Hii community. Have a long time I have been using housesitter and I noticed when I get a push notification and go to apply there’s already 1 or 2 applicants for the opportunity. I am literally 24/7 with my cellphone since I work using it and I always click in the right time I get a notification of the search criteria I saved. So I noticed I might be receiving those push notifications later than others sitters… Because there’s a time you take to read all the infos of a sit, write your personality message and send it. If there’s more than 2 applications already I guess they had at least 3 minutes in advance…
Does anyone else get this impression, or are other people really just faster?
Notifications are not sent to everyone at the same time. Saved searches are sent on a schedule and favourited listings are sent more immediately but not to everyone simultaneously. As some popular listings can receive 5 applications in a few minutes a lot of search notifications will not even show you these as they will already be in reviewing status.
If we get a notification and the dates are right we apply instantly, then read the listing afterwards.
If you faff around reading the listing first, you stand a good chance of missing out!
And how do you apply without reading it? Because I thought that sending a more personal message that shows that you read about the opportunity would increase your chances…
You’re lucky there are only 1 or 2 applicants. In the area I seek to sit by the time I get a notification the sits are usually already on ‘reviewing’!
There’s a lag between a sit being posted and a notification being issued. I’m afraid the only solution is to constantly check the area you want to sit (as many clearly do) rather than wait for a notification, although given different timezones you still often miss the opportunity to apply.
It’s a negative consequence of the ‘5 application’ cut off.
@Sasafer
I used to send one letter ‘a’ to secure my spot, then immediately send an apology for the one letter with an explanation why, - but THS got wind of that probably through people like me explaining our application method on this forum, and stopped it by putting a character limit on your message, i think its 50 … now I send a very short sentence, something like, "Sorry for the short message, you will recieve my proper application very soon "
I have noticed a delay receiving notifications of sits I have favorited. I do check regularly for areas I am interested in because of this.
I am intrigued by the short answer application as a placeholder. I always send a long application response as I thought HOs wanted to get a full app immediately. Does the “You will receive my proper application very soon” work? I’m not being critical, just curious as this will save me time and get me in for more sits I want - lol
You could always do a more detailed than one sentence response and have it pre-prepared. A 'Hi, I love your sit and don’t want to miss out on a chance to apply so I’m just sending you some quick info about me and I’ll follow up in a bit with more details." and then include the basic facts about you that you’d include anyway. Then in the follow-up address their specific listing and why you’re interested.
While some HOs may be offended by it, you’ll have more success doing this than not being able to apply at all due to spots running out.
Yeah it already happened to me it’s on review or even wasn’t available anymore. But my “problem” is I don’t want especific regions to sit but especific time. So what works better for me is sitting I can stay 2 weeks +. So it doesn’t really work well for me looking region by region. And it’s impossible checking every minute. So I was counting on the notifications for 2weeks + but I just lost an opportunity because the host chose who applied first…
You can still do a saved search for duration. It works the same as doing one for a region. And obviously you don’t have to search every minute, just whenever you can. Yes, you will still miss out on options, but less than if you wait for an alert to hit your notifications.
This has been covered in several other posts, and even tests have been done between members to understand what the delay is. And yes, it’s not uncommon to have up to a 1 hour delay with notifications. So if you rely on them, you might already be too late for the popular listings…
Thank you - this is super helpful!! I overthink everything, so it would be nice to buy myself a little more time to fully craft my response We have had no problem getting the sits we want, but we have been doing mostly domestic (U.S. for us) sits. I am sure once we pick more popular out of country destinations, we will need to be quicker and the placeholder will help.
All one needs to do is to open the application window, and keep it open. Then one can read, and consider, and look at references, and look up airfares, discuss and decide and write a good application.
It does not matter whether an application comes in as number seven or eight.
Just imagine how many thousands of fellow members might be interested in attractive sits. It is well understandable that (at least) five of these sitters have maybe already read the profile thouroughly and favorited the listing accordingly, and know for sure they want it the minute they get a notification. I have several such listings - where I’ve never been in contact with the host before, but I will know instantly which sit it is, which pet etc. I wouldn’t need to read the listing to apply.
Many sitters I believe also have a draft application at hand and are able to apply in a very short time if needed. I think I could well send off an appl. within a couple of minutes if I knew it was a sit in high demand.
In addition - you can keep the application-window open WHILE you read the listing, if you open the application tab.
Also, listings in great demand might quickly be filled up with questions to the host and/ or «keep us in mind another time» from sitters that actually can’t do the specific sit. Must be super annoying for the host, but there you are. If so, keep an eye on the listing as application spots may be available as these kind of messages withdraw their appl. or the host decline them.
I have a few searches for very attractive sits, and I’ve found that it is usually possible for me to apply if I go in immediately after the notification. If I wait 5-10 min it is gone. And some of them will re-emerge later in the day or the following days, probably because sitters have just asked something or found out the cost of travel…