Help! Looking for a holiday sitter!

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

Hi! I’m new to THS, I just did my first post for a sitter and I’m having trouble finding one! I live in a lovely home in the Oakland (CA) hills with a sweet little cat. A lot of sitters have favorited my house but I’m not getting applicants. I need someone over the Christmas / New Years holiday and wondering if it’s not going to work out and I need to find another plan.

Any advice on what else I should be doing / doing differently?

2

Hello @Treehouse_cat and welcome. Add your listing to your profile and then members can offer help and advice on how to get applicants.

#teamworkmakesthedreamwork

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@Treehouse_cat

You have left it really late to find a sitter for the holiday period.

This time of the year is by far the busiest with more than normal home hosts looking for sitters and fewer than normal sitters wanting to sit.

As @Cuttlefish says, add your listing to your profile to enable experienced members of the group to offer any advice.

Don’t despair yet, there is still time. However, at this late stage if I was you, I would also be considering a Plan B in case you don’t manage to attract a trustedhousesitter

Good Luck!

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@Treehouse_cat Both @Cuttlefish and @Colin have summed up the situation re Christmas/New Year sits well. Add your listing to your profile so that we can help you.

One thing I would like to alert you to is that today there have been two new owners post how they were asked for payment by their prospective sitters. Do not fall into this trap as it is against the T & Cs for sitters to ask for payment by an owner. It is an equal exchange where no money changes hands. Hopefully those owners have reported them to THS and included the written evidence so the sitters can be dealt with.

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5

Thanks for the advice everyone. I added my listing to my profile, let’s see what happens. I’m really disappointed to hear about the sitters asking for compensation. I thought this was a trust based community and that’s really unfortunate. Hopefully something works out for us!

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Hi there, I took a look at your listing for you. I see that you have an applicant, which is great - I hope it works out for you! If not, however, there are definitely things you can consider to improve your listing, as it’s very minimal and isn’t relevant to the Christmas & winter season. Here’s some ideas to consider:

1: Try a striking title that attracts sitters to spend Christmas at your place. E.g: Christmas in Oakland - markets, lights and more!

2: Your cover photo is currently your lounge - try a nice image of your cat, or your home decorated at Christmas perhaps? Also, do you have a garden? If so, sitters would love to see pictures.

3: Your introduction is currently 1 sentence. Tell sitters:

  • About yourself and your cat
  • Why sitters should spend Christmas at your home
  • How many people you’re willing to have sit for you (if you have a preference) and if they can bring their own pets
  • When you’d like a sitter to arrive & depart

4: Your home & location section is very minimal and says nothing about your home. Tell sitters:

  • About your home and the amenities & comforts a sitter will have (how big is the bed, is there good WiFi, how’s the heating in your home? Are there streaming services? Will your home be nicely decorated for Christmas?)
  • Why should a sitter spend Christmas in the Oakland hills? What is there to do at this time of year? Christmas sits are very competitive, so tell sitters why they should stay over Christmas - this section is where you really sell your sit!
  • Is there a garden for sitters to relax in? What exactly makes your home a ‘tranquil space’ because currently you state so but give no further descriptions.
  • Will sitters need their own car or can they use yours?
  • Can you offer to collect sitters from the nearest airport or train station?

5: You have not completed your amenities section. Make sure this section is complete and complies with the camera & recording devices policy if you have an exterior camera that needs declaring in your amenities. Some sitters will skip the listing if they see this section is incomplete.

6: Responsibilities
This section is also very minimal. Tell sitters:

  • What is Sophie’s personality?
  • is she an indoor/outdoor cat? If so, how is this managed?
  • litter box changing?
  • Where does she sleep?
  • What are the 8pm meds for? Is Sophie a healthy cat? Are there any behaviours or health conditions that need to be disclosed, and if so, how can a sitter manage this?

Here is a blog that may be helpful:

Hope that helps! :blush:

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Your home and kitty look wonderful, and I think you will find someone who is coming to the area to spend the holidays with family or friends.

Think about what that type of Sitter would need to know about the responsibilities and give that information in your listing. There is a lot of competition for holiday Sits.

Also, if your dates are flexible at all, say so. Maybe someone can stay until January 1 but not until Jan 3, for example.

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I just glanced at your profile, you haven’t put enough details about yourself, I (like a lot of sitters) prefer to feel like I know who I am sitting for, I need to feel a connection to them, a vibe, a feel-good feeling, and I don’t feel anything like that with yours, because there just isn’t much content. So add a little extra.

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Nagy26 has given excellent advice on the info needed in your listing. As it is a competitive season you will need to do some work on your listing to be considered, I think - but the good news is that it is a great investment also for future sits @Treehouse_cat .

«Tell me why I should come to you» and keep on reading is key.

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10

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I have a couple leads now and hopefully something will work out :slight_smile: I really appreciate all the support from this forum.

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