Hi im new here and would like to know why I’m getting notifications for a new sit so late
Most time there are already 4 applications in even though I respond within a minute
Because of having to rush I feel like im missing out
Any tips?
Thanks, Corina
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Hallo and welcome Corina. Yes that is normal for popular sits. Experienced sitters all have their own scenario for it. I sometimes see the applications have gone up during the typing of my own application. By now I have some standard sentences pre written, that I can quickly adapt to the petsit offer. Another scenario is you send a short standard message, indicating that you will send another more detailed one shortly, and then follow up the same day with a more elaborate and detailed message (the real one, so to say). But if you are new, you need to build up “credibility” because experience home owners in popular places will never select you, even if you write a brilliant application. A good strategy could be that you write now one or more imaginary applications that you save, just to have the experience how to write a good one.
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If you’re hoping to visit an especially popular area, it’s a matter of looking at new listings every five minutes and applying promptly! This can be pretty tedious and necessitate a great deal of time, but it’s worth it when you land that dream sit!
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If you’re new and applying for sits that disappear right away, you probably should adjust your expectations and do a few sits that aren’t as popular first. Why: Hosts of popular locations aren’t likely to pick a sitter without any reviews — they get many applicants, so they don’t need to take a risk with an untried sitter.
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If it disappears that quickly, you are propably looking at very popular locations/ sits. These sits are of interest for I’m sure thousands of other sitters. They might be scrolling the listings and find the new published dates even before the notifications are received by those who have favorited the listing.
I actually did that today - scrolled «country», saw a great listing I applied to - and shortly after I got a notification for that sit. 
When I had already applied as appl. no. 4.
If you have no THS-reviews - as others have said - it could be a good idea to get a few reviews first. Good review is «currency», as both sitters and hosts - but for sure hosts! - will usually prefer a sitter with several 5*-reviews. Sits you can get more easy (as less competition) are the short sits. Many try to do some short, local sits just to get the reviews needed to be competitive. The experienced sitters usually want longer sits, and for local sits you might be able to offer to meet in person before confirmation or before the sit. This could be an asset when one doesn’t have reviews. When you have 3-4-5 reviews with 5* you will see a change in how easy it is to get sits.
Of course any host could choose any sitter just for a good gut feeling. And do remember that if the sit has 5 applications, it is an 80 % chance of decline, even with 5 premium sitters. A decline isn’t necessarily a reflection of you. So keep on. Many of us apply for several sits for same time period. We assess the host as much as they do sitters. It is all about finding a good match.
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Thanks so much for your quick reply and the info provided
Your tips are something I can work with 
Never expected to get such a warm welcome and great response on my question
Your explanation makes so much sense and it’s definitely something i can work with
Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply it’s much appreciated! 
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the notifications do not go out in real-time. Some of the popular listings come and go in an instant. If you happen to check just at the right moment, bingo!