I am new to the THS community and I have posted a house sit in May to June for 20 days, but getting nobody apply. I have reached out to a few sitters over the past few days and they are not free or available.
I appreciate a 20 day house sit might prove harder to fill with people getting time off work in the peaker times, so wonder if I could do the following? Could I keep the 20 days sit request live, and then could I add 2 other dates to the Website, and split the 20 days to 2 x 10 day sits?
Can this be done? Any comments, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated?
Hi @priceygirl welcome to our community forum, thank you for joining from beautiful Devon. Firstly many sitters prefer longer sits and 20 days is not too long, in fact Devon particularly in late Spring early Summer is a lovely location and popular all year round.
The main reason for the “quietness” around your listing could well be the length of lead time there are almost three months before your start date and in our post COVID world where there is still a lot of travel uncertainty for many, sitters are leaving making plans until closer to the dates.
I would not be concerned about this, sitters come from all walks of life, time rich retirees, sitters who can work from home as many companies have gone remote first and those who are sitting full time, owners really are not limited to those sitters who only have limited travel times.
I know it’s preferable to have plans in place and confirmed however I would not be too concerned as you do have plenty of time and you can continue to do proactive outreach you can also add your listing link into your forum profile that way members will be able to view your lovely home, kitties, desirable location and previous sitter’s feedback.
Hi @priceygirl
Welcome to the Forum and I also would agree that a 20 day house sit would appeal to many, especially Devon.
I do not know the answer to your question of listing different dates as you state but I would advise you to seriously consider the problems in organising 2 different sitters. This issue has featured on other threads and perhaps if you use the magnifying glass and type in “splitting sitters” it may thrown up some members views.
As a sitter, I would never contemplate splitting a sit with another sitter. The sitter would not know anything about the other sitter, whether they would leave the house and pets in the standard that I would expect and it would be difficult for you to carry out a full review on each sitter.
I do hope that you manage to find a suitable sitter.
Thanks so much for your detailed and valuable response. I am an organised person by nature, so waiting it out to nearer the time is just not my style .
@priceygirl we also like to plan ahead, especially when sitting overseas. We currently have summer sits confirmed through the end of August. There are many sitters who like to search and schedule their travels in advance. I’m sure you will find a sitter to fit your needs!
Often I am booked out well in advance, currently into October of this year. What I am finding now is that doing that has been keeping me from accepting many fantastic invitations! Some of them from people I have sat for and bonded with really well. Just this week I had to decline a 2 months sit.
This has taught me to lose the need to book so far out and be patient, trust
So now I am on hold. I have two tentative long terms simmering that will be worth the wait.
Thank you so much for your reply and comments, and you have given me so much to think about. Your comments are valuable, and as mentioned before I do have time on my hands, so I will wait it out . Thank you.
Hi, @priceygirl. As others have suggested, I would counsel patience. We are a HO and have need for a sitter in June, but are waiting to post it due to all kinds of travel uncertainties. We will be travelling to Europe from the USA, and have already had our flight cancelled and/or rescheduled several times. LIke you, I prefer to have all my ducks in a row well in advance, and it just isn’t possible for us right now.
. Thank you.