It is always a pleasure to see when homeowners have flexible dates. I often want to reach out and have a conversation about making their sit work with my availability. However, if there is any overlap sitters can’t apply, or even start a conversation about dates. My best solution for this is marking that sit as a Favorite and hope the owner reaches out to me. If you are a homeowner with flexible dates and are having trouble finding a sitter you prefer please check the sitters who have favorited your listing and send an invite. This is the only way to make your flexibility work for sitters with busy schedules. Often an agreement can be made to perfectly fill an opening in our availability by adjusting just one day of the listing.
Good suggestion @Jmcrae. Homeowners have mentioned in the past that many sitters favourite their listing but they have no idea of when that was. It would be helpful if they were listed in chronological order.
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Very good suggestion, I’m in a somewhat awkward position in that, although I’m no longer of working age, (senior citizen, pensioner or whatever your favourite term), my wife still has full time employment. Not only that, but as she has a lot of younger colleagues she can’t ask for holiday during the local school holidays which vary from state to state here in Germany. I’ve now started to follow a suggestion of writing to HOs who have an interesting place available for this year, but letting them know my situation. This seems to have worked as 2 homeowners have contacted me already. Since then a couple of positions for 2025 have already been posted. We hope to be successful now ……
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That is true. I have always been a sitter, so I don’t know what the homeowner’s portion of the app looks like or what the capabilities are for them. It would be nice if dates could be assigned to when we favorite their listing. I also often wonder if homeowners know how to see and use the favorites list. Couldn’t they also check the availability of a sitter who marked their listing as a favorite so they know who to contact and how to possibly adjust dates to fit?
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How do you write directly to homeowners? I did not know that was possible. Please share, this could really help so many sitter members!
@Jmcrae - I think he contacts homeowners with live dates to say he would be interested in future dates. I have also done this occasionally and it has worked for me.
Some homeowners welcome this approach but not all. Some say only apply if you are available for the listed dates and of course I would take note of that.
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@Jmcrae If there are dates posted for times when I couldn’t go, I apply and give a very good reason, explaining everything. I also ask them not to forget to delete my application after we have t finished chatting to give a 5th person a chance. I don’t think it’s possible to contact HOs who aren’t looking at the moment, which tbh is fair enough!
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I’m a HO & sitter and as a HO, I always look at sitters who have saved our place & if I like I reach out to them to let them know I will try to work with them on future sits. It’s worked out well for us! Flexible dates is a big plus for sitters when they are trying to arrange their schedule.
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I understand now how you make it work. The situations I am referring to are when it’s not possible for a sitter to apply because it overlaps with another sit they already have scheduled. In that case hands are tied and there is no way to reach out. Additionally, I would feel badly about using one of the 5 application slots to just talk about something unrelated to the current posting.
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How do I find out who has favorited my listing? Have looked all over the site and the app and see nothing. I have a Basic plan, is that the issue?
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They are in chronological order now @Twitcher , at least on the web page.
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Curious to know if HOs able to favorite sitters, as sitters are able to favorite particular sits?
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@Jmcrae - I explain the 5 application limit to them (many are unaware) and withdraw my application. That way I have opened up a line of communication with them.
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Pretty sure that’s the issue @Kchev, I think the next plan up lets you see the Favorites list. TBH I haven’t found it useful seeing who’s favorited our sit as there are well over 100 sitters and no sense of when they favorited us or what they’re looking for.
To the OP’s request, I think it’s a great idea, just know that it’s really hard to figure out who to message about an upcoming sit or flexible dates. The THS sitter calendars are useless. Once when I had trouble finding a sitter I messaged about ten “available” sitters who had us favorited and none could do the sit. Sadly, it’s a lot of effort and bit of a crapshoot.
I’m a HO with a Basic plan and I can favorite sitters but I can’t see who has favorited my listing. But can I presume that when I post dates, the sitters who have favorited my listing are notified?
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This is how I start my applications in such cases:
Hello, XX. I’m getting in touch in case you’ll travel later in the year and want care for XX and your home then. (I’ll withdraw my application for your XX-XX dates once I send this msg, so I don’t block other applicants for those dates. I already have conflicting sits for that time.) … Then I go into my application spiel.
I write that way so I get straight to the point. I got one of my upcoming sits that way, and they’ve already offered me three or four other sits, though I couldn’t do them.
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I think it is great that so many sitters have figured out how to communicated with homeowners this way, it sounds like a great workaround. Unfortunately, it is not possible if there is even a one day overlap with a sit we already have booked. I really did not realize how unreliable our availability calendar is.
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No need to feel bad THS suggest this as a way to contact owners
You can always withdraw your application after you have opened up a line of communication with the owner . That way you won’t be depriving another sitter of the opportunity of applying .
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Yes @KChev sitters who favourite your listing get notified when you advertise new dates
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True, but if your dates overlap a scheduled sit we are not allowed to apply or contact the owner in any way. It is this overlap situation that led me to start this topic. That is why I have suggested an invite if your dates are flexible. Shifting a day or two might create win-win for both parties, but the sitter cannot initiate the communication.
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