I am considering hiring a sitter for a long stretch during the summer in Tempe, Arizona. Humans were not meant to live here in July & August, and I’m having a hard time believing there are nearly 700 sitters planning to travel here when it is 115 degrees. Is there any policy that prevents me from subscribing and then discovering there aren’t really any options for my travel dates?
There’s no guarantee that you’d land a sitter. But you can check for other hosts in your area and see whether they’ve landed sitters before and how your home and pets compare, so you can gauge your chances.
Don’t know where you got the 700 number, but it’s unlikely there are hundreds wanting to spend summer in your part of the world.
You have no way of knowing if you will get any applicants.
The site doesn’t show how many sitters are planning to travel to your area. It may be showing 700 sitters based in your area but there is no guarantee they are available or wish to sit there, especially in the summer months.
A lot will depend on what you have to offer and if a sitter feels it is a fair exchange.
Take a look at the cancellation policy before signing up. I believe if you get no applicants within a certain time limit you should get your money back.
Good Luck
If you got that 700 number from the number of sitters based in your area, it’s worth noting that many sitters won’t sit locally. Many sit to travel elsewhere.
Hi @CatDude If you decide to go ahead and post a listing, I would suggest being very clear about the temperatures from the outset. Make it really clear what people are letting themselves in for, and ways in which the heat can be mitigated, eg. do you have air-con, pool, etc. ? That way, you’ll hopefully avoid securing a sitter who then decides they want to leave after the first couple of days due to being too hot, which would undoubtedly affect your own plans for the summer!
@CatDude Here is a link that may help.
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001697837-What-is-the-Money-Back-Promise
If you post a sit, don’t say you are looking to hire a sitter. This is not a job and we don’t want to be treated like hired help. It’s an exchange program. Just say you are looking for a sitter for the dates ………..Also if you have a pool, that would be a plus. If they need to have a car in that hot weather, post that . Also, if you are new doesn’t THS give your money back if you get no applications for your first sit if you decided to leave.
As @Therese pointed you to, there is a money-back guarantee if you can navigate through their narrow qualifying gates. Success at finding a match for a sit depends heavily on your profile and a good profile takes time and effort to write. It’s natural for new hosts to join THS but take weeks or longer before their profile is really ready. New users can speed up the process by studying past threads on this forum but that also takes time.
My reading of the money back guarantee suggests that new members should not publish sit dates until after their profile is ready for showtime. Publishing sit dates prematurely makes finding a match harder while also starting the 14 day clock on the guarantee.
Good luck.
You don’t really know.
I don’t know if hosts can see other listings but as a sitter I can and I took a quick look at listings in that area (there are many in AZ) to see if some had had sitters in the summer months and yes, some of these pet owners have had summer sitters. Granted, the ones I saw were beautiful homes with very nice pools.
I agree with others that it will depend a great deal on your home, the pets, if a car is required or you can offer one, if there is a pool , etc Needless to say, to be willing to endure those temperatures people need to be tempted. But you never know. Someone may want to visit family in the area.
But there are no guarantees with this “swap” platform. It’s somewhat like a dating site - it’s about finding a match between sitters and house/pet owners.
And yes, as you read above, we do not use words like “hire” - no one is hiring anyone. It’s an even exchange. Like swapping favors.