THS used to have “spring cleaning” in the terms of whatever for sitters.
I think it’s very much the other way around these days.
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I wouldn’t get too concerned about that. If the house is clean when you arrive, I’ve found it’s pretty easy to return it to its original state. If it’s less clean than I would like, I tend to clean it up in the beginning so it pleases me, then just do a once over when I leave.
When petsitters come to my house, I usually have a cleaning person come in and give it a thorough cleaning before I leave and I’ve found that most sitters leave it the way they found it—clean.
Of course the most important thing is that my dog looks happy and healthy upon my return and that the pets that I sit for, are the same.
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@Katie that’s the other thing – this site. Those who build it have set the rules to some extent, though sitters still have freedom of choice. Anyway just bc THS has created whatever terms, doesn’t make them fair or right. And my understanding is that they are somewhat vague when it comes to cleaning.
I’m not saying that anyone should be a slob and leave a nightmare for the owners upon their return. But anything besides cleaning up true messes like dirty dishes, spills on the floor, etc – shouldn’t be expected and isn’t financially fair.
I mean the sitters have to travel for free. They aren’t provided “board” as in food. So they still have to work unless retired.
Here’s the math:
If you Google “pet sitter Atlanta,” the first entry has no prices. Second entry has prices on their website so let’s consider those:
$125 per night for spending from 7 pm to 7 am at the house. No guarantee at all of spending time with the animal like petting, playing, etc. They could totally ignore the animal for much of the time and work from their computer. I mean you would hope not but the only thing included is being there.
$60 an hour during the day to be in the home.
Extra for extra pets (above only one pet).
Extra for walking like dogs.
Extra for taking to the vet, giving medication.
So if I wanted someone to spend two hours outside of the 7-7, that would cost an additional $120. Plus extra because we have three pets. Even more for walking etc.
But let’s just say $250 per day for one pet, and really minimal time spent. The animal would still be alone most of the day.
$250 per day times 30 days equals $7500 by my calculations.
And most pet sitting gigs would involve more time, more pets, etc. So that amount would pretty quickly climb to 10K monthly or more.
Then let’s take an air bnb. Those are usually priced partly based on size. So a larger home would cost more. But if there’s a larger home, usually more people will be staying. If you have a single or couple, like mostly on this site, we wouldn’t need or want a larger home (esp if we have to clean). Plus obviously with an air bnb, 100% of your time is free. There’s no comparison.
There are few areas where I couldn’t find an air bnb for the price of even limited hours pet sitting. And again not apples to apples bc with air bnb, sitter time is free.
Many people on this site do not recognize those realities, but they should.
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@pitcherplant right – I just mixed up my words. More houses than sitters. Thanks for correcting me!
And here’s the thing. The reason I thought this site was so great as a HO is because it’s waaayyyyyyyyy cheaper than hiring a pet sitting company. Way cheaper. If it weren’t, then every HO on this site could hire a real person to come do the job, without any hassles. Literally they (we) are here to save money.
And that’s fine but don’t expect this high level cleaning service on top of getting much cheaper (free) pet sitting, where you can add as many responsibilities as sitters will tolerate. That’s BS.
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Greetings,
I found this site after my dogs died. I wish I would have known about it!!! My primary residence is in Michigan, USA.
Back in the day when I had two healthy pups, I paid $40/day for a home sitter, normally a friend of a friend type of a person.
When I was unable to find a sitter, both dogs went into a day care/pet hotel. The cost was $65/day/night. Mind you, that was pre COVID. Prices have surely gone up.
My 2,300 square foot home is roughly $175/cleaning, as of March, 2024 for what that is worth.
Do the math…the sitters are FAR away more valuable if you want to discuss finances. In addition, the best security system is a home that isn’t empty.
If you get an imperfect review, follow it up with an explanation so you can share your side. Every story has three sides. His, hers and the truth! Make sure you have a voice.
The smart people will read between the lines on which party is reasonable versus unreasonable and come to the truth.
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@CuriousCat I guess maybe I’m not understanding! We spend probably two hours on our leaving day or the day before cleaning the house to the same standard as it was given to us (so I’m guessing putting in as much time as the homeowner put in getting ready for us). Less if it’s a small place or a short sit. Some people seem to take it too far but we wouldn’t e.g. clean windows or do any deep cleaning. We’ve had 20+ reviews that basically all mention how nice we left the house so I think the bar is more reasonable than you think. We avoid sits which specify how you should be cleaning during the stay - we’re not vacuum every day kind of people. If that level of cleaning is too much I feel like maybe you’d be happier with Air BnBs and that’s ok! If the trade doesn’t feel fair then walk away!
I don’t think I’d try to work out costs of e.g. cleaning at the end of the sit and spot cleaning in between similar to how I wouldn’t want a homeowner to work out costs of air bnbs in their area to see how much money they think we’re saving by pet sitting for them.
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I don’t even vacuum everyday in my own home, how do they expect someone else to vacuum their home everyday, I bet that they don’t even do that and only want to take advantage of the sitter
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That sounds pretty much how we’d like sitters to leave our home @Junipers . Take the garbage bags out, vacuum the rooms you used, strip the bed and put towels to a laundry basket and give bathroom and kitchen a quick clean up. No need to do any deep cleaning!
But I do have to confess, I most certainly use way more than two hours to get the place ready for sitters 
But that’s because I use it as a good reason to get a bit of a deep cleaning done by myself 
@CuriousCat For THS concept to work, both sitters and HOs should only make choises that feel like a fair exchange, so it’s great you know, what kind of sits are best for you 
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@Junipers we are trying it. Just out of common courtesy, I’m sure we would leave any home as you described. I just got upset reading I think it started with this thread, then reading a couple of others similar.
And in the price comparison, that only started after I read 3 different home owners saying how much their house would cost on Air BnB. So at least some already do the math. And my strong opinion is that the math says that the sitter loses, not the other way around. Doing the math would never have occurred to me if I hadn’t read those comments.
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@CuriousCat I wouldn’t worry about the forum too much - remember it’ll have a high proportion of drama - because people won’t write a post saying “the house was left clean for me and I left it clean at the end - we were both happy” just because there’s no point really. People come here if they’ve had an unusual experience to share it and/or get advice. Just go on your own experiences and pay attention to how homeowners present their listing to make sure it’s a good fit.
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I don’t feel that I lose. Yes, this is a hobby that costs a bit for travel. And maybe I am spending a bit more time on cleaning than when I am at my own place. But I feel that I win, that is why I am doing it.
Sure, the owners also win. But I am sitting in ordinary homes of owners with ordinary incomes. They would not travel (as much) if they needed to hire a paid sitter. Or they would find a solution that was not as comfortable for the pet. So they are in the same situation as me.
So they are happy with the arrangement, and I am happy. And both sides are grateful and don’t really calculate.
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Many of us sitters have (or have had) pets of our own, so we know the costs of professional boarding or sitting. I think you’re under the mistaken belief that we don’t. Ultimately, THS is a bartering platform and bartering works as long as both parties think they’re getting value.
With THS, sitters have a lot of freedom to choose where and when we sit, and for whom. It’s not for everyone, though. And it sounds like it’s not for you much, which is fine. I think you see it as a much more transactional exchange than many of us sitters do.
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@Maggie8K I never said this wasn’t for me. I’m trying to be a voice in opposition to homeowners who are saying ridiculous things about the value of their homes, where they seem not to understand the value of pet sitting. And this platform, from what I understand, started with lower cleaning expectations. Now for many home owners, those are higher. And now there’s a thread where there is supposedly a “trend” for homeowners to charge utilities, which is also ridiculous. Many of my earlier comments to this effect received a lot of likes. So I’m not the only one who feels this way, even if I’m the only one saying it.
As I actually said, I’ve searched for, and I believe I’ve found, house sits where the owners are truly nice people, as we actual are, and I don’t think will be carefully evaluating our cleanliness.
Home owners who are having difficulty finding people – maybe they will modify their requirements or listings to make it clear that they aren’t particular about cleaning. That’s what I would like to see.
And I’ll remind you that I paid like everyone else – so I’m here and I’m entitled to share my opinion, and try to effect change rather than being told that house sitting isn’t for me (which is never what I said). I do wish these requirements were clear before we paid for a membership.
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@pietkuip as I said, some home owners don’t sound like they think it’s fair without cleaning based on several comments about air bnb rates as justification for their expectation of extensive cleaning. I didn’t make my comments in a vacuum. I hope those home owners are the exception and it sounds like they might be. I guess we’ll find out.
At the moment, it sounds like from reading the expectations for house sitters have increased over time. I’m just trying to push back because I don’t think it’s right, and I think the trend needs to move back in the other direction. If you think things are perfect now, great – glad you’re enjoying your trips.
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We’re all entitled to our views. What you’ve repeatedly mentioned is that you want to do sits only if they don’t require much cleaning. That means it’s up to you to find such hosts, if you want to sit.
About cleaning expectations: Seems reasonable for hosts to not have to return to clean up after sitters. For me, I clean after myself whether I sit or stay at anyone’s home as a guest otherwise. I don’t offer a cleaning service, though, so I don’t do more than return homes in the conditions they were turned over to me.
Some folks don’t know how to set boundaries, maybe are people pleasers or maybe they just enjoy cleaning. Shrug. To me, that’s up to each sitter to deal with. Just because some go above and beyond with cleaning, cooking or gifting doesn’t mean I have to. I’ve been getting sits I enjoy without doing any of that. And my reviews are strong. YMMV.
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I had a good clean this morning it took 45 minutes, I’ll do this again in a week… I listened to a travel podcast whilst doing it. This doesn’t feel onerous in my own place and wouldn’t feel too much for me staying in somebody else’s home either. I suppose if the place was grimey with months of dirt to start with it’d take more effort ….
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@Maggie8K @pietkuip here is a thread expressing the same thing, and expressing concern about the overall direction of the site and many new listing responsibilities over the last two years, as well as the discontent of several experienced sitters:
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Saw that thread before. To me, it’s a self-correcting problem. If an overwhelming number of hosts make unreasonable demands, they’ll likely either get no sitters or bad sitters. It helps if everyone writes truthful reviews and outs hosts who are unreasonable in expectations and/or what they offer, like if they surprise someone with a dirty home or unmanageable pets.
The site has had many more sits than sitters for a long while. If a sitter can’t find good exchanges, maybe time to stop sitting (for a while).
To me, hosts need sitters more than the other way around. Personally, I can stop sitting at any point and travel otherwise if sitting ends up being a bad exchange.
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As a HO with a very easy cat who rarely even uses a litterbox (he goes outside), i would be disappointed in a sitter who felt that providing pet care was enough of a chore and that cleaning was asking too much (but I wouldn’t get worked up about missing ice cubes). I can get a pet sitter for $20 a visit - or for free if it is a short sit and i ask a friend. My cat likes company, but I wouldn’t pay for an overnight sitter, so the $20 is what I would pay daily. By your analysis (comparing the cash value of accommodation vs pet care), i shouldn’t bother cleaning before the sitter arrives, since my sitter is getting the better deal.
As a sitter, i leave houses as clean - or cleaner - than i found them. This is not because I don’t value my time, but because cleaning after myself is good manners, I believe. I would not clean dirt left by the HOs (unless essential for my comfort), but i will clean mess generated by me or the pets.
It is good that you know how much cleaning you are willing to do and screening homeowners on that basis. Hopefully HOs can do the same screening with you. I’m sure that there are HOs who arent as fussy about cleanliness as others, so you will probably find a match.
This thread has prompted me to add a line in my listing that asks sitters to leave the home as clean as they found it, so sitters can screen me out if they find this request too onerous.
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