I am new to the whole TH concept so I would like some advices.
I have listed my home for cat sitting over Christmas and I have received an application. While I wait for some more to come (hopefully) I looked at the profile of the first one and the reviews seems positive even if there are only 7 of them.
Only I noticed that the dates of 5 of these reviews are all the same.
I was wondering what it means, are those fake or simply all loaded at the same time?
Also, do you know if it advisable to contact the people providing the reviews to get confirmation?
It sounds as if these first 5 are references . The other two are reviews from THS sits .
Arrange a video call with this sitter asap. Sitters over the holiday period are very much in demand and you may find this sitter gets snapped up by another host if you donât act quickly .
By having a video call you are not committed to anything . You can discuss their experience and get an idea if they are going to be a good match for you and your pet .
You can ask to contact the people who provided references . ( but not the reviews )
Sounds like those are References and not Reviews. So when sitters start a THS account they can get references from others. These will appear in the review section. If it is just one day and not a date range, it is a reference.
Christmas is a period of extreme excess demand for housesitters. Many Pet Parent seek to travel. Some housesitters prefer to stay home. Thereâs an imbalance. Encourage prepare questions or concerns and schedule video call to clarify relevant details.
Encourage not consider housesitter as inexperienced with seven reviews/references. THS does not publish data on average experience of Pet Parents or housesitters but weâd guess that many of the learnings come from the first few times. By seven times, most people will have gained significant experience and should have garnered sufficient reviews/references for most pet parents.
Iâd advise not waiting for more applications to come in before responding to this sitter, since sitters often apply for several sits with the dates they want to fill. Itâs wise to arrange a video chat, so you can each get the measure of each other, but donât feel compelled to offer the sit unless you feel 100% confident that youâre a good match. Most of all, be aware that an application is not an offer to sit, but an expression of interest.
THS reviews are all verified (and you can see the sit dates, to ascertain duration etc.) References are not verified.
I hope things work out well with your first sitters.
The most common mistake by new hosts is expecting to get âenoughâ applications before moving forward on any of them. You only need 1 good applicant and good applicants get snatched up pdq. Understand that sitters often apply for multiple sits with over lapping dates and experienced sitters are not going to wait on you if they are extended an invitation to another sit.
Which leaves me to the next common mistake by new hosts: not fully completing the THS process to book a sit. If you find a sitter you want, hosts have to extend a formal invitation to accept the sit and the sitter has to explicitly accept that invitation. Until that last step, your profile will show your dates as open and/or under review. it is too common that new hosts think theyâve found a great sitter who has âagreedâ to the dates and everything is set. But unless the sitter formally accepts the hostâs sole invitation, heartbreak ensues.
Final new host mistake: not having a sense of urgency about communications with sit applicants. It is THSâs expectation that members respond within 72 hours. That is pretty liberal. 48 hours is a more realistic maximum time though 24 is much better. We strive to respond to applicants within 4 hours of posting our sit dates and have still lost out on some excellent sitters. (Note that when that happens, donât fret about it; itâs unlikely you did anything wrong and thereâs nothing personal about rejection that early in the process. If it helps, keep in mind that sitters are rejected much more often than hosts.)
THS includes the number of references in the total number of reviews on a sitterâs profile. References are usually what friends and family say about the sitter but it is not challenging for a sitter to post references they wrote themselves. So, obviously, actual reviews carry greater weight. If the reviews look good on your applicant, move forward on setting up a chat. You can also contact one or more references for additional information.
Definitely arrange a video chat with the one applicant and decide if theyâre right for you, of course theyâll do the same so if you offer it they might decline. Then wait for other applicants.
If nothing else itâll give you some practice with video chats exploring if itâs a match or not. Write a list of questions to ask/check out with the person. Write a list of things that are deal breakers that you want them to know up front. They will decide if youâre a match for them.
You didnât say how long the listing dates have been posted but if itâs been a few days, getting only one applicant is a sign that your listing isnât in high demand and you may not get too many more. Or anymore.
In which case you arenât going to be nearly as selective as a host who gets a slew of applications almost immediately upon listing sit dates.
If this is indeed the case you may want to start a thread and ask about how to make your listing more attractive to sitters. Sometimes there are small tweaks that can make the difference, other times there isnât much you can do at all because itâs about location.
This doesnât make sense, if that was the case then lots of hosts would be unable to fill their listing dates and they would leave the platform, thus rebalancing the ratio between host sit dates and available sitters.
Weâve started the heaviest sitter demand period now with Christmas-New Year. The site literally gets flooded with listings and MANY owners will not secure a sitter. There may be nothing wrong with their listing; many sitters choose not to sit over this festive period but rather spend it with their families, for example.
So competition is rife to secure a sitter, let alone an experienced one. Iâve just put in a search from 20 Dec - 10 Jan and there are currently 2610 listings advertised worldwide - thatâs over a quarter of the total sits advertised. And it will escalate from now on. There just arenât enough active sitters to cover the demand.
Gotchya. I guess if hosts are at least partially successful with THS, theyâll stick around while probably pursuing other options to get coverage.
We posted dates for December 19 through January 19. I was concerned about responses given that itâs not as desirable a time to travel to Greece. We had no problems securing a sitter almost immediately.
It also depends on length of sit to make it worthwhile for a sitter and also how early the sit is advertised. Youâd be surprised at the lack of consideration some owners show by advertising the starting date on 25 Dec or just before and ending it on 31 Dec/1 Jan!
In addition to the pertinent points made by @temba I would add that some of the sitters that are available to house sit over the holiday period get offered PAID sits ( via other platforms) . The pay for a paid sit over the holiday period is very good .
Weâve had multiple ( at least 6 at the last count) requests for paid sits over the holiday period . All well paid in luxury homes with great pets . All of which weâve declined as 8 months ago we committed to a repeat THS sit for this period which we are looking forward to.
Welcome Superlu79
As has already been stated Iâd look to lock down any decent sitter asap as Christmas sitters can be like gold dust. Obviously do the usual due diligence on any sitter and have a video call asap to see if you gel.
I usually get double figure messages around Christmas asking if I can sit for them. I donât do Christmas sits as itâs a time I catch up with distant family.
With so much competition during peak holiday periods, hosts may want to think outside the box and put themselves in the minds of a potential sitter and update the listing to attract them during peak holiday periods.
âSpend your holidays with family at our beautiful property. So many great things to see and do in the areaâ.
Of course that would mean multiple people at your property at least for the evening.
But it might be better than not having a sitter at all.
Interesting. I guess if Christmas and NYE are very important dates to someone that could be less appealing, but I love to travel on the actual day of a holiday. So much less traffic! I find it so much easier than the two days prior or after a major holiday.
If sittters are reliant on public transport @Shafofo, it can be difficult to get to some sits on those special Christmas/New Year dates because there is no public transport operating.