Hi, I am new to trustedhousesitters and looking forward to my first sit in October.
Now my first questions:
I’ve noticed that sometimes the homeowners take quite a long time to respond to my application.
So, I’m wondering if I should apply to more than one homeowner at a time for the same period that I’m available for a sit to increase my chances of getting a definite sit.
Of course, this would also mean that if I were chosen by more than one homeowner, I would have to cancel the other sit.
The thing is that I travel a lot, so I try to organise my placements as fluidly as possible, one after the other, depending on the time, place, travel time, etc. Of course, I am aware that this is not always possible.
Hi Deep, Lovely name and welcome.
Apply to as many as interest you in the location you have chosen.
Think of it as you are looking for a job. Find the ones that most meet your criteria. If a HO responds and makes an offer, you are not obligated to accept but if you wait for “something or someone else” that offer may go to someone else.
My recommendation is to apply to as many as possible that you are truly prepared to accept and meet your needs quickly. Don’t wait and don’t make them wait either.
You can only accept one at a time and should not ever cancel once you do because of a “better offer”.
Keep your communication open and if you get offers and are already booked. respond to the HO respectfully. Explain the situation and Thank them and let them know that you would be interested in a future date should one become available.
All the best.
Where are you looking to go?
I agree with all that @Amparo has said, but want to stress this point and make a suggestion. Track those you have applied to in some way (we all do that differently). Once you accept a sit, check to see if any dates overlap with other applications. Be courteous and respectful and withdraw your application from those others, letting the homeowner know that you have accepted another sit. Besides being the right thing to do, it sometimes helps owners realize that there are consequences to not dealing with applications promptly, if they have been lax about it.
Thank you for your detailed answer. I will be very happy to take your advice into account.
As I will be travelling again in October, I will start in Switzerland and let myself be guided on the one hand by my feelings/heart and on the other hand by the offers. I can imagine that it will soon be abroad as well. I will be on the road with my own car.
I apply for any that I would be wiling to take, and then give whoever responded first the priority. Right now, I feel like only one in about three homeowners respond within the first 24 hours-which is frustrating for me, at least-and I give the ones who are on their game the preference. Right now I have 2 homeowners who haven’t responded in over 48 hours, and if I find something else that I would be interested in, I won’t hesitate to apply!
Hi @Deep
We have been been doing a ‘summer housesitting tour’ in UK since May-all back to back sits. Now on no.26 (of 27 booked here!) We wanted fluid transitions and no gaps so it was a juggling act to apply for anything and everything that ticked all the boxes. We always give priority to fast responders and the minute we confirm a sit we remove all overlapping ‘potential’ sits from favourites and withdraw any existing applications we’ve already made. If there has been any dialogue with other hosts we politely explain the situation. If a host has not yet responded we just withdraw the application with no comment. We’ve had a couple of potential hosts write later, sometimes regretfully!, that they’d been away and did not see our application in time. Its all about efficiency- we all- both HO & HS need to take care of ourselves first. And don’t take things too personally. If we have an application out there and our gap is still unfilled we leave it there on the back burner until- either we find a different suitable sit- or they respond- whichever comes first!
Just go for it and watch how everything falls magically into place!
Thank you so much for your reply. Sounds great how you are coping with your big summer tour - it helps me a lot to just keep the ball rolling and not think about it too much!
I wish you continued great experiences and a wonderful end to your trip
Thank you for your answer. I can understand that very well.
I had a homeowner who didn’t get back to me for the first time until 4 days later, and I was beginning to think she had decided on someone else. Turns out she just took care of the applications.
Another homeowner hasn’t gotten back to me in 6 days, not even a brief feedback on where he stands in his selection or at least an approximation of how long it will take to respond.
But from what I gather from the responses to my question, this doesn’t seem to be unusual.
I probably worried too much about having to turn down a homeowner without realising that the homeowner would have to do the same if they had more than one application.
I’m now just going to apply to all the offers that feel right to me, and will probably have to respectfully decline homeowners if the dates overlap.
We only apply to 1 sit at a time unless we got a last-minute cancellation and are looking for a replacement ASAP. But I think we are in the minority and multiple applications at the same time seem to be equally acceptable. The only time I really regretted my approach was when a HO really took his time and interviewed several people over 2 weeks and asked everyone to be patient (we were not chosen and had little time to find a replacement after that).
Hi @Deep we have recently been in the situation of applying for 3 different sits with similar times. The first houseowners responded within 12 hours and requested an interview which we had. They were very up front and told us they had interviewed another couple and asked if we had any other applications in progress. This gave us the perfect opportunity to inform them that we had other applications current and that we would be in touch as soon as the responses became available. At the same time, we asked them when they wanted a commitment from us - acceptance or decline. They gave us 2 weeks which was great! The 2nd application was declined and the 3rd was the one we accepted as it was the longest and fitted our needs the best. They also responded within a matter of hours (2, I think!) and they were first time HO. We then sent a polite email to the 1st Houseowners respectfully declining and explaining that the longer sit was more suitable for us and to please keep us in mind should they need a house and pet sitter in the future. I felt a little guilty disappointing them but as @Lokstar said both HO and HS need to take care of themselves first and at that stage, we had not had a confirmed invite nor had we indicated that we were accepting HO #1 listing.
Hi @Deep we apply for multiple sits at the same time and in our application ask the HO to let us know soon if they are interested in having a video call to discuss their sit as we have applied for other sits for similar dates to theirs which may impact our availability for their sit. This way the HO is fully aware of the situation and the ball is squarely in their court.
We became full time sitters in May this year and just finished our 7th of 14 sits booked for this year.
We had two cancellations this fall that we were able to replace within a week of receiving the cancellation notices.
We apply for multiple sits at a time and use a “first come first serve” approach. If we have simultaneous responses we advise the HO’s that we are interviewing and will let them know within an agreed upon time frame 24-48 hours.
Once we have accepted a sit we write to the others we applied to, letting them know we are withdrawing our application as we have accepted a sit elsewhere.
@anon47943759 Hi, same here…I like to enjoy and explore the place I’m in and take as much time as possible or the sit takes. Only then do I look from there where and which place will show itself to me next. As I am not bound to time or place, I am in no hurry (at the moment I am travelling within Europe). Everything else feels like I’m constantly in the future planning instead of being and living in the “now”.
I am not bound to time or place, I am in no hurry
That is the greatest feeling there is and the best way I have found to live.
It took me a while to get there, to realize that I have now nothing to hold me. and you are so right, always trying to plan and have all the answers first is encumbering and something I find I have to catch and self correct on the daily.
Enjoy your freedom and all your wonderous exciting adventures.
We apply to one sit at a time and give the HO 24-48 hours to respond. If a HO has already received lots of applications (7+) we might apply to another sit as well. We do a lot of overlaps so we don’t need to stay in Airbnbs very often, but that’s only feasible if you’re more than one person.
I am a new Sitter also. I noticed that, toi, that homeowners can take awile to respond. I found out today that we click an accept/decline button on the Sits if we are chosen. So, we wouldn’t have to cancel a Sit if we booked something before we got all responses. Maybe THgS has a blog for HOMaybe they could be encouraged to respond quicker?!
Well said, thank you. It has taken me a while to learn that you must take care of yourself first and not take things personally. I am impressed by your 27 back to back sits! You must be incredibly organised!
