Hi, we are Ben and Gill.
We have 2 dogs: a 14 year old cairn/poodle & a 6 year old Hungarian Vizsla. They get on extremely well. Both dogs like their home comforts & belly rubs.
We’re trying to get a house sitter but are getting hardly any applicants. We’ve invited 4 based on calendar availability and 1 application but they went with someone else who they were talking with before us.
Does our ad look good to existing sitters?
Are other home owners in ‘normal’ houses finding a fairly low response rate?
At this rate, we’ll be using the money back guarantee.
@gill welcome to the forum. I am sure you are going to get quite a bit of feedback from other members regarding your sit availabilities, but I would not be too concerned yet as planning for sits has changed considerably over the last few years due to travel delays, health concerns, etc. Sitters are waiting until much closer to apply for sits that are shorter in length, but I really don’t feel you will have a problem securing a sitter for either date.
Hello @Gill
I’ve had a look at your listing which is very comprehensive. The dogs and home look great and Ilkley is a fantastic place, it recently came top in a list of places to live I believe.
The only thing that puts me off, and I noticed it from the photos first, is that the sitter(s) would sleep on a sofa bed. You say it’s comfortable but it’s not the same as a proper bed.
At time of writing I see you have one applicant for each of your dates and you only need one sitter or sitters, so hopefully you’ll be in luck!
hi @Gill. Welcome. How’s Ilkley moor baht’at?
Checked your listing and everything looks great. Good pics of your dogs and your house. I’m sure you’ll get applicants but you might have to sit tight for a couple of weeks.
Thanks Debbie, fingers crossed then. I’ve just invited a few people, but if we leave it too late we risk not being able to fall back on kennels due to them being booked up.
Hi Smiley,
Thanks for the feedback, we’ll have 2 rooms available very soon but the guest room still has a sofa bed, we made sure it was a good one with a good mattress as we like our guests to be comfy. Unfortunately the applicants are not available due to date mix ups.
@Gill I agree with @Smiley 's comment in that some sitters have concerns about a sofa bed. However, I think what you show in the photos may be a living room sofa, not the one you mention as being in the guest room. Perhaps you need to clarify that in photos.
I would suggest you open up the sofa bed and NOT make the bed and take a photo. That way, sitters can see the mattress and gauge for themselves as to whether it’s a fit for them. It’s also a good idea to add the bed measurements (inches/cms) as bed sizes and descriptions vary greatly according to country. Some couples will no longer sleep on what’s commonly known as a double bed.
I would also take a close-up photo of your two dogs together (landscape format, not portrait) and use that as your lead-in photo.
Hi Gill
I’ve taken a look at your listing and have the following thoughts.
You mention there are beautiful walks 10 minutes away and there is a pic of your dogs in the car. Is it necessary to drive the dogs to walking places or can they be walked from the door? You have not mentioned use of car in your listing. Is car use necessary? Would you be offering use of yours? We never take dogs in our own car because, when on the road, we operate from our car and its pretty full, plus we don’t want all the dog hairs.
So if a car is needed it should be mentioned. And if yours is available that should be mentioned too as it would be an incentive.
I hadn’t actually noticed the sofabed but since others have mentioned I’d say that would probably be a turn off for us. But as one commenter suggested -if you show a pic of it unmade and describe the mattress & dimensions that might help others to decide.
You live in a gorgeous part of the country so I wish you well finding sitters!
I agree with @Lokstar in that we don’t put dogs in our car either.
Will your dogs travel on a bus or train? If so, state that as we love taking dogs on public transport.