Hi
We’re brand new sitters and we’re delighted to be accepted for our first pet sitting within an hour. However I’m curious about homes which have several applications of interest . How long can one wait to receive an answer?
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Sometimes up to a few weeks @Home . Normally a few days in our experience. There’s a note in the guidelines somewhere asking HOs to respond to sitters within 72 hours of applying so everyone knows where they are. We’ve had replies within an hour like you but they’re the exception. Congrats 
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Wow that is amazing that you already have a Sit!! To answer your question, the response times of Owners vary a lot! Some respond within one day, while other take several weeks to respond. This was the most frustrating part of being new Sitters! I would say, just move on with your life, apply to as many Sits as you would like, and see what happens. The process is very dynamic, as you will see over time.
Hi @Home and a warm welcome to the Community Forum and congratulations for being accepted for your first sit! 
In answer to your question, this can vary from literally a few minutes which has happened to us in the past to hours, days, weeks. The longest we have waited was around 8 weeks.
For reference as a member, you can also add your TrustedHousesitters profile on to your Forum profile by following the attached link, should you wish. This will then enable others to offer you helpful advice and feedback.
If you are unsure how to do this, or if you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask, we are all more than happy to help.
Also, remember you can use the spyglass symbol at the top of the page next to the TrustedHousesitters logo and search for any questions that you may have as they have most likely already been answered on here and of course if not then please just ask!
I have attached a thread below, it would be great if you could join in with this as we think you could offer great feedback and your input would be a great addition 
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Totally varies with the HOs.
Personally, I apply for multiple sits and don’t wait long before moving on. Why: There are many more sits than good sitters. Plus, I don’t have any must-do sits. If I’d really wanted to go somewhere, I’d have already done it by now — I’m in my 50s.
I figure for HOs, typically they snooze, they lose, because they have to compete for good sitters. Few HOs have the luxury of having the most popular locations. And we can all see the huge inventory of sits.
For instance, I withdrew after about 36 hours of seeing that my application had gone unread. I had other options, so why wait? Then the HO immediately msg’d to ask if flexing the dates might interest me in the sit. I’d already made other plans, so maybe we’ll connect at some point down the line. And maybe they’ll move faster in the future.
That’s not the first time I’ve seen HOs spring into action when they’ve otherwise been slow.
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I’ve seen some homeowners respond right away and either decline me or ask for a call. Others take so long that I forgot I even applied.
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It varies, and we are always appreciative where things move along quickly. However, some of our best sits were for owners that took their time, for whatever reason. We weren’t pressed for a decision at the time, as it was far in advance and our plans weren’t fixed yet, so we just waited and interacted. And they turned out great. Not all people can be rushed about things.
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Sounds like it makes sense for your priorities, @botvot.
I agree that you can’t rush some folks — temperament is hard to change even when the individual wants to change themselves, LOL.
I think it’s best to not force things, which is why I move on if HOs are slow when I apply. They’re entitled to be slow if they want; each of us decides as sitters whether we want to engage in that or not.
I love moving quickly and don’t usually plan far out — not interested in that, because I value flexibility. And I’ll do only maybe 10 to 12 sits a year at most. There are always compelling sits being listed, especially on short notice.
And I suspect that temperament wise, I wouldn’t enjoy working with HOs who are slow, even if they picked me, LOL.
I work in the startup world, which moves very quickly, and I screen out job candidates who can’t move at startup speed, for instance. I previously worked in news for decades. I love speed and deadline pressure. I love people who are decisive.
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Thank you for the advice and instructions.
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Hi @Home , welcome to the group and to the wonderful world of pet sitting
If that is an hour from applying that is really quick and very unusual, if it is an hour from your video call, that is about normal
Not sure what video you are referring to. I didn’t realise we should video.
Hi @Home as @Colin mentioned its always best to have a video call prior to accepting any sit if you can and this gives both the pet parent (homeowner), and the sitter a chance to see if they are a good fit and of course answer any questions you may have.
I have attached a thread you might like to have a look at
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Thank you for this advice.
I love that you two have springer experience! We have an ESS too and it’s not a very common breed over here so almost none of our sitters have ever cared for one. or if they did it was one they knew as a child.
As Homeowners (HO’s) ourselves it varies on how quick we choose a sitter from the time we make our dates live. Things to consider…We tend to make a decision a lot quicker for sits that are shorter in length and happen closer to the date we’ve posted.
For sits that last a week or longer in duration it takes us one to two weeks to decide on a sitter…sometimes even longer if the main candidates that we have are hard to schedule a video call with. It’s much harder for us to book sitters based in Europe because of the time difference, it takes a lot of coordinating to set up a video call. We, like many HO’s will only confirm a sitter after having had a video call. It’s really just as important for the sitter as it is the HO. I’ve never confirmed sitter in less than three days of posting the sit (that’s including the time for an in person meet up or video call.)
For each applicant that we receive we try to reply within 24 hrs but 72 at most if we’re in the midst of a very busy season of life, we try to at least send a message that just says “thank you for the application, we will be looking at it in XXXX amount of time and you’ll hear more from us then.”
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For me, it varies. If I immediately get an application from a sitter who sounds great, I’ll respond right away and ask for a video chat. If I get an application from someone who sounds… just OK, I might wait a few days to see if I get an application from someone who seems like a better fit.
Yup, I’ve heard back from some HOs quickly. Like they’ll say, “You sound perfect for us” and ask to Zoom quickly.
My next two sits — one abroad and one domestic — both unfolded that way.
A sit I just finished yesterday was offered to me right after I joined, and those HOs were confident I was a good sitter for them even before I’d done any sits, when I’d posted no referrals or reviews. That was a six-week sit in a beautiful area and their dogs were sweethearts. I hadn’t even applied for the sit.
I ended up asking them to divide the sit into three blocks, so I could bookend another sitter, because I wanted time at home. We easily negotiated that, too.
I’ve noticed that folks who pick me quickly have tended to be easygoing. They don’t ask many Qs.
I also build my profile to address most HO concerns upfront. Saves time.
The speed of such sit processes reminds me of hiring various high performers — they know how things work and trust their judgment, so negotiations go quickly and smoothly. They tend to be easiest to manage as well, because they’re self-sufficient.
My last two sits involved a retired executive and a retired business owner. I’m sure they’ve made plenty of decisions with incomplete info over decades. And successful execs and entrepreneurs typically have to make many decisions at business speed or they’ll bottleneck their company or teams.
When I hire professionally, I can spot winners right away. I don’t waste time interviewing a bunch of others in those cases, because I know what good looks like and I know if I waste time, someone else will grab them. The best folks always have the most options. That applies to sitting as well.
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I’m ok to wait for a decision. I’ve certainly needed time myself as well. However, I do expect acknowledgment of an application after taking the time to write one, as long as the HO has not been inundated.
I feel the same way. Even if they’ve read my message (maybe even more so). If they’ve not simply responded within a couple days, I know I’d be entering into an arrangement without respect. I’m not talking about sits with a hundred applicants where the HO is overwhelmed. I’m looking at typical listings.
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@Home For the sit where you were accepted within the hour , have you subsequently exchanged phone numbers and had a chat by phone or video?
I would strongly recommend that sitters do this asap so that you have alternative means of communicating Prior and during the sit .
On a couple of occasions, we’ve had a reply to our application within the hour , set up a video call or phone call a few hours later and had the sit confirmed that same day of applying. These were home owners who worked from home and so were used to responding quickly and use video calls in their professional life.
Others have taken longer, but if we haven’t heard anything in a few days we’ll make contact again and if we still haven’t had any communication after a week we will withdraw our application.
For me, it’s less about respect than about not wanting to deal with people who don’t know what they want / are indecisive / haven’t worked out their plans.
I get that some folks need more time to consider, to maybe settle their plans, or they’re juggling a bunch of stuff in their lives, etc. And I’m sure there are people willing to wait for them. But I won’t — there’s no need when there are plenty of sits out there, including ones with HOs who are decisive and can move fast.
If there were sits I considered incredible and rare and really wanted, I might wait. But I haven’t seen any and am not sure whether I ever will. (If I really wanted to go somewhere, I’d pay my way and not have the responsibilities of pet care, just take a vacation. By contrast on all of my sits, I’ve been telecommuting.)