HO with many questions

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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As promised, I now took the time to write down thoughts and questions. Read at your own peril.

About you, sitters

Firstly, thanks to you all for being active in this forum and sharing your thoughts, experiences, insights, insecurities and solutions. I am constantly learning - about the sitter’s view, about human decency (or the lack thereof), about common sense (or not), preferences, priorities, ideas, lifestyles…

About me

I have only ever done petsitting for close friends, never for strangers, so your descriptions are my insight (if I listen). I am planning to up my membership in the future, because I just love cats and dogs; the rest is not so close to my heart, but hey…one can learn.

I have been a cat daddy and THS homeowner for seven years now, first in Vienna, and now in Tenerife. My girls are calm and cuddly indoor cats and warm up to people rather quickly (well, yeah, Gandi can take her time).

My experiences with sitters

I have had fantastic catsitters, with great connection between us and with the pets, and was lucky to have such great experiences. The two sitters that failed to live up to standards (one, a rather young girl, fed my girls like a pound of treats over the course of a week and neglected to remove vomit stains on the wooden floor; the other sitters used up literally all the food they could find without replacing anything and left quite a bit of a mess), well those worse eperiences just pale in comparison. And the cats were always fine when I returned.

While away, I always felt secure in the feeling that my babies were in good hands, cared for, and loved. I also got lots of updates (actually, except from the sub-par sitters). And the pets always come first; as I’ve written elsewhere: “If you need to burn down the house to save the girls, what are you waiting for?”

My sit description(s)

I’ve learned quite a bit about how to write the description, butI have the feeling the locations sold themselves easily, so even though my description was lacking (and probably still is), it always attracted more sitters than I could handle.

Question: How much influence does the location really have? Am I wrong in believing that finding a sitter in my locations is disproportionally easy?

Sit duration

I generally post sits for around two weeks of absence. My feeling is that people might not want to stay longer in one place, so when I have a longer sit, it feels like a specialty to me that I need to prepare people for.

Question: Is there a general sweet spot for sit durations, i.e., what’s too short, what’s considered long or too long? (and for what type of sitter) What does this depend on? Discuss. :wink:

Buffer time

I like to spend time with my sitters to get to know them, show them around, build the trust I need to leave them alone with my girls, and generally spend a good time with nice people. Also, there’s always the chance of stuff going wrong with travel. For these reasons, I always add one-and-a-half days of buffer time at the start and the end of the sit.

This has always been received very positively and led to many nice evenings and days spent together, but I am aware that some sitters shy away from this, or at least from staying in the same house, regardless of available space.

My homes always had sufficient room to stay together; only once has a couple had to use a hotel because one of them had tested positive for Covid just before the sit. We did the handover very carefully (with the one who was negative).

Question: How usual or unusual is buffering, and which variants are preferred?

Documentation

I do of course maintain the THS welcome guide, but I also generally have a “cat and house guide” that describes much more. My homes have always been quirky and “special”, and my cats can be finicky with regards to eating.

Question: Do you as sitters appreciate an additional guide, or does that feel like too much handholding?

Me being humble (yeah well)

I feel comfortable in my homes, even if they’re not a catalog dream home, can be rough around the edges and maybe not everybody’s cup of tea (and the current one has a lot of things still to do). I often feel my home might be inadequate to sitters, not living up to expectations. I also feel that my two cats are too finicky with their food.

None of my sitters has ever been upset or shown discontent with either, so this might just be my insecurities kicking in. Also, you guys might have better solutions than I do…

Question: What are the actual expectations you as a sitter have of the home (on top of what you see in photos and read in descriptions), and of the pets? (I suppose keeping bad surprises to a minimum goes without saying).

Activating dates and getting applications

Generally, I’ve been overwhelmed by the very fast applications after publishing new dates. I feel the “paused after 5” is inadequate, because it favours snipers and disadvantages people who’d actually like to send a message. I’d like to see this changed back and have more control (before the 5-rule, I generally fielded around ten applications before I paused). In this new world, I also have to be fast and eliminate obviously inadequate sitters quickly, so others can still apply.

Question: How do sitters handle this conundrum? I read that the app sends a notification for sits coming up for your search terms and/or bookmarked sits. How much does the 5-and-pause limit impede your chances of getting a sit you really want?

Invitations

I also look through “who has bookmarked your listing”, and I really hope it’s in reverse chronological order, so i can talk to the most recent bookmarkers (luxury problem, I know). I check the calendars of course. It appears to me I can’t send a message with the invitation.

Question: Would you rather be invited for a sit, or apply yourself? Does it feel rude to be invited without a personal message? (I really don’t like that)

Selection process

For me, communication is essential from the get-go. If somebody’s difficult to talk to before the sit, I assume they’ll be the same during the sit, and I don’t want that kind of insecurity. So, how and what a sitter communicates is an important selection criterion for me.

Lately I’ve also become fond of having a videochat before confirming a sit, to get the vibe and talk, answer questions, show off the great cats etc.; In my early THS days this was uncommon, yet it worked out just as well.

Also important to me is the potential sitter’s interest in the pets and whether and what they ask about them.

The final decision is of course a gut decision, based on all of this.

Question: How do you as a sitter decide whether you actually want to do a sit or not, after having talked to a HO? What are important criteria?

Inviting a sitter

Before I invite a sitter, I send all other sitters a message that they couldn’t be invited this time. The ones I would have liked to invite but couldn’t I ask if whether it’s ok to (a) keep them on the list in case #1 had to back out and (b) keep them on the preferences to invite for future sits. Only then do I click the invite button (because, otherwise you only get the automated “declined” message - why can that not be personalised?)

Then there is always the suspense between my invitation and the sitters’ acceptance. Who knows how many sits they’ve been inching towards?

Question: Is it generally ok to ask non-selected sitters whether to keep them as a fallback? How does it feel? Should I avoid that?

Final thoughts

Firstly, thank you for reading my braindump. I hope it’s not too rambling and you can help me get a bit wiser.

Secondly, and I feel this popping up much more often than it should: I’m really sorry about HOs (and, also, sitters) that are uncommunicative, don’t take agreements seriously, hide things, don’t provide information, don’t consider the other side’s needs, investment, and feelings. Reading the forums it appears like there’s an epidemic of lack of empathy, decency, and common sense; I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks (after all, we’re more likely to report bad experiences than good ones), but I still dread everybody who’s been let down by someone they put faith into.

A happy and lucky HO,
Elmar.

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Elmar
Well worth the read. I’ve completed 80+ sits so write with experience, but these are just 1 sitter’s views. I’ll copy and paste your Qs and respond. Hope this isn’t too much info.
Question: How much influence does the location really have? Am I wrong in believing that finding a sitter in my locations is disproportionally easy?
Location is important to some extent but I also like exploring new places. I had great times on my 3 London sits but also enjoyed countryside sits in the UK. For me, being able to string together several sits over 6 or 8 weeks was important.
Cats in Vienna or Tenerife for a few weeks would be great. For me, a longer sit (3-4 weeks) would make travel to Tenerife worth the cost.
Question: Is there a general sweet spot for sit durations, i.e., what’s too short, what’s considered long or too long? (and for what type of sitter) What does this depend on? Discuss.
I enjoy a longer sit. At least 10 days, but for the right location a month or more is fine.
Question: How usual or unusual is buffering, and which variants are preferred?
For an intl sit (or even cross-country in the US/Canada, at least a day on either end - but maybe longer if you have the space. I’m old enough that jet lag takes its toll.
Questino: Do you as sitters appreciate an additional guide, or does that feel like too much handholding?
I’d prefer a guide that includes all the TH stuff and maybe more but in a PDF or txt document sent to my email address. The TH format is very clunky to read and print and every page includes all the TH boilerplate that makes for wasted pages when printing. I generally print 2 to a page and then select which pages to print.
Question: What are the actual expectations you as a sitter have of the home (on top of what you see in photos and read in descriptions), and of the pets? (I suppose keeping bad surprises to a minimum goes without saying).
An accurate description and good pictures - inside and out, please.
Info about any idiosyncrasies with food for the cats or meds if needed is important. Clear some space for me in the bedroom, refrigerator and kitchen and bathroom counter, please. A reading light bedside and either a plug or extension cord bedside.
Question: How do sitters handle this conundr um? I read that the app sends a notification for sits coming up for your search terms and/or bookmarked sits. How much does the 5-and-pause limit impede your chances of getting a sit you really want?
5 limit is a pain for applying - I might miss applying if I’m traveling between sits even if I’m notified of the sit. But TH doesn’t want to fix this for sitters. Best way to handle it is if you reject unsuitable apps quickly so you can get more?
Question: Is it generally ok to ask non-selected sitters whether to keep them as a fallback? How does it feel? Should I avoid that?
Of course ask if you can get back if the invited sitter doesn’t accept. If the sit is of interest, than I’m willing to be a second choice!
Thanks for asking - I do accept sits for first-time HOs and fortunately haven’t been burned (yet). But expect the day will come!
(Tenerife is where the terrible airplane collision happened, right? Wouldn’t keep me from applying.)
tom

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Hi Elmar,
I love that you want input from sitters on how to be a good host! For most of your questions, I think it’s very individual and it would take surveying a ton of sitters to get a majority opinion.

For myself, I am a professional pet sitter and therefore don’t WFH, so my sits are for escapes from home and going to beautiful places and locations where I can visit with family and friends. The longest I will sit is about 10 days, partly because I have my thriving pet sitting business to pay my bills and partly because I have a very skittish rescue kitty who has warmed up to me but no one else - so I feel terrible leaving her for long!

I much prefer a home setting to hotels, and the photos showing the homeowners’ homes are very important to me along with the description in the listing. I think I’m not the norm in that I prefer countryside or suburbs to noisy, bustling cities. I prioritize access to nature and serenity over a foodie/nightlife/culturally rich scene. This would be different if covid weren’t still raging. As for location, I look for sits within a day’s drive from my home, as traveling far wears me out. I can no longer fly due to my health, nor do I take public transportation of any kind in order to avoid covid. And I prefer homes with character, color and eclectic artwork, etc. One reason I don’t like hotels is they’re all in neutral, boring colors that make the room feel sterile, and it’s far from inviting.

I’m also probably not the norm in that I don’t care about updated kitchens and bathrooms, as long as the house is decently clean. I am low maintenance for the most part but do look for sits with some kind of outdoor access, even if it’s just a big enough patch of grass to sit out in a chair and soak up nature. One of the perks I look for is porches, terraces or decks - though none of that is a must.

Because I practice covid risk mitigations, I inform HOs up front that I am unable to spend the night in their home before they leave. However, I always offer to stay in a hotel nearby if they’re leaving too early in the day for me to come by and go over all the instructions and meet the pets. I had one HO whom I had applied to say that was a deal breaker as she requires sitters to stay over the night before for her to feel comfortable. I understood, as it’s a great leap of faith to hand over your keys to a stranger! But I couldn’t do that sit. All my other HOs understood and were fine meeting me for an hour or so to go over everything.

As for invites, I kind of feel badly because I “favorite” a lot of listings for future dates when the upcoming dates don’t work for me, but then often HOs invite me for the current listing dates and I have to explain that I’m sorry, but I hope another time it works out. I find it flattering to receive invites, plus it’s a nice way to build some rapport if the sit works out in the future. I can never figure out the calendar, so I can’t block out dates myself and the only unavailable dates shown are for THS sits coming up.

Now for the pets, the whole point of this wonderful exchange deal! I look for sits with cats foremost but also love taking care of farm animals, dogs, fish, reptiles, and birds including chickens and ducks.

Hope my particular input is helpful, though again I think it’s hard to generalize what sitters are looking for. I forgot to mention that I agree that this 5-application limit has caused nothing but headaches for everyone, from what I’ve read on this forum. I haven’t run into it myself as I never apply for popular enough sits that I have to rush my application.

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Aloha!

I really enjoyed reading your post and looking over your listing! Hubby and I are pet owners and sitters. We travel for 2-3 months a year and do house sits for about 75% of our traveling time. We also live in a very high demand location and find a sitter through THS to look after our home and two cats while we are away.

The location of a sit is a HUGE factor. Being in a high demand location myself I often get 5 applications within a few minutes of posting my sit. It’s actually VERY frustrating for me because usually the first 5 applicants haven’t even bothered to read my listing. Most pet owners here in Hawaii that I’ve spoken with have the same problem. What we find helpful is to decide what you are looking for before you post your listing. For instance, since our sits are usually 10+ weeks, we prefer a couple and state that in the listing. We view this almost as an insurance policy because if one person gets sick or injured, the other can still look after the house and cats. Also, if there’s an extreme weather warning we need people strong enough to move outdoor furniture (which requires two people). By deciding on what we’re looking for before we post our listing, we’re able to screen quickly and politely decline applicants who don’t meet the description and clearly haven’t read the listing.
When I post our sit listing, I know that my phone is going to need constant attention to review applications and decline unsuitable sitters to keep the listing open long enough that suitable applicants can apply. I get so many applications who almost beg me to let them come because it’s always been their dream to be in Hawaii, but they don’t even mention the cats or give any indication they’ve read my listing.
All that said, I think you will easily get many applications, but it may be difficult to get the most qualified applicants for your cats needs.

Regarding sit length, it really depends on the sitters. I’ve noticed that people who sit full time and are fully nomadic tend to prefer longer sits, whereas for us, we prefer sits between 7-12 days. But I think this is so individualized it’s hard to say. All of the sits I’ve had sitters for have been 10 weeks or longer. I notice that for longer sits its best to post well in advance (4-6 months) and possibly even earlier if possible. When I’ve posted closer to our travel dates it seems like the better sitters (for

me) are already engaged.

Regarding overlap.
We have had overlap at the beginning of each sit we’ve done and each with each sitter we’ve had care for our pets. We have never had overlap at the end of the sit. Partly because as a pet owners we want to relax and have the house to ourselves when we get home. As sitters we like to leave the house clean with our bedsheets washed and perfectly tidy for the owners return. I have always asked a neighbor if they could be free to check on the cats in the event our plane was delayed coming home after the sitters have left. But again, preferences are so individualized, so you can certainly ask for whatever you’d prefer and I’m sure there’s sitters out there who would be perfectly happy to stay after.

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Response continued;

I don’t think an additional is necessary as long as the welcome Guide is well filled out. I think there’s a fine balance between too much information and not enough. If there’s too much information, it’s hard as a sitter to find specific information that I need if I have a question, and if there is not enough information, I am left with questions. Detailed instructions on how to operate heating, cooling, laundry and appliances are very helpful. Also, a TV guide is also very appreciated especially when there’s more than one remote. :blush:

What we, as sitters, expect from a home is that the description and the pictures match the actual experience. It’s also very important that the home is clean, and there is room for the sitters. What I mean by that is that the homeowner has Made space where possible in the fridge, on the counter in the bathroom, and an ideally some drawer or closet space. Personally, if you’re not very clean person, I really recommend getting a housekeeper to do some detail touchup. I know that might sound a bit extreme, but it’s really easy to get used to something kind of gross in your house that might be off-putting for strangers staying there. On sits, I have detailed more than one kitchen that had dried food and fingerprints all over every cabinet. The people who live there weren’t dirty people, but I think it just happened so gradually they didn’t notice. A clean fridge is also very appreciated. No one wants to store their food in a fridge with moldy spills or old food crumbs from God knows how long ago. I don’t think having a perfect house is necessary, as you mention in your listing, your house is under renovation. As long as that is clear upfront, I don’t think it is an issue.

It’s also important to disclose any issues with the pets. How often do they vomit? Do they ever poo or pee outside the litter box? How often do they need brushed? How to respond if a cat escapes? Have they ever bitten or scratched? What to do if the cats refused to eat? Do they sleep with people or do they sleep on their own? Do they get zoomies in the middle of the night? :joy_cat:. As a sitter, I appreciate knowing every single detail about the pets.

I think the five application limit does really affect sitters available to get the sits that match them the best. If there is a very specific region that I’m looking for, I will actually check that region for sits available multiple times a day and hope for the best.

Personally, I don’t mind at all being asked by a pet owner to sit for dates in the future. I do think it would be best to personalize the message rather than just sending an invitation for dates. I would probably not accept an invitation that was not personalized. In fact, we have had some success reaching out well in advance to some of the sitters who saved our listing. I’m fairly certain that the list of people who bookmark your listing is not in any type of order and is completely random, which has been very frustrating for me as hundreds of people have saved my listing.

It doesn’t really make any difference to me whether I’m invited to a sit or whether I am applying for a sit. The only real differences I’ve had to decline several invitations because we simply weren’t available for the dates.

I agree completely-communication is the key! We typically decide If we’re interested in a listing based on the initial communication(Which is the listing itself) And also the reviews from other sitters. We especially look for words like clean and considerate. I really liked your listing because you seem like a warm Person with a sense of humor, Who loves his cats. We always do a video call with any potential sitter or sit and if the vibe feels off at all or we’re concerned about communication, we won’t accept.

Your last question is a little tricky, I can see how people might be offended at not being your first choice… and I’m not sure if I’d want a sitter who is slightly offended with me caring for my home and pets. However, I think people would appreciate knowing they’re still being considered (if they are still being considered). I think it comes down to this; how comfortable are you with someone taking care of your home and cats who might be offended that you didn’t choose them first?

I think that the auto decline message to other sitters only gets sent once a sitter has accepted your offer. I may be wrong about this, but if I’m right, then you don’t need to tell any of the other sitters they weren’t your first choice Provided the first sitter you offered declines your invitation. Again, I’m not 100% sure of this.

I hope some of that might be helpful and best of luck!

Also- apologies for any editing errors and capitals where there shouldn’t be. My phone was acting very strangely when I was trying to respond to you. :slightly_smiling_face:

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As @toml and @Treeandcathugger have said, our answers can only reflect our point of view and they will vary depending on the individual sitter, whether they are full time sitters and also the specific reasons for applying to one particular listing. One may have a reason or a specific need to be in your location at the time of your listing. So, even the same sitter might answer some of your questions differently depending on the situation.
I will give you my opinion as a sitter and also, having spent many hours reading the forum, I will mention what have been said here if it comes to my mind when answering one of your questions.

The reason some locations are really popular is because they are well known, also the chances of someone having a reason to stay in a big city for a while are much higher than a rural location (medical, study, work, etc) That taken aside, I really enjoy exploring areas totally new to me, places I haven’t even heard of. So location is not really important for me in the sense of being a popular place but it is in the sense of how easy it is to get there and to have options of doing a few things walking or using public transport. I don’t have a list of sights to tick of, I enjoy the pets company and getting a bit the feeling of local life.

I don’t think there is a typically favourite sit duration but short sits have more chances of being covered by fairly local sitters or sitters filling gaps between sits. If getting to the location is very time consuming and/or expensive, I would want at least a week in a particular sit and would try to add other sits in that region. But say I want to go to Albania, a place with very few listings, I would not expect to do more than one sitting so probably wouldn’t take a very short one. But if I have decided I want to go there anyway, then I would take the sit, even if it is short, because that will improve my experience of the area. I did that in New Zealand. I also booked an airbnb where I knew I would be sharing the kitchen and living room with the owner rather than having a studio all for myself. That way I learnt a lot about Maori culture, local politics and I met wonderful people. There was even the bonus of a cat in the airbnb.

In my experience, it’s much more common when dogs or many pets are involved. Not so common with only cats. Also more common at the beginning for handover. I have done both and really appreciate that chance of sharing quality time with people. Only in occasion it was really awkward. The presit went great it almost seemed we had found a twin soul. We had agreed that I was going to stay one more night after her return and I was looking forward to our chat, then I got a message warning me that she was tired and wasn’t in the mood for conversation, I could understand that but getting a text message “warning” me ten minutes before arriving, felt very strange. I didn’t have many accommodation options but that was not the main reason why I stayed. I thought if I left I might offend her or show that I felt offended. That would probably have required further conversation when she was obviously not in the mood. So I just stayed, greeted her, helped her unload the car, offered her some food and went to my room. In spite of that, I am still open and willing to overlap.

I appreciate as much information as I can get but a kind of short “cheat sheet” with timing and basics always comes handy. I find THS WG calendar reminders very useful but it doesn’t have to be that format.

Most sitters don’t seem to appreciate being invited and it’s not a very effective method to get a sitter. I actually like being invited but I have never been able to accept.

I decide if I apply to the sit but after a conversation with the owner I have never pulled back. I can be really excited after the conversation if I feel we are a very good match or just comfortable enough that things are going to be OK. The most important criterion for me is the pets and then the owners communication style, you can usually see that in the listing.

I always appreciate good communication and honesty. I don’t feel offended but some people may. I don’t think asking can hurt.

I honestly think that if they feel offended they won’t accept the sit or would not go as far as “retaliating” in the pets or the house.

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Much have been said, and I don’t feel the need to repeat too much. So:

As I have a full time job, most sits would be in my vacation, so the time available for that will usually be the limit. That is 4 weeks, while a sit for 2-3 is preferable as I usually would like a few vacation-days to spare. For a long time international flight between continents I would probably be more inclined to use it all :wink:

In some countries the vacation time is shorter. Is two weeks still true in the US?

My longest experience is from home exchange, as I’m relatively new to petsitting. In home exchanges my partners and me usually had an extensive home & surroundings guide which I liked. I often find the info from hosts in THS sparse.

Regarding hosts home, I don’t mind that the facilities are not top-end. What I do mind is when it gives a feeling that the sitter is not appreciated - unclean, get a room in the basement Where you can sit on the Edge of the bed for a week or similar. I rather quickly
get red flags when it comes to hospitality and never apply if it is a risk that the owner is entitled and demanding. I appreciate Where the host treat the sitter as a valued guest, no matter the circumstances of the host. That is more of an attitude, and doesn’t have to be a lot of expences. Thank you and please go a long way, reasonable tasks and expectations.

I do think location is a big thing, and the Canaries certainly will be a destination many sitters have a push-notification for. A quick reply can very well mean that the sitter has an active search for your sit, and have favorited your home. I see other sits is out for weeks (and renewed) without getting applications. So there are certainly big differences between hosts when it comes to location.

Regarding the 5 application rule - it goes from the above that many HO don’t Even get five. So this is a problem of luxury for the popular destinations. The rule ensures that the ppl with many sits doesn’t get «everything desirable» on walkover, so to speak and it is probably important to make sure a HO answers in a timely manner. You can get as many applications as you want, but you cannot let all the sitters hanging while you wade through all the info. Because that is a problem, HOs not answering. Even for a last minute sit for a weekend some don’t get back to you in a timely manner. And a HO really only needs one sitter. One.

You can always ask for a fallback. I on my part, I move on. If I want to get a sit I apply for many. If one would like a fallback I already know the HO didn’t regard me as the best, and the closer to travel date the more expensive tickets. So although not «impossible» much less likely. It would probably be more attractive to get an invitation later without fallback ever Being mentioned. So far I have always said no to invitations, but they have all been unattractive sits - off the beaten path, difficult to get there and with a lot of work. Those invitations have been without a personalized message, and one get the feeling it is sent to a bunch of ppl just to get «someone» to take on the chores. An invitation that says Hey! We’d love you to come because… is of course much more tempting.

I could add that for all sits it is for many so that you need to catch a bus/train/flight and for both HOs and sitters it is often desirable to leave early in the day to do so. That means that while one can do end cleaning it can be difficult to get the bed linen done, at least clean, dry and back on bed. I find it very considerate when HOs acknowledge that and offers solutions. Usually I have to bring it up, and suggest I strip the bed, start the washing machine (or not, depending on HOs arrival). I can put on new from the closet if necessary. So - a little consideration goes a long way, and makes a great foundation for good and trustful communication and solutions.

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As experienced sitters (70+ all 5 star, mainly cats) we would happily do up to a month at your lovely home. I am about to favorite you right now.

We travel full time but don’t sit full time, so our only consideration is that we are in the general vicinity and have enough Schengen days up our sleeve. We are looking at Spain from mid October to mid-November so please reach out if you need to get away then.

We would happily do the 1 to 2 day handover either end and in fact, appreciate having that get to know you/the pets/the area with the luxury of being able to ask questions on the spot.

I really hope we do meet one day as you soundnlike a fabulous and considerate home owner.

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Hi,

Lots of questions! But good ones.

We sit as a couple and just started this year and only in the United States so far. Since we WFH we try to line up sits back to back. I copied your questions below.

Question: How much influence does the location really have? Am I wrong in believing that finding a sitter in my locations is disproportionally easy?

Answer: Location helps, but for us (we’re a couple) it’s more about if it fits into our plans on where we want to be during the timeframe offered. We also look for easy parking since we often have a car. It doesn’t need to be in a garage but free and safe is important.

Question: Is there a general sweet spot for sit durations, i.e., what’s too short, what’s considered long or too long? (and for what type of sitter) What does this depend on?

Answer: Less than 5 days is almost always too short. However, I could see this working for other sitters just not us. We love 2-4 weeks. Often a week is too short - we feel like we’re just settling in and it’s over. Again mileage may vary for others.

Question: How usual or unusual is buffering, and which variants are preferred?

Answer: Most of our HOs have just wanted us to arrive 30-60 minutes before they are leaving. However, we almost always do a video meet and greet before confirming, so that may be why. For the ones we have arrived early & stayed while the HOs were still home, it was the day before and we had dinner together and were shown around their house. We only do this if the HOs are vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. We would not want to go exploring around town with the HOs a whole day and half in advance, partly b/c we do have work and have limited free time. Also, we often have traveled a long day to get to the HOs location and kind of tired when we arrive.

Question: Do you as sitters appreciate an additional guide, or does that feel like too much handholding?

Answer: We do like when the HOs have put all their details in a binder or folder. The topics supplied in the THS Welcome Guide cover almost everything we need to know. We had an HO include a printed map highlighting where they typically walk their dogs and we really liked that. Since you have cats, probably not as typical :slightly_smiling_face:

Question: What are the actual expectations you as a sitter have of the home (on top of what you see in photos and read in descriptions), and of the pets? (I suppose keeping bad surprises to a minimum goes without saying).

Answer: A clean and tidy home, some room in the refrigerator, in the bathroom, and in the bedroom for us to put our things is nice. We don’t need tons of room just enough so we don’t have to move anything of yours, and organized well enough so we can find cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc. For the pets, we want as many details as possible in the Welcome Guide - everything from preferred eating and play times to any sensitive areas to avoid when petting, how they are on a leash or with other pets or people, their sleeping preferences, common commands that you use, basically anything we can learn to make the pet as comfortable as possible with us as quickly as possible. We want the pet to enjoy the sit as much as possible.

Question: How do sitters handle this conundrum? I read that the app sends a notification for sits coming up for your search terms and/or bookmarked sits. How much does the 5-and-pause limit impede your chances of getting a sit you really want?

Answer: The 5 limit hasn’t really been an issue for us so far. We have a lot of favorites and bookmarks, so the notification and summary from THS aren’t all that useful. I routinely go through our bookmarks. And also hope HOs who see we favorited them will feel free to invite us.

Question: Would you rather be invited for a sit, or apply yourself? Does it feel rude to be invited without a personal message? (I really don’t like that)

Answer: When we’ve been invited, the HO included a message. I’d find it a little weird if they didn’t. Not sure I’d respond. Otherwise, invites are great!

Question: How do you as a sitter decide whether you actually want to do a sit or not, after having talked to a HO? What are important criteria?

Answer: Talking to the HO is very important to our decision making process. Also, pictures of the home that incude the floor (I have dust allergies and can’t do fully carpeted homes) that include the kitchen, living room, bedroom that we’ll be staying in, bathroom we’ll be using, office if open to our use, and other common areas open to our use, outdoor area(s), the pet(s) are super important. Then, a lot just comes down to do we feel comfortable with the HO and vice versa.

Question: Is it generally ok to ask non-selected sitters whether to keep them as a fallback? How does it feel? Should I avoid that?

Answer: Since we try to be booked 75-80% of the time, we normally couldn’t commit to that. If we’re available, we have said we could be back-up.

We really like THS and have enjoyed 99% of our HOs and their pets. We truly believe in respecting the HOs home better than our own home. And always make the pets the priority - that’s why we do this.

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It will take me some time to digest the boatloads of information and experiences y’all shared, and come back with probably more questions. I just wanted to say “thank you” already!

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@Treeandcathugger you are my dream sitter. You would love it here! Big garden, two sociable cats, ducks, sheep, peaceful small town, colorful artsy home. I’m guessing we’re not within an hour’s drive (Sonoma, CA) but if we are I hope you’ll favorite our listing :smile:

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I just want to mention from the HO side that it is absolutely possible to write a message with an Invitation. I wouldn’t dream of sending an invite without a personal note explaining why I reached out to that sitter in particular and thanking them for taking a moment to consider our sit. If you’re not finding that option maybe try the app instead of the website, or vice versa. I promise, it’s there.

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Hi Elmar
Great post and questions. Let me see if I can help.

How much influence does the location really have? Am I wrong in believing that finding a sitter in my locations is disproportionally easy?

Don’t think you’ll ever have a shortage of sitters for your location. There’s very few sits in Canary Islands.

Is there a general sweet spot for sit durations, i.e., what’s too short, what’s considered long or too long? (and for what type of sitter) What does this depend on?

I generally do 2-4 week long sits unless it’s a location I can get to cheaply and have done some 5-7 day sits.

How usual or unusual is buffering, and which variants are preferred?
A day or so either side is often requested and can work well for both parties but I have done a number of blind sits where post video chat I’ve arrived and used a key lock box to enter and left before the pet owner returned.

Do you as sitters appreciate an additional guide, or does that feel like too much handholding?

Great question. I’ve had a few home owners provide local info - sight info etc. It is unusual though and I tend to do my own research.

What are the actual expectations you as a sitter have of the home (on top of what you see in photos and read in descriptions), and of the pets? (I suppose keeping bad surprises to a minimum goes without saying)

A clean and tidy home is all that is needed. Although before the amenties section was added to THS I did a sit with a kitchen but no oven, microwave, fridge or cooking facilities.
As for pets, please disclose any medical conditions fully. I did a sit where one of the 6 cats kept fitting. This wasn’t disclosed prior to the sit. My last sit, the HO only disclosed the very elderly cat the day before had incontinence issues and I had to check daily in a large property for surprises which included cleaning the mess, mopping the floors and drying the floor. Not the cats fault I may add.

How do sitters handle this conundrum? I read that the app sends a notification for sits coming up for your search terms and/or bookmarked sits. How much does the 5-and-pause limit impede your chances of getting a sit you really want?

Elmar. It’s a nightmare now with the 5 application rule for many sitters (I know it’s better for many HO’s). The problem is that notification often comes an hour after the listing goes live which means in popular locations or countries like Spain the HO has already got 5 applicants and is closed to new applicants. I miss a lot of opportunities to apply for a sit if I’m busy working and don’t check THS for a few hours.

Would you rather be invited for a sit, or apply yourself? Does it feel rude to be invited without a personal message? (I really don’t like that)

I have accepted an invitation with a personal message. What I don’t normally do is accept a invite to sit with no prior contact or message which I’ve received before.

How do you as a sitter decide whether you actually want to do a sit or not, after having talked to a HO? What are important criteria?
I’ve only declined 3 sits post a video chat. In all cases because of information not disclosed before.
This included a very local London sit in December where the HO asked I not use the heating and not leave the property for the 6 days of the sit for any reason.
A lady in Cyprus that wanted me to stay the week before in the resort hotel at just over 2000 euros at my cost.
And lastly a gentlemen with 9 cats in Cyprus that asked me to not feed the cats a couple of times a day but 6 times a day every 2 hours and if I could spend 4 hours a day walking the neighbours dogs as well.

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You’re too kind! Unfortunately, we are on opposite coasts, so I’m afraid I can’t sit for you - though I’d love to. Luckily there are plenty of earthy, colorful, artsy homes in quaint towns in the Northeast. Hope you and your kitties are getting wonderful sitters who appreciate your style!

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Answers to your Qs will be all over the map, because sitters vary. Plus, priorities can differ, depending on the sit — say a local sit for a change of neighborhoods, a sit abroad for travel reasons, a domestic sit to catch up with friends, and so on.

For me, location is No. 1. I find all sorts of pets lovable, so I wouldn’t travel at my own expense just to sit them. I have a dog of my own and could do volunteer work or foster if I just wanted more pet exposure.

My sweet spot is one or two weeks, because I love home time as well. I usually skip short sits, because they’re not worth the cleaning. I’d rent a hotel room instead.

I typically arrive at least a day ahead and often stay with hosts for a meal, handoff and overnight. I have high social comfort and am able to set boundaries, like with telecommuting needs. I won’t overlap overnight if the home is small, though.

Not clear on why an additional guide might be needed. I avoid sits that I consider overly complicated or hosts who are overly particular.

My expectations: Location, home and pets as advertised. Clean and tidy home, with clean fridge and freezer space. High-speed internet, because I telecommute, which I make clear from the outset. Working appliances and utilities. Vacuum that works well. Comfortable bed. Pluses: If a host offers to pick up from the airport or train station. Nice linens.

The five-and-pause limit doesn’t bother me. I sit part time and don’t have must-have sit locations. Plus, I sit only while telecommuting. I pay for hotels while vacationing / doing serious sightseeing.

I wouldn’t have a problem being asked to be a fallback sitter. If timing works out, fine. If a better offer comes along before the host and I commit officially, I’ll take that instead. But I don’t shop around or flake once committed.

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What do you mean?
A listing with specifications like “6:30-out for pee, 6:45-breakfast…”?

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All pets have feeding, walking, peeing, pooing, playing times. That’s normal and every sitter should be getting such details. But some pets have needs that fit a paid sitter instead, whether that’s because their health might require it or because their humans have created routines that are overly demanding. That includes hosts who expect sitters to never or rarely leave the home and pet.

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Everybody, again thank you so much for making me smarter, vibes are really swinging here :heart:

I’ve learned that location is important, but as I understand it in different ways - like a place that’s on your bucket list, or somewhere you have no idea about but want to explore. Or, as with @Kbco - if you’re already there, why not sit :wink: My feeling is that different locations also attract different kinds of sitters.

I’ve also learned - probably as expected - that duration preferences can differ quite a lot. The further away, the longer it should be to warrant the effort and cost (bundling liike @Newpetlover I find very smart indeed!) A sweet spot seems to be completely dependent on the sitter’s circumstances and preferences. On the one hand @DarkAloha seem to easily find multimonth sitters (holy shambles!), while @Treeandcathugger sticks to less than ten days (well, also special circumstances of course) and @Garfield covers their vacation days nicely.

What I understand from all this is that my queasiness about posting for more than 2-3 weeks isn’t really necessary. Longer sits might attract a different breed of sitters (like nomads/fulltimers), shorter sits can get you @Treeandcathugger in the house :wink:

The world is a diverse place, thanks for showing me! I will ease up on that one!

When it gets to buffering, I get the feeling that it’s generally appreciated; @toml was very explicit about this; some people might have concerns regarding Covid etc, and prefer staying in a hotel, but the general idea seems to vibe with what my feeling is, so I’ll keep that going (and of course always offer to help find a hotel if needed.

When it comes to the home, documentation etc, it seems like everybody’s basically happy with whatever they can get, and if available, it should be on paper (I really have to fix my printer now!), as long as it’s not minute-by-minute daily routines for the pets, but actual useful information. Expectations of the home always sound so normal to me - reasonably clean and tidy, space for my stuff, a nice place to sleep. For me, that would be commonsensical. So, I’m gonna go and unclutter as good as I can (it’s under construction), and get as much of the here inevitable sand and dust off as possible. I always provide toiletries, in case somebody forgot something, and my sitters/guests have a rustic little guest cabin to “themselves” (see under “cats”), but are of course invited to use the entire home (as long as I can find a space to sleep when I return).

Applications, invitations, and the stupid 5-apps-rule - nobody likes that one, neither sitters nor hosts; I honestly have no idea what purpose it would serve, this should be abandoned immediately. Some of you are ok with being asked again if someone has to cancel - sans guarantees, of course -, while others seem to not like being “second fiddle”.

Let me quote @DarkAloha :
“I can see how people might be offended at not being your first choice…… However, I think people would appreciate knowing they’re still being considered (if they are still being considered)”

I only ask those people that would have been my first choice had my first choice not already taken that place. I am very often quite sorry that I can always only invite one team, because most of the time, there are two or three that I really like. It might still happen, but I believe the easily-offended ones won’t end up on my list :stuck_out_tongue:

When it comes to invitations, I can see that the calendar is a big hindrance there in its unusability, and most of the time invitations will be declined. Btw, I think the favorited ones are listed in order, but who can be sure. I’ll watch the list with mild interest (like yours, it’s in the hundreds), but won’t give it much heed. Also thanks to @Shafofo for pointing out that it’s indeed possible to personalise the invitation (I’ve not used that feature yet, I invited former 2nd choices directly through messages).

All in all - before this becomes a book and I have to spend money to print it - I want to thank you all, @toml , @Treeandcathugger , @DarkAloha , @Newpetlover , @Garfield , @Kbco , @richten1 (you have stories!), and @Maggie8K for your time, your insight, for letting me get a real good view of so many different ways to sit, motivations, preferences, circumstances. This is a great community! And a special shoutout to @DarkAloha - you’ve not only presented both sides (I have to re-read this once more, btw), you also beat my initial post in length :stuck_out_tongue:

Folks, I’m so happy this forum “family” exists, I don’t even feel like being “on the other side”…

Greetings from my hammock, looking at so much dust in the air obscuring the full moon…

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