Hello! I’m wondering how far in advance I should post my listing? A couple months, a few weeks, etc? Is there a best practice? We do live close to a large metro area that gets lots of travelers.
Also, can I have multiple listings at the same time? I know I have trips coming up and would be nice to post both.
Hi there and welcome to THS! 
You can post your listing whenever you feel ready to - usually a good few months in advance is the way to go. Leaving only a few weeks until your dates can be risky, so the sooner the better. You cannot have multiple ‘listings’ but you can post multiple dates for your 1 listing. Sitters will apply for the dates that they are available for. Here’s how to add your dates if you’re unsure:
And here’s some other great tips to know about THS if you aren’t already aware:
Be sure to read up on the THS policies and guidelines for best practice.
Ensure you have an attractive listing that gains applicants; sending invites often has a low success rate.
Here’s a blog that can help with your listing to ensure it finds success:
Best of luck and hope you enjoy THS! 
A lot depends on the actual length of your sits @MichiganJules. I see sits advertised for months in advance and they are only overnight ones - they rarely receive applicants until the very last minute, or don’t receive any at all. However, if it is for a number of weeks or several months, then it pays to advertise months in advance. The time of year is also a factor e.g. summer, school holidays, festive occasions so advertising early for these is encouraged.
You can definitely post multiple sets of dates at the same time. However, be mindful that you could get 5 applicants for each set of dates very quickly if it is a popular location and appealing sit. This would mean you need time set aside to review all these applications promptly, set up video calls with those you think are best suited and decline those not suitable (hopefully with a personal message). This could be quite overwhelming for you! Keep in mind, many sitters apply for more than one listing with similar dates so you could easily lose some of your applicants if your communication is not prompt.
The advantage of posting several dates is that you might have applications from a sitter you would prefer for several dates (or you can ask a sitter you would prefer whether they are able the other dates) should you wish to.
If you find an agreeable sitter it could be easier for both you and the pet with another sit later on. Although some would prefer to have tried on one sit before they repeat it.
@MichiganJules We just posted our sit for the week prior to and including Christmas day.
I hope it’s not too early to post a holiday sit. I’ve read varying takes on how early to post them.
For our regular (non-holiday) sits, we usually post 2-3 months out.
And yes, you can list multiple dates on your listing.
From a sitter-view the listing would appear on the listing with a + next to the first dates to indicate that there are more, and when I open the tab I can select one or more that I would like to apply for:
If I have a confirmed sit for some dates, it will be stated that I’m busy with another sit and I cannot apply.
As a sitter, I am looking for housesits well into 2025 already and I’ve seen the 2025 housesits getting applications. I primarily am looking for 1 week to 1 month sits.
The other comments about the time of year are quite valid. Also, be sure you are ready for answering applications when you post your dates, which another person mentioned. A lot of sitters will only wait a couple days to a week to wait for a response.
That all said, if you are at an easy to get to desirable location, you probably could get away with posting your dates with only a month notice. I’d still ere on allowing more time if possible.
Definitely not too soon for posting for the holidays. We confirmed a sit for that timeframe over a month ago.
Thank you all! I did figure out how to post mulitple dates. I do imagine holidays are a busy time, so figure those may need to be posted early.
If you have your dates, post them! We sit full time and we’re fully booked for 2024, and partially booked for 2025 (as we aren’t taking any more bookings for 2025 as yet, until later in the year), but we also have one sit for 2026 booked in too.
If you pop on your dates as soon as you have your trip organised, then, if you don’t find the perfect sitter for you then you have plenty of time to find the perfect one. Whereas waiting to advertise the dates nearer to the time means you are in competition with a lot more owners, which isn’t a problem, it’s just something to consider.
There’s no rights nor wrongs, but if you have your dates sorted, I’d pop them on now.
Perhaps a peek into the brain of a full-time sitter (50+ sits & 5*) would help?
We heavily prioritize long sits. I regularly scan for 1 mo+ sits as far out as the site allows and immediately apply if it ‘checks our boxes’.
I then start filling in around that sit with shorter sits that will ease the travel to our ultimate destination. For example, if we had a 10 wk sit in San Diego starting in 5 mos I’d start looking for 2-10 day sits along our route from Toronto to SD that fit our timetable for arrival. We try to minimize hotel stays while traveling and appreciate a couple of days off the road after each full day of driving.
I suspect that most FT sitters do something similar. As such, if you’d prefer a sitter with max experience & reviews, it makes sense to post your ad as far in advance as possible because we plan & book up way ahead. We’re currently booked through April of 2025 with a few small gaps.
As others have mentioned, holiday timeframes have been creating a ‘sitter draught’ for the past couple of years. Shorter notice sits are at a real risk of having low-zero applicants.
As above, some who live in very high demand locations, have easy to care for pets, and/or unusually attractive homes can get away with being less proactive but for most I’d say the longer the lead time the better.
Just my 2 cents 
I am looking for our holiday sit now. I have one more in between now and then, but that will likely be the last of the pet sits I do this year. To me, I’d post all that you know now, unless you are not certain of your dates.
@KenandMary1998 Definitely not too early. I confirmed my holiday sit in May.
Great question. Much said above I agree with, like the longer the sit the earlier you should post. Holidays generally a little sooner than non-holidays. Remote areas or less desirable areas sooner rather than later. I had a sit in Puerto Vallarta where the HO regularly posts a week or so out and her dance card is full within minutes.
As with all data sets with a large universe (many sits and many sitters), there is a bell curve on how far in advance sits are posted and how far out sitters are looking and willing to commit. I so WISH that THS would share that info, but my sense is the bell curve centers around 2-3 months being most active. If you want to be in the most liquid market, try to hit the top of that curve or be just ahead of it.
Keep in mind if you book a sit 5-6+ months in advance, the risk that the sitter will have an unavoidable need to cancel (I don’t mean for convenience but a real reason like a medical or family medical emergency) increases.
Thanks all! Sounds like I better get that holiday listing up soon!
