We are new-ish to THS, having had only 1 sit this year. We have another sit planned and our sitter just canceled for (legitimate) personal reasons. I’m back to looking for someone to sit. Would this group please look at our listing and help me make it outstanding, please? We are in a great location, so I tried to convey it with a detailed listing.
I believe I have the listing attached to our profile (at least I tried to do this). Many thanks for everyone’s help.
Edited to remove specific sit details to comply with the Community Rules.
Looks like a sweet sit and you sound like very warm and welcoming hosts with a good handle on the THS mutual exchange model @AdventuringBoomers2 so that all bodes very well! A few extra bits I’d want to know if we were to sit for you would be, where do the dogs and cats sleep? How long do you walk them for and where are the walks? If it was an early departure for you or late arrival back how do you then manage sitters with only one primary bedroom? Would also be tempted to slim the intro as it’s a bit long and some of the detail on the pets fits better in responsibilities section. Other than that it looks pretty sparkling. #bestofluck
Hi there,
I took a look for you.
Your listing is highly detailed, which is fantastic, and you have great photos and a strong cover photo, so well done! Considering your location and the amount of detail and effort you have put into your listing, it would surprise me if you didn’t get applicants straight away. The only deal breaker I see is that the dogs sleep in the same room as the sitter - is this necessary, or can the dogs sleep elsewhere?
Your intro is also a little long and full on, launching straight into the dog info & responsibilities instead of simply introducing yourself and telling sitters why they should sit for you. Most of this info can be moved to the responsibilities section, and things like commands & nick names etc can be saved for your welcome guide, not your listing. I would also be more direct in the responsibilities about how long the pets can be left for, and how long/how many walks per day.
Cooking sweet potatoes & taking the dog in a buggy won’t be for everyone, but it’s all about finding the right match for you. You also mention that Betty may be absent for the sit - do you know yet if this is the case for the dates you have listed? If she’ll be absent, I would remove her from the listing (and all info specifically regarding Betty).
As it’s a winter sit, mentioning activities & weather conditions at this time of year and what the heating is like in your home is a good idea.
Your listing looks great now
Your issue may be the closeness to the holidays as many sitters will have just got home after Xmas/New Years sits.
We have added you to our favourites as it sounds like a lovely sit but we can’t do these dates.
Give it a few days. It’s post Christmas. There are many thousands of sitters. I could see your sit being very appealing for a digital nomad or other “full time” traveler bouncing around the DC/Balitimore area.
Checking back and still surprised there aren’t applicants. (I don’t have a desire or reason to go to Baltimore and I’d consider it if I didn’t have other stuff scheduled.) It’s possible the Jan 17th date is too against the MLK Jr weekend. I think you could try putting the living room as the cover so it’s clear that your home is beautiful and has great light as the other photo looks like the real estate ad and not the home.
I had a quick look and to me it’s all just too long, too wordy, especially the intro.
I would trim that back to 2 or 3 sentences maximum.
in the responsibilities section, my eyes glazed over after the micro detailed toileting times, and feeding schedule, that are both more suited to the actual Welcome Pack.
A simple “they must be taken to a specific toilet area” and "fed x no of times a day " sentence would cover it, at this the application stage.
Four pets and basic wifi seem like challenges that will filter out many sitters.
And if people want to go to D.C., it’s not feasible given the commute time and the dogs. They would have to bring them (can do only in a car, since no pets on public transit, unless service animals). And they couldn’t bring them into many sites that tourists want to visit.
Baltimore also might have lingering perceptions of safety challenges, which some folks consider with walking dogs.
Overall, the listing looks pretty good. We like a lot of details on a listing so we can see if it really is a good fit before applying. With that said, the introduction would probably be better off with starting out with the “Hello! We are…” the other intro stuff seems like fluff, if you understand what that means. Sitters can see the view from the pictures and get a sense of what they will wake up to.
Also, probably cut out some of the surrounding activities. Make it more based on you and your home.
The parking would be an issue with us and something we would probably consider a con and make us not apply. List out the solutions (if you have any) and what sitters options would be. This makes it seem like sitters might have to pay.
Take out the part about Betty may not be part of the sit. If she is included for the dates listed, leave her on and don’t mention this (this could lead to inaccurate listing problems and miscommunication).
We wouldn’t find an issue with sleeping with the pets, but as most have mentioned here on the forum, it bothers a lot of sitters. Do you have an alternate plan?
Four animals, in an apartment, (two of which need to be walked outdoors with window of leaving them for 5 hours) is probably a tough fill…but stick with it. A lot of sitters are still looks for mid January sits (as we are!)
Something to note: if you live in a condo (especially with four animals), have you considered a turf patch on the patio decks? Having this as an option to help the dogs relieve themselves and cutting down on the 3 walks a day might help your odds finding a sitter.
We agree with @Marion
Change the cover photo to the living room picture. We don’t like when ads have surrounding areas or view point shots. We just want to see the actual home and animals.
