I have just signed up and am excited to get my feet wet, near or far. I so my first sit in a couple of weeks. It’s local (Peterborough, ON, can) so I can keep working at the little job I picked up till the end of June. Other than this sit, I had been declined for all the sites I’ve applied for. Then I applied for a sit in Arizona and the owner wants to charge me $1500 per month. Has anyone else had this experience? I have reported it to admin.
Admin Notice: Post moderated, listing reference under review by Membership Services. AL
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What?! Why would they be charging you? Just as well you’ve reported it. Good luck with your first sit and don’t be disheartened about turn downs.
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Hi @CanadianLynda and welcome to the forum, and to TrustedHousesitters. It’s quite normal to not be successful on applications until you get your first review, as many homeowners rely on those reviews as part of their assessment of applications. References are helpful but, as they’re external, they could be easily ‘created’. Besides, homeowners can only pick one sitter. 
If you’d like forum members to review your profile and give some constructive feedback, you can embed your listing in your forum username/profile.
I’m also in Ontario, so if you have any questions about southern Ontario sits, I’d be happy to share my opinions and tips with you. You can direct message me (or any other forum member) by clicking on the username and then the green message option.
I hope all goes well with your first sit.
Francine 
Voluntary Forum Moderator
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Hi @CanadianLynda, welcome! I’m also in Ontario (Prince Edward County).
Your experience with the AZ homeowner is definitely not normal and you were right to report it.
Don’t get discouraged though, once you have your first review it will likely be easier to get more sits!
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Hi CanadianLynda: Welcome to THS and the forum. I’m a fellow Canadian and live in Vancouver. We started off seven years ago by applying on local house sits and gaining references and it was two years of membership before we applied on international house sits so it takes a while to build up reviews. We’ve definitely enjoyed our membership with THS and it’s been very rewarding and I’m sure you’ll enjoy too - best of luck! Homeowners definitely shouldn’t be asking you for money to do a sit. A big no-no!
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Thank you for the advice @Snowbird! I would love feedback on my profile. I have embedded my forum name, as you suggested.
Thank you for the warm welcome, fellow Canadians/house sitters.
I’m not too discouraged; I figured it would take reviews to help get more sitting jobs, just like when applying for a paid job: they want you to have experience first! I will keep at it!
I look forward to hearing some of your adventures.
@CanadianLynda Congratulations on having created a lovely profile. It’s hard to find much to suggest. I see you have your first sit coming up soon, and that you have your calendar marked correctly for other periods.
Ideally the ‘review’ (reference, by THS terminology) you’ve quoted in your listing would be better submitted as an actual reference. That way you will soon have one review and one reference on your profile. Once you’ve finished your first sit, make sure to request a review and equally, provide the homeowner with feedback.
It looks like you’re heading into retirement with lots of planned adventures. Enjoy!
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