Hi all
Some advice please on how you all manage this one, as a newbie I ended up in some places which were not v comfortable.
As much as I love seeing the pet pictures I’ve noticed some HO can have 10 or more pics of pets but none or little of the accommodation. I wouldn’t want to offend a HO but I do want to see where I am staying do you
Apply and mention you want to see home pics in your app.?
Apply and if chosen discuss there ( feels awkward)
Avoid applying ?
Any other variables here
I wish THS would make it essential to show accommodation and the exact area of their location
Personally, I skip all such listings. Also ones where the hosts just focus on their needs and their pets’ needs, because they apparently don’t consider the sitter and don’t have reciprocity in mind.
By default, some seem to think others will voluntarily spend time, effort and often money to get to their place just to take care of their home and pets. Maybe they think sitters are homeless and desperate.
To me, such listings aren’t worthwhile when there are plenty of hosts who grasp reciprocity and hospitality.
Owners must have a minimum of 5 internal house pics - those that don’t have already broken policy, which shows me they’re:
A: Likely unaware of THS policies
B: Likely don’t understand what a sitter needs and the nature and purpose of the program, and only think about their own needs.
I skip such listings and only apply to sits that really appeal to me. The bottom line is: always go with your gut - if you feel something isn’t right with the listing, skip it. There’s plenty of listings out there, apply to those that feel right for you
Exactly. Sometimes I feel like posting pictures of my home as a sitter to say ‘look, I have a beautiful home, what are you offering me?! I’m not destitute and you’re not doing me a favour.’
I do home boarding with some amazing dogs so I don’t travel just for the pets either.
I think it is important to be diligent and screen carefully what sits you want. It is easy to be charmed by cute pets and wanting to go to certain locations. I do however think it is more important to get good sits to see what kind of person is hosting. Do they see the needs of a sitter? Do they want you to be comfortable and enjoy their home and area while sitting? This attitude will be very important to communication, the sit and the review after. If they see you as a mutual partner and not free labor. It is in the tone of the listing, in the pics they choose to publish, the room and bed they offer you, whether they want you to sit in your coat with a single heater in the middle of winter, the tasks they ask. If they are friendly and hospitable you can have a great stay in a modest home. Or a horrible one in a mansion.
Listings that don’t have photographs of their home, all the rooms, are red flags to us. We would pass on those. Same goes for listings that have photographs of all the local landmarks and almost none of their home. Personally we would just move onto the next listing rather than take the trouble of asking for more photos.
Just to give a different perspective, @SaraJ, I take into consideration other factors, too.
The scarcity of pictures doesn’t necessarily make me scroll past. I consider the tone, the rest of information in the listing and if I get a good overall impression, I apply.
I may not mention anything about that in the application but I do before being offered the sit if they show some interest in my profile and offer to continue communication. I have had a couple of good experiences like that. They were kind, considerate people, just not as thorough as me. They were happy to provide all the information I needed before agreeing to the sit. For some reason that escapes me, their listing has still not been updated after having had several more sitters.
I usually do a zoom type call for a interview and hint that I would like to be shown the house during this call. I have withdrawn based on some of those. Not if messy like my house is messy day to day but if it is super cluttered or super dirty or looks uncomfortable.
I was interested in a listing because of the location, the listing did not include interior photos, but the pet owner had close to 10 5-star reviews that were very complimentary of his home and hospitality. The dates didn’t work for me, if they had, I would have included a request to see interior pictures in my application. However, I have also passed on plenty of sits because the photos did not provide a clear image of the accommodations and nothing else in the listing was compelling.
As a newbie HO, I forgot to include the pic of the bedroom. I had taken the pic, just forgot. My listing got held up and I was contacted and told I had to show sleeping accomodaions. i happily complied, as it was an oversight.
THS policy is that listings should include at least 5 internal pics. Contact membership services (you can do this via chat, by stating ‘speak to agent’, twice), specify the listing without internal pics and ask them to reach out to the HO to amend. They usually - but not always - will pause the listing, until requisite pics are added.
@mdarden1x it always amazes me that homes with few to no interior photos can have as many as 10 five star reviews! So there are all these sitters willing to apply to sits with inadequate photos and an HO that does not follow the T&C of THS.
Most of us see this as a red flag but clearly many do not. Interesting, isn’t it?!
I do send the link to THS admin bc it bothers me SO much that they are not following the requirements as HO’s which makes selecting sits to apply for aggravating for sitters. Reviews or no reviews!
I am very hesitant to apply to a sit that does not have photos of ALL areas accessible to the sitter BUT there are homes in high-demand areas that many will apply to anyway.
We had that situation for a cat sit outside London in an upscale neighborhood. There were very few photos at all. Usually a huge red flag to me - but the dates and location were just right, it was just one adorable cat and my gut said this was a very nice home (the description helped me think this, too).
We applied, had a video chat, asked a few more questions and took a chance.
Always a risk. The fact that they had a house keeper made a difference as well - when I hear that, I feel like we are safe.
The house was GORGEOUS - a typical huge London “flat” - 5 stories, maybe 7 flights of stairs (not for everyone!!), high tech Smart home, gourmet kitchen and immaculate save for the cat fur.
Other times we have asked for more photos if there aren’t enough.
