own rules and brought in a “new sitter” and was disappointed. I hadn’t read between the lines of what they wrote and ended up with people who were here for the “free vacation” and the cats didn’t get the attention that they deserve.
For my last sit, and my two upcoming sits, I have reached out privately to previous sitters to come back. They are thrilled to visit the cats again, and I am thrilled to know that I have someone here who understands the daily routine.
@Petlover64 You write that homeowners should provide something for the sitters? Certainly you have noticed that sitters get FREE accommodations, right? Of course sitters are not “The Help.” Heaven forbid. (By the way, we are sitters as well as homeowners).
This very important fact is the fundamental foundation upon which this exchange is based.
Hi - we sit full time from October to April and only accept sits that are at least two weeks long. We prefer sits that are one month or more. The issue I have is with the “no visitors”. If it’s because the pets would be too stressed, then state that.
But it can get lonely when your only human interaction is with shop keepers or a spouse. No visitor restrictions would mean we couldn’t have friends over to share a meal. We frequently have close friends who are pet lovers join us for part of a sit, with the HOs permission. Sometimes they stay at a hotel or in our small RV. But the pets always win as they have more people doting on them.
You have to have trust that your sitters are responsible adults.
I guess it depends where you live whether there’s more sitters than sits, or more sits than sitters. In mainland Europe ( = Europe except UK) there’s way more sitters than sits in my experience! In the UK it’s probably the opposite
I would guess that the sitter/HO ratio in mainland Europe is about the same as in many other countries, and that they high numbers of applicants are mostly due to the tens of thousands of members in the UK that want to travel to the continent.
(By the way, we are sitters as well as homeowners).
we just know that there are tonnes of new members full stop and that there are also way more sits than sitters.