I think the rudest question we were ever asked by a pet parent during a video chat was “How do you finance your housesitting?”. We were a bit taken aback by this question.
What have other people encountered during video chats, which has been a bit off-putting?
We just say cutlery. 
At least these HOs understand that housesitting is a hobby that costs a sitter money.
Some other HOs believe that they are giving a sitter thousands of dollars per week…
I haven’t had a question like this, but if I did, maybe I would say a trust fund. They should trust you have the funds, otherwise, you wouldn’t be doing it.
Wow, how rude! Wonder if they always ask that to potential sitters 
I don’t recall anything rude directly said to us on a video call. I was put off by applying to an Italian sit recently though which had language as if you were applying for a job rather than a mutually beneficial arrangement on the listing. It had strict house rules, age requirements,minimum number of 5 star reviews and it was their first listing.
Might have just been that English wasn’t their first language and it came across worse but I didn’t feel like taking a chance.
I am curious, did the conversation go back to normal?
Did you sit for them?
We make it very clear in our profile as to where our income is from, but other sitters don’t make it as crystal clear, so I’d say that must be a pretty standard question that must be in the minds of HO’s when reading a profile for the first time.
The only time we’ve been nicely-asked in person about anything like that is where we’ve sat for a couple and the person with the THS profile knows everything about us, and their other half doesn’t, so we weren’t offended at all, it was just part of the conversation.
Similar - I think we reveal that in our profile too. I state we both run businesses but looking to work less - it’s obvious then to a HO why we do it and how we finance it.
Well I suppose it’s a legitimate enough concern if you haven’t got your professions, Linkedin a/c etc. or any details on your profile.
It just sounded rude when I read it at first if asked outright like that.
I can only recall one inappropriate question during a phone call.
The lady owner asked if it was ok for her son to carry on living there. She said “THS are expecting him to be homeless during the sitting”!
I immediately advised her of the T & Cs and ended the call
It’s easiest to cover how you fund your life in your profile. If the roles were reversed and I was an HO, I’d want to know if/how someone was self sufficient, and whether they understood what self sufficient was before handing over the keys to my house… it’s not just about pet sitting.
Can the sitter afford the flights, the train fare, the petrol costs, are they going to use up all of the food in my cupboards, are they free-loaders etc. It’s only natural they want to be assured a sitter can fund the life they choose to live, when there is no payment taking place for their services.
We’re with @HappyDeb on this. Not sure it’s rude, it might be genuine curiosity or envy that you live like this, or reassurance that you have enough funds to get to them, feed yourself, pay for a back up plan if things go awry and leave again, that’s all. Can’t recall being asked that in a call but soooooo many HOs want to know how to live a sitters life once we meet them, we’ve been asked to swap lives many times! #notachancerollo
I am almost offended when the HO asks me to sleep with the dog 
I’ve not been asked that, because I share my LinkedIn. In the hosts’ place, I’d want to know that sitters can support themselves before I turn my home over to their care. Seems rational, not rude, to me.
Relatedly, my current hosts were taken advantage of by a sitter who ended up clearing out their pantry and taking their car without permission (captured on an external camera) even though they’d given her $200 for ride shares, because she’d asked at the last minute about using their cars. She even left the car without gas. All that while leaving their dog untended for many hours.
They were new to THS and she was their first sitter. They ended up getting her booted off THS and said they now realize she’s a moocher, living off sits. They said that was unlike my having shared my career info, so they know I have a legit livelihood. They clearly will screen for that going forward.
@Happypets
Think the confusion might stem from the term ‘application’—some might mistakenly think it’s an actual job interview and they are the Executive conducting it 
‘bid’ would be a better term to use.
We once sat for a house that was for sale. The next door neighbour called around to drop off a parcel and randomly commented that he bet we wished we could afford to buy it 
I’ve been asked that a few times and don’t consider it rude but that the home owners (sorry, I just can’t say “pet parents”) are interested. I mention in my profile that I’m retired and have rented out my home so it’s obvious there is some income there.
Excellent! We share both of our LinkedIn profiles too, not that there’s much on either of ours, but I do have a handful of property-related appraisals on my LinkedIn, nothing much else though.
It just helps to give total transparency of who we are.
@Colin Proper ‘Saltburn’ vibe
You made me giggle. Most neighbours are inquisitive, which we love, but from time to time we get “I bet you wish you were a penny behind them”, when the neighbours know nothing about us financially.
Errrrr NO, we travel where we want, when we want, and stroke furry animals for pure fun!!! Plus we can stay in a stunning place month in month out if we chose to… without the overheads, but we prefer a varied life.
We own property but we LOVE our full time pet sitting life!