Hi Everyone
I’m new to THS and am not having much luck finding a sitter for September. I have invited a few people to check out my listing and consider whether they might be interested in applying but dates weren’t suitable.
How can I make my listing more attractive? Could someone please send me some feedback or a trusted experienced sitter 
Thank you!
Hi @Stef! Welcome to THS and the forum.
Your listing looks fabulous. Beautiful photos, beautiful home and your cats are perfect!
Not sure how long your listing has been live so I will say to be a bit patient, you have time yet. My only other recommendation is to shift your first photo to one of the actual living space, such as that gorgeous lounge or a bedroom as those are key features that attract sitters.
Use the search feature here on the forum to find other suggestions from previous posts such as
and
all the best and maybe someday I will finally make it over to Melbourne. My daughter lived there, working and pet sitting for a full year. Absolutely loved it.
Thanks so much Amparo you’re too kind! I really appreciate your advice and encouragement. Am going to change my cover photo right now
Thanks again.
Stefy
Hello @Stef and welcome to the forum and to TrustedHousesitters. I agree with Amparo that you have an excellent listing.
One picky point is that although you’ve said you would prefer people who work from home, make sure you are open to those who no longer work and may be at the home for long periods of time. I’m a retired solo sitter and usually am at the home for most of the day. You may just want to tweak that wording a little.
The only other point is that, even though you’ve said what sector of the city you’re in, given it’s a 3-week sit you may have sitters using the airport. You may want to add what distance you are from the airport, and how best to get from there to your home. If you’re willing to be the shuttle, if there isn’t a commercial one, then add that too.
Hi @Stef and welcome to the Community Forum. Wow, you have such a beautiful home, beautiful kitties, and beautiful views from your home. I wish I could make it to your area in September!
In looking at your pics, they are all quite good, but I might suggest you make the view of the lake OR your cute little furballs the main profile pic. People are enticed by pics that grab them right away and those that pull them in to look deeper. Both your views and those adorable babies would be enough to draw a great deal of attention.
I notice you did say you would prefer sitters who work from home, and I totally understand what you mean by that…wanting someone at home more often than not, but I would suggest maybe wording it something like “prefer those who work from home or retired sitters looking for a serene, peaceful place to relax and enjoy their time taking in the lake views”. This is generally telling them you prefer someone who would be home a great deal of the time.
I really don’t think you have too much to worry about with a September sit, as owners are getting back from their summer holidays and that means less sitters needed in the Fall. Your applications should start rolling in soon.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us here on the forum if you have any more questions as you will always find someone willing to give you insight and answer questions.
Take care and have a great day!
Debbie - Forum Moderator
Hi Debbie
Thanks so much and totally agree with you! It’s all about the wording
In regards to the cover photo, the lake is exactly what I had initially but I was advised to change it to either the sitters bedroom or the living room.
I personally believe different people will be attracted by different things and for this reason I might have to alternate pics to cover all the basis 
I might end up uploading a collage of the lake and the cats because they are what makes my home the best one 
Thank you again for taking the time to review my listing and provide feedback. I really appreciate it!!
Stef
Hi Snowbird
Thank you so much! You made such great points. I didn’t think of that even though I invited retired people and students to consider my listing!! 
I also liked your second suggestion and am going to add it now.
I’m so glad I posted here
Thank you again.
Stef
This listing looks great in my opinion. From someone located in the US, I can tell you that overseas sits have been appealing, but challenging to pursue, due to COVID restrictions- but since most of those are now removed, I expect you’ll start seeing more applicants soon enough.
A lot us are Americans in the UK doing very well. We are just booked up so come on over, the weather and water are fine!
I am so confused. We’ve had many great sits and multiple applicants for each sit over the last few years. I’ve had a sit available for a few months, gotten no applicants. We also boosted the listing.
I don’t get it. I have a lot of people saving the listing, but no applicants. Now we’re two weeks out, and I am scrambling to make other plans. Of course my subscription just renewed too. I just can’t understand why my other sits worked out so well and now a super dry spell.
I haven’t resorted to sending out messages to sitters that have saved the listing. That has always felt strange to me. I’ve seen and read through all the other posts in this section about this phenomenon. I’m just getting desperate here.
If you have time, please check out my listing and see if there’s anything that I can tune up to put me over the top. I’d really appreciate that!
Thanks for any help!
Todd.
As a sitter who moves around a lot internationally, we favorite sits we’d like to do when we get back to that destination. We can’t do it at the moment, but want to know next time dates get put up in case we can then. Unless we are on a sit we are usually available but only for particular destinations which I update regularly in our profile. So if we say we’re looking for sits near you, seem available and we’ve have favorited your listing , we’d be happy if you contacted us. We don’t live on the phone 24/7 and may have missed the alert somehow. We’d let you know asap (timezones permitting) if we could do it or not.
Few people traveled the last 2 years and have moved all their plans to this year. Next year the demand for sitters might be at a normal level again, maybe even less than normal if people delay their travel plans again due to rising cost of living prices.
Reaching out to sitters does feel a little weird, but it worked for me on one occasion when my dates were coming up fast! I actually had been reaching out to people in my local area, because it’s so much easier for them to plan out a last-minute drive instead of a last-minute flight. The sitter I booked had not previously saved my listing.
One thing that also helped me snag a last minute sitter once was my photos; I put my dog in every single one. This traveling couple told me they weren’t actually looking to sit while they were in my area but couldn’t help themselves when they saw the photos, and they decided to reach out because they saw the dates were so imminent. Your home and pets are beautiful! I’d suggest putting up one of your interior photos or a cute pet pic as the cover photo, so it sticks out more in the grid of listings.
Best of luck!
@Timmy that was my thought too. Vacation plans are all wonky and will take time to get worked out. Hopefully within the next year. I have two more sits I need to post soon. I guess I should get them out there.
That’s very interesting @Timshazz , and good to know about how sitters use the site. I’ve never had to reach out to a sitter before since all the sits came to me. I’ll now consider this another strategy.
Hi Stef,
I know this question was for an earlier stay but I looked at your listing and it looks wonderful to me. It looks like you took many of the suggestions and have a very good listing.
I would be applying for your current listing if it was about 3 days later. We have a sit in New Zealand that ends on March 14. Otherwise, we would have already applied.
Dan and Nan
Great tips about including pets in all the photos!
Last night I did send out invitations to all locals that had favorited my listing. I figured I’d wait another day and then send out to others.
Wow Steph! If I were a sitter and could afford a trip to the other side of the world I would definitely sit for you. Your home and animals look beautiful. Sometimes things take time-I really hope you get someone super soon
Sally
Hi @Stef. I actually saved your listing as your home and fur babies look amazing. The issue for me being a UK based sitter is the crazy cost of long haul flights which seem to increase every other hour at the moment!! Hopefully some sanity will return so I can do long haul sits.
Spaceboy, your sit looks great.
Two things I observed - you don’t seem to have any reviews from the 6 sitters you have had. This can be seen as a red flag from a sitters perspective so I would try and get some reviews (called feedback)from them if you can.
Also tiny point but I would maybe take out the ‘at least’ in ‘leave the house at least as clean as you found it’ minor detail but it could rub people the wrong way.
Hope you find a sitter soon for your lovely pets and home.
Note - I have just seen there is a glitch in sitter reviews showing so I apologize my first comment is probably not accurate.