How do you approach it with a HO if you would like them to provide visitor parking permits / passes? So far if I’ve needed any for sits the HO has provided them, which I feel is fair. I don’t really fancy doing sits if I have to pay for the parking, as I’m on a bit of a budget.
A HO has just invited me to sit so I asked them if there was parking, and if they have visitor passes if it’s a permit area… They said there is parking but it’s restricted hours. It felt like they dodged the permit question so I asked if passes were needed, and they said they are but they’re not sure how much they cost and they have a few.
I’m not sure what to say next as it wasn’t followed with “we’ve got some you can use for the sit”. It feels a bit vague and awkward.
If you want or expect something, you need to ask directly. Personally, I live in a city. There is no “guest” parking for visitors in my building. Some people pay (dearly) for garage space. Most people don’t have cars. I advise sitters to leave the car at home and state straight out that street parking can be tricky. If a sitter asked me to pay for their parking, I’d tell them that that is not going to happen.
It’s a very normal question to ask…
"Would I be able to use one of your passes?
or if you want to be slightly more pushy to get the answer you want (given your on a budget)…
“If you have a few, I presume it’s okay to use one of your passes, is that right?” and put some nicer words straight after it.
You don’t even have to mention about being on a budget at this point.
I really think that should have been in their profile. Stating a parking permit is needed if you are bringing your vehicle. We do not provide the permit you need which will cost you such and such per day. Even providing the number for you to call or website. Now you have to have a discussion with them because they did not make this clear before you applied. If they did not disclose this before you applied I think it is perfectly fine to now decline if the costs do not fit in your budget.
I agree with Marion, direct and clear communication is the best way to avoid crossed wires. Either they accommodate your parking needs, you compromise on what you are willing to invest in the sit, or you recognize it is not a good fit and move on.
If there isn’t free parking then I wouldn’t do the sit. I’ve had one sit where there was no parking at the home but the owners found me a free parking space a few hundred yards away. Trouble was that as soon as I used my car I lost it. I wouldn’t do that sit again.
It’s a bit hit and miss in London, so many roads are free parking and so many aren’t! They had on their profile there’s free-street parking, but turns out it’s not really because some hours you’re not allowed to.
Fair enough Some cities are more no-go zones than others when it comes to cars. Sounds like yours is a big no go one. I too wouldn’t take cars to these kinda places! The city I’m talking about is definitely fine and common to have a car.
I use my car and I always check in the amenities if it says parking, if not I make a point of saying in my application that I will need a space. I am making it easy for owner because having a car means I can fit easily into their travel arrangements and have stayed longer if there have been delayed flights. I wouldn’t go if I had to pay for parking. Most cities have visitor permits in the UK and homeowners usually have them as tear off slips. You just have to put a new one in each day.
When I’ll be driving my own or a rental, I ask specifically whether there will be somewhere to park and how easy (or hard) it will be.
If street parking, I’ve always gotten specifics about street cleaning, having to move, etc., because I know that many cities don’t let you just leave a car indefinitely. It would never be my expectation that you could automatically do that.
If there’s assigned parking, I ask if there’s a fob or pass needed to get into the community or building.
So far, two+ years into sitting, parking has never been a problem for me.
I recently had a sit for an apt building in Toronto and at first she said no visitor parking, so I bought street parking for the week, which was 46 CAD. But then she arranged visitor parking. Pain. And in Atlanta, he said there would be visitor parking, but then there wasn’t. I think he had to pay, but across the street was cheaper. He did reimburse me. But it was 72 USD.
As sitters, this is something we’re very aware of now when applying on local sits in Vancouver, B.C. A while back we confirmed a sit and went to meet the homeowners and they didn’t have any parking available in their building and we couldn’t find parking on the street. I went in to meet the homeowners while my husband had to sit in the car in an alley. We had to decline the sit due to the lack of parking. For some of the local sits, we can access public transportation but not always.
Parking is highly highly restricted in London (I’ve had a home there for over 40 years so have seen it evolve). If this is the city you’re referring to as “definitely fine and common to have a car” that hasn’t been the case for non-residents for many decades.
Sits in London are generally in high demand by sitters. I wouldn’t expect, as a HO, to provide day parking passes although I’d be happy to supply the times ‘free’ parking is available (generally only overnight). Fine to ask, of course, but if it was a requirement I’d just move on to another sitter. However, I’d appreciate being told by a sitter that it was a requirement rather than having moans about it not being provided in the review.
If they invited you «out of the blue» I understand that this topic came up. If you have applied for this sit and maybe even had a videocall, that should be already covered in your conversations, IMO.
My general rule of thumb is that the party this is important to should cover. If it is important to the host that sitter has a car they should cover and vice versa.
At the same time - if something is important to you (or even a dealbreaker) one has to bring it up. Is this a dealbreaker to you? Or not? I think you need to decide what your stand is. It isn’t really clear to me if you have in fact a stand (yet) in this matter. It is important to have a stand to decide what is doable for you or not.
I need an available parking space to be able to do the sit (consequence of none - sorry, I have to decline).
Or; what sort of cost are you willing to pay?
If you are on a budget, you need to know what your budget is.
But never would I say I’m on a budget, let alone in a tight spot. That is not the responsibility of a host, and it can feel «off» if that is put on the host. I am not on a budget as such, but I do have opinions on what I should/ would pay or not - for it to be a good and equal match to me.
I applied, and they invited me without replying to my message, which I don’t really like in case there’s unanswered questions. It says on their profile there’s free parking, so I double checked luckily before accepting.
No I wouldn’t tell them I’m on a budget, I guess I just added that into the post because I was writing it in a chatty tone
Anyways, they said they want to find a repeat sitter and so the parking actually is too difficult. Fair enough!
So when I say restricted, I meant there’s a few hours of the day where you need a permit / visitor pass to park there. I’ve parked on many roads like this before during sits, and the HO provided visitor passes.
So far we’ve never had parking issues. We’ve done a couple of sits where there were local parking restrictions & the hosts themselves had to pay for an annual parking permit. On both occasions they immediately offered guest passes, as they did for any visiting friend. I would not accept a sit where parking was problematic or where the HO did not offer to pay for the parking permits.
