Hi everyone! Just something that comes into my mind and I never understand. For the last few sittings that we had applied, we got declined several times because the owners preffer local people. But, why would people do really long sits locally?
If you live in the same town/neighborhood why would someone apply for a petsitting that happens during 6 weeks?
I understand somehow the point for the Homeowners, because they would feel safier that way ( but again, we have 25 5+stars reviews and this should make a difference right? and it sounds like it doesnāt)
But, why someone that is a local accept this? It always make me curious why the Homeowners expect to find someone local for longer sits too.
Someone between homes or with a home thatās not as nice (or who has roommates) might want a local sit.
I did one recently, because my house is being remodeled and I wanted away from the noise and mess, especially since I telecommute.
I also did an earlier local sit, because it offered me a city center location within blocks of many amenities. By contrast, I love living in a lush setting, but you have to drive to everything. Plus, I got to experience different pets.
Iām going to do more local-ish sits, because I can experience different neighborhoods and amenities. And now, Iām within three hours or less drive time from forests, mountains, beach and city settings. Iām close to other nice cities or towns.
As for hosts, many would prefer local sitters, because maybe theyāll repeat sit.
On the flip side, there are homeowners who donāt want local sitters at all. We recently applied on a local sit where the homeowners specified that they didnāt want any local sitters. I was curious about this so applied/messaged them and they said they had a very bad experience with a local sitter who invited local friends and had parties going on. They felt better with choosing out of town sitters. They did end up offering us the sit but I declined.
Weāve been sitters for eight years on THS and lived an hour out of the city when we first joined. We started doing local sits with a view towards moving back to the city which we did four years ago and live in a suburb of Vancouver. One of our first sits was a month long so it gave us a chance to discover how we would enjoy living back in the city and we continued to do many more prior to making our move. As Maggie8K has mentioned, many hosts prefer local sitters and weāve been very fortunate with being invited back to many repeat local sits in lovely places with great amenities with such appreciative hosts but we usually donāt do local sits that are more than a week now.
A local sit could be attractive for a number of reasons that is already mentioned, and also because one would like to explore a new neighborhood (maybe considering moving there), maybe would like to get closer to a relative or a workplace, want peace and quiet for finishing a report or an assignment, or will have guests in own home and would like to give them space and/ privacy (or have a sanctuary to go to with a big family gathering, leaving your own home to the guestsā¦ ). Or indeed for the company of the pets themselves!
We do a lot of ālocalā sits, because our own home is a holiday let, so itās typically let out, but we return to our home town to visit the family on a regular basis, so pet sitting locally is brilliant for us.
We have a small group of HOās we return to sit for in and around our home town, so with us returning to pets and homes we already know, and in a location we already know, it makes everything so easy, no thought process required for where the shop is, where the dog walks are, which cafes/pubs are pet friendly.
We have one ālocalā dog who loves coming in our car to visit the family, we have another dog within a 5 min drive of my partners elderly Mum, and another which is just a 5 min drive from my brother, so it works out fantastically well for us, and in Spring weāll be sitting two dogs which are just a 5 min drive of our own home. And, all of them typically book us in advance, so our family knows when weāll be in the area again for more than just a day or two for a proper catch up.
Plus thereās a huge amount of advantages to the HO to choose local sitters.
But you could have earned some money too! Or may you did do that via an agency that was free for sitters, where owners paid per night and per pet?
I suppose the homes may be nicer on THS. Also, on THS it is easier to judge the home from photos and reviews. On the other hand, with local sits one could first have a look. And smell the place.
There are countless reasons why sitters would want to sit locally, many of which have been covered above There are many nomadic sitters who do not have a base of their own and, for example, have had difficulty getting on the property ladder or are saving for their own base. Or, perhaps they prefer being free spirits and do not have plans to purchase their own home in the near future. Regardless, perhaps they wish to return to a familiar environment after travelling around, or because they want to be near family, but still have their own space.
I returned to my home town this year after travelling for many months. I secured a 6 week sit close to family, and was able to provide support for my step-dad while he was in hospital undergoing major surgery. Having a local sit at this time was an absolute God-send, and it was refreshing to be in an area I was very familiar with, rather than in unfamiliar sits where it can take time to orient yourself. For home owners, it can often be helpful to have someone who is local, so they can meet beforehand and are more likely to have their own transport. There is also less risk of flights being cancelled etc.
My daughter & partner own a flat in London and when they go away, they have a friend who isnāt in the same fortunate position who stays because she can have a break from her house share. They donāt use THS and itās a private arrangement. So possibly HOās can find a local sitter (esp in a major city) who will sit on a regular basis possibly.
I do mostly local sitsāI define those as within a 4 hour drive from my house.
Currently Iām on a sit 90 minutes from home, on an island thatās known for itās beauty and for all the wealthy homeowners.
I could never afford to live here, the few AirBnBs are expensive, and over the course of this weeklong sit the HOs dog and I have explored all sorts of spots on the island.
Itās been a fun break for me and I love exploring places. Doing so with a dog makes it even more fun.
I replied to why we sit locally above, but Iāve just re-read your post and missed the bit quoted above. No, I donāt think you do understand, even with all of your reviews, there are ENORMOUS benefits to an HO choosing a local sitter with not many reviews over a non local one, but fortunately not many local-local sitters apply in general, so thereās plenty of sits for everyone.
We sit the same pets time and time again, some HOās book their holidays around when we are free, because they can go away without any worry at all, unlike an unfamiliar-to-the-area sitter whereby they need to think about making sure everything is perfect and if theyāve worded your instructions correctly, worrying about will the sitter enjoy your home, will they enjoy your location, will they get along with the neighbours because local people are more likely to have a similar sense of humour, approach to life, etc etc etc, the list is endless.
Also a local sitter is much more likely to return to sit if they have family in the area, which makes future breaks so much easier for HOās, they already know your place/location, so they can switch off more before your holiday and get excited about your holiday. Will an applicant back out because of the distance to a supermarket is just not an issue with someone local because they already know all of these things. How the sitter will get there, will they turn up on time, etc etc etc, all of those things are less likely to be an issue with someone who knows the area, the public transport, and the traffic properly. There are loads of reasons a local sitter makes things easier, but also they could potentially be more like-minded in certain ways too.
Once we just had a few reviews under our belt, we were being chosen for local sits over others that had a mountain of reviews who were from elsewhere, I know because the HOās told us, but the fact weāll happily return to sit is probably the biggest factor, but now we have plenty of reviews ourselves we get chosen straight away for local sits.
Mind you weāve got given sits in unfamiliar areas, whereby they have had more local sitters apply but chose us instead, yippee! Anyway, thereās plenty of sits for everyone, so the odd sit that goes to someone who is a local isnāt a big problem for anyone.
I also get sooo annoyed at that. THS is supposed to be for sitters who want to travel and have a place to stay in exchange for taking care of pets. Obviously thereās nothing wrong with doing local sits if you enjoy them, but itās getting frustrating to be rejected for not being local when the whole concept is based around travellers.
Yes, hosts who want local sitters should just save everyone time and declare that in their listings.
Personally, even if I do the occasional local sit, I have criteria. Like their location has to offer a meaningful difference from my home (like city center vs. my location in the āburbs), or their home has to be way nicer than mine (like maybe they have riverfront or lakefront), or they have a pet I really want to sit.
Last night, I received a repeat invitation from local hosts Iād turned down before. Iām not clear why they think their home and pets are attractive enough. They made no effort to even say which neighborhood theyāre in. And I wasnāt bothering to ask. They even offered multiple dates during the rest of the year.
BTW, it might help for hosts who want local sitters to look at the sittersā previous sit locations. Like the hosts above have had only one sitter previously and that person sits locally all the time, gauging by their sit history ā they might not have a home to return to. By contrast, my history and that of many sitters is of varied locations ā we sit to travel. Hosts who want us to sit locally have low odds. Personally, Iād rather stay at home than do most local sits.
I am a local sit. My home is under repair and for years, Iāve wasted so much money on Airbnbās until I found this platform. I work from home and enjoy having a quiet place to work while enjoying pets. Itās a little win-win for me and the HO. I also love seeing new parts of the city. The fact I have a car and know the city, works for some HO. However, on the flip side, Iāve been denied some applications. Not sure why. Perhaps the HO doesnāt want a ācloseā connection, and I get it.
I understand the local sitter wanting to build up reviews but I signed up and pay to access a mutual exchangeā¦free accommodation for housesitting. I was recently approached to sit for a local couple but the dates were three weekends just sat, sun, mon when the adult daughter would be unavailable. That really sounds unfair and frankly like a scam or at the very least cheap. If you need a local sitter just pay for one, pet ownership can be expensive, especially if you also want to travel for three weeks straight. Iām new to the site but seriously frustrated, there are other paid sites and public forums to meet sitters. This site should be for travelers, maybe even restrict ālocalā requests to more than an hour from home. At the very least the owners should put ālocal onlyā in their headline so sitters donāt waste their time. I even saw one that said they were looking for local and put a test in their bio asking that when you apply you acknowledge the test question so they know you read the whole bio. I ignored the test and applied anyway and was immediately rejected.
The way the platform is set up for hosts to search for a sitter is that it brings up a list of the local ones first ( which depending on location eg U.K. could be hundreds ) .
This doesnāt work for most sitters or for hosts but THS donāt seem minded to change this .
I understand why you joined and your attitude towards local sits. Keep in mind, it is often recommended new sitters apply for a few short local sits to get some reviews which is what you want before aiming for more desirable listings.
I donāt sit in order to specifically travel thoughā¦. I sit nearby to family members Iām visiting far away. It gives me independence from having to stay with themā¦..
Iām also doing a local cat sit in June, hubby is allergic to cats so Iāll get my cat āfixā by sitting locally and able to do my usual activities too from a different part of the City.
Thereās somebody for everyone they say- so itās simply about being open minded and finding a good match.
The test question is interesting, if you canāt follow a simple instruction then maybe youāll not follow pet care instructions so maybe it feels crucial for those HOs to have confidence in their sitter by deploying this tactic.
What you consider an unappealing exchange, someone else might want. Nothing wrong with that, whether local or otherwise.
Yes, it would make it more efficient if you could filter out sits where they want only a local sitter. But for some listings, that might not be realistic, and in such cases, the hosts might settle for a nonlocal sitter. That means itās questionable whether having their sit being filterable would actually be good business for THS.
). Or indeed for the company of the pets themselves!