Hi everyone! My name is Kayla and I am a new to THS. I both am a sitter, and someone in need of occasional housesits for my cats and turtles.
I was wondering what the usual turnaround time looks like between a listing being posted and people reaching out? If you are scheduling in advance, does it usually take a little while before you get responses? I know that Manhattan is a desirable location.
On the flip side, does anyone have recommendations on how to get pet owners to trust you as a petsitter if you do not have any official reviews yet outside of character references?
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Hi @kaylarose! Welcome to the THS platform. 
As a sitter, the best thing you can do is to personalize each message and shine a light on what sets you apart as a sitter and what experience you bring to the table. We booked our first 3 or 4 sits before having our first review (we committed to them before we ever did our first sit).
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I am both a homeowner (HO) and sitter here. As a sitter, if I see an interesting sit in a desirable location, I apply immediately. For example, I will be in NYC the weekend of May 7 for a family event and have been looking for sits for that time. One popped up yesterday and I applied immediately because I wanted to be one of the first. NYC sits go quickly, so you should not have a problem finding someone.
On the other side, as a HO, I have had 3 sitters in my home now, and 2 were first-time sitters. I like to give new sitters a chance, since I am pretty new here myself. I look at their pet experience, external reviews, application wording (have they personalized it to my listing?), and my gut feeling when I video chat with them. For longer sits, I like a person that has some experience of home maintenance, in case something goes wrong (I own my house, so no landlord to call to fix things). If they aren’t local, I like them to explain why they want to visit my city (not as desirable as NYC, so I don’t want them cancelling for a better location later).
If you are having trouble getting started, look for local sits to begin with. I started with one in a suburb of my town that had no other applicants. Once I had that first good review, it was much easier to get locations that I wanted.
Good luck!
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Hi @kaylarose welcome to THS forum. I am a house/pet sitter only, but in my opinion, as HO you received reviews from your HS, maybe you want to add them to your profile as sitter too. I mean, their reviews is a kind of testimony of how you conduct you home and your pets.
By the way, we will be in NYC from the end of October till 10th November ( flexible dates) we have already booked a hotel with free cancellation but if the opportunity arise we would be elated to do some house/pet sitting during our stay.
Tamy
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If you have great reviews from sitters, I would make sure to tell the HO to check your owner site so they can see what has been written about you by previous sitters. This will give info on the type of HO you are, your home, etc.
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Hello and welcome to the forum!
I just accepted a sitter couple without any reviews yet, one reason was because they used to be HOs. This actually counted more to me than reviews. Of course we did a video call and I liked both of them instantly and I could have a look at their home, which was perfectly tidy and beautifully furnished.
I prefer someone who also owns a home, not necessarily because of maintenance but it’s completely different if you know how it is to own something compared to something rented.
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Others have made great suggestions. I would like to add that many of us started out by taking at least one local or close by sit that were not very much in demand. These often even give you the opportunity to meet the owner in advance and instill confidence. Once you get even one review, it makes it much easier to get sits. Also, if you have LinkedIn and Airbnb profiles, those can be linked to your sitter profile. If you link your sitter profile and owner listing to your forum profile, folks can give you specific feedback on making them stand out. Good luck!
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Hello Kayla, do you have a preferred location you would like to sit at?