@amyjomulvaney, this is a fantastic mindset. And heck of a fortunate father-in-law!
As experienced housesitters (70+), we find that our biggest challenges have been material surprises. We’ve had a few and evolved our video call due diligence a great deal since early days.
If you normally receive plenty of applications then this suggests that your listing is generally attractive to housesitters.
Probably the least desirable situation is shared use of internal facilities (e.g. third party using kitchen); next up would be shared use of external facilities (e.g. garden/patio).
At its heart then housesitting is a voluntary trade. If either party chooses to make some aspect more difficult then there should be a commensurate upside. E.g. if pet care is above-average demanding then perhaps location/property may be above-average.
We suspect that attractiveness to your future situation would vary across the housesitter community depending on attractiveness of other aspects of your listing (e.g. location, property, duration, pets, pet care, use of vehicle, flexible arrival/departure).
If the shared space is made clear and it’s not within the same domicile, I don’t think any rules are violated.
We have to share common garden space and even building (but not home) entrances with neighbours all the time in cities so as long as your father is minding his own business and that’s made clear, I’m not sure what the issue would be so long as he doesn’t overstep.
it is something I’d disclose before sit confirmation though so sitters are aware of the set up.
Will grandpa be trying to keep tabs on them, infringe on their privacy and/or use of outdoor space, or might he become a burden either because the hosts try to pull a bait and switch (or he has an actual emergency and the hosts try to tap the sitters for extra responsibilities).
Given that, if you make clear how none of those elements could become an issue, you’ll have a better shot.
Some have such concerns because sitters often think ahead to potential problems. And other sitters have actually run into problems with such proximity.
I think, like most things in life, much depends on the people involved.
We have a sit in August where the hosts mother lives in a separate building on the property. The hosts sent us a Google satellite views showing clearly where it is in relation to the house before we went ahead and confirmed the sit. The only shared outdoor space is the large parking area so we are comfortable with this.
We are currently on a non THS sit where one of the hosts sons has been staying in a self contained apartment on the property for a few days during an unexpected gap in his holiday plans. Our main concern was that the escape artist dog didn’t get an opportunity to get off the property. The son has been really good at letting us know when he has been coming or going so we can make sure the dogs are inside. He is also one of the emergency contacts, which has been helpful.
I think as long as the hosts and the person living there understands the situation and the housesitters right to privacy, and the housesitters are comfortable with the arrangement, this can work well for all concerned.
I actually did a sit in a similar situation like this. I knew it before I applied. It was an attached apartment, but did not have access to the main house. The in-law was allowed to use the pool and patio but asked me beforehand if it was okay. We spent a very nice afternoon chatting on the patio and playing with the pups. Having her check on the dogs after I left and before the owners came home allowed me to leave a little earlier to get on the road. So all-in-all, it was a great sit for me.
With an older generation family member ‘on site’ I’d be swerving this sit. I did a sit where the HO had employees of their business on site but with a separate entrance and I really disliked it.
The other considerations will emerge as the newer reviews pile up and will be very much dependent on grandpa’s actual behaviour.
Generally speaking, I’m unlikely to apply for a sit where I’d be sharing a private space with someone else. As a solo female sitter, I definitely wouldn’t apply for a sit where I’d be sharing a private space with a man, even if we had an opportunity to meet beforehand. I’m sure your grandpa is lovely and that most people are reasonable/decent, but I’ll always err on the side of caution in situations like this.
As long as the gentleman doesn’t come into the house uninvited, I would be fine with this. To everyone asking if the garden/yard area would be private, don’t forget that almost every time a THS sitter signs up for an apartment or condo that lists a garden area, it’s shared amongst the residents. So this might be similar.
This has been really helpful to hear everyone’s experiences and insights. It will definitely help with the design. Thankfully, Grandpa is very healthy and ironically looking for a bigger apartment than he’s living in now. I’m guess once he gets to be a bit out of it, we won’t be able to get out of town like we do now. But it’s very important to us that we can continue to use TH while we still can. I tend to be an over communicator so I would not only give very clearn instructions to our sitters, but also to my father in law;) Let’s hope for the best! Thank you all for responding!
Same here. I only use that term for myself I never feel there’s such a thing as over communication from others.
For me, the communication in your listing is just perfect.
Talking about communication, if you don’t want to get more answers, you can ask a moderator to close this thread. Marking a solution rarely stops us from “over communicating” ?
Personally I’d have no problem with this whatsoever. In fact we’ve done a couple of sits like this and they’ve been wonderful. I think the most important thing is to be upfront about the situation and explain that the appartment is completely separated from your home and there would be no intrusion from your father-in-law, and certainly no expectation that a sitter would be at all responsible for him.
