• Written like a job description, not an invitation. You can see this in word choices and tone. Not friendly or welcoming. Sitters seen as help, rather than as partners or guests.
• Listings written without taking sitters into consideration, like the hosts, pets and home need X, Y and Z — essentially ordering services without sharing what might be in it for sitters.
• Listing info mentions in a heavy handed way a bunch of things the host doesn’t allow or the sitter can’t do.
• Overall tone and framing point to the host doing the choosing, without realizing that sitters also choose whether to take sits.
• Doesn’t identify the neighborhood in a city or metro area. Doesn’t mention how far away food and amenities are. That indicates a focus on the host’s priorities, without reciprocity.
• Sitter expected to rarely leave the home or pets, if at all. (Even as a telecommuter, I avoid such sits, because the host thinks it’s all about them and their pets. Maybe thinks sitters are homeless and desperate for shelter.)
• Too many pets or responsibilities for a voluntary sit. They expect essentially what should be paid labor.
• What’s listed doesn’t turn out to be the case. Like they’ve not actually booked travel and they think sitters will wait in limbo for them to decide. Doesn’t consider that sitters also have plans to make.
• Slow to communicate. That makes it more likely that sitters won’t get prompt communications during the sit and will have a harder or more expensive challenge in making plans, buying tickets, etc.
• Missing images or info relevant to sitters. Instead, an over abundance of pet photos or few photos. Because in the host’s mind, it’s all about them.
• Images are dark, show clutter or messes. That’s because they have low standards and don’t realize that sitters won’t voluntarily live in their lack of hygiene or tidiness.
• No welcome guide far ahead enough for the sitter to review for dealbreakers or other key info. Lack vet info, emergency contacts, gas and water main turnoffs, etc., because the hosts aren’t thoughtful partners. That’s more likely to leave sitters scrambling in emergencies.
• Squishy answers to questions from sitters. Or punting details, saying they’ll get to them.
• During video or phone chats, reveals unpleasant surprises or dealbreakers that should have appeared in the listing.
• Has a pattern of not writing reviews for sitters or reviews harshly or in nitpicking ways. In a bunch of reviews, has never given five stars, probably because their expectations are unreasonable. Doesn’t show appreciation for sitters.
• Has a bunch of missing reviews from previous sitters. Or maybe sitters’ reviews are skimpy and missing key info, like future sitters are expected to read between lines.
• Slow to choose sitters, especially for last-minute sits.