New homeowner here, and this is my first time considering arranging a house sitter while I go away for two weeks.
I own a busy farm, and my office is located inside the farmhouse. My manager, who has worked with me for years, needs to come into the house for several hours every weekday to do paperwork.
I noticed in the HouseSitters T&Cs that sitters are usually expected to have sole use of the house, and I’m wondering if anyone else has a similar setup. Although my manager loves my cat, he is not able to stay overnight or on weekends, which is why I’m looking for a sitter.
Does anyone else have this sort of home office arrangement and how do you find sitters feel about an employee coming in. The sitter still has exclusive use of the rest of the farmhouse.
It is against the third party rules and several hours a day,presumably every day is quite an intrusion in the sitters time and space. Is the manager able to do the work off site for two weeks? I don’t know if I’d be comfortable with it, but there are all kinds of sitters out there.
It breaks Ts & Cs for THS so isn’t allowed. Also most sitters won’t like the invasion of privacy daily. Can the farm manager not take a laptop and paperwork for two weeks and work remotely? Or at a push come once a week not every day? Some sitters might agree but good ones won’t. #nothirdparties
There’s no “usually expected” about it. Third parties on property during a sit are expressly and unequivocally not allowed. That said, what you and a sitter agree to is between you and the sitter. The tricky bit is that most sitters would not consider applying to a sit if you’re up front about an employee accessing your home office while they are there but if you’re up front about that, THS will likely hear about it from someone coming across your profile. THS does not seem a good fit for your needs.
Well done for reading the T&Cs (sadly not everyone does )and for thinking about how this will impact on your sitter .
As you have read in the T&Cs third parties are NOT permitted and this is one of the reasons that sitters choose to pay to be members of TrustedHouse Sitters .
The only exception is for employees that come in periodically to maintaining the property ( gardeners , cleaners , window cleaner etc ) as long as this is stated in the listing .
If your employee cannot work from home which would be the best solution, maybe advertise for a sitter from a different platform ( paid or unpaid ) could be a better option for you ?
Hi @Fred70 Your scenario would contravene THS terms and conditions, but if you’re up front about it from the outset then I’d say just go for it anyway, as it’s really up to individual sitters what they’re prepared to take on. If your sit is attractive enough in other ways, then this might compensate for the reduction in privacy.
If you have a THS membership which includes any sort of insurance via THS you might want to investigate how allowing a third party (your farm manager) access to the property might affect this should you need to make a claim.
Is it a good idea to suggest going against the T&Cs though? It’s a good point to mention the impact on insurance but it also has an impact of what the HO thinks about this THS community that a few sitters might be willing to operate outside of the T&Cs. It’s not a good look.
It’s against the terms but some sitters seem to either not read them or pick which ones they like and ignore the rest. So you would probably find a sitter who is ok with it if you had a nice home and pets in a desirable location. The bigger issue is that THS check your first listing before it goes live so would possibly notice and block it, or if it got through some sitters would report it would get blocked.
You may have better luck on some alternative sites with less restrictions. Have a look at some of the threads here listing other sitting sites.
Even if THS allowed it, the host risks potential run-ins or finger-pointing between the third party and the sitter. Say something went missing or were broken. There’d be no way to know who did what. And there are privacy and safety questions between strangers.
Hi @BonnyinBrighton I would definitely be considering why the third-party rule was included in the Ts and Cs in the first place, and whether not sticking to the rules was a risk I was willing to take. I have always assumed that the rule is there to keep things straightforward in terms of who was responsible for the pets/property at the time, should anything go wrong. By allowing a third-party access during a sit, the waters would certainly be muddied. But as long as all parties (including farm manager) are aware of the set-up from the outset, and have considered the implications, (ie. third-party access is likely to be problematic in the event of something going wrong on the sit), then it’s really up to them.
Another option that might work for you and doesn’t contravene the THS T&Cs .
Could you just list the weekend dates - Friday- Sunday - Then you could get a sitter for when your employee isn’t there to feed the cat .
You could also state in the listing that there is an option if the sitter would like to stay for the whole two weeks it can be discussed as a private arrangement but as a third party would be present during part of the day each weekday those dates aren’t listed on THS.
I’d steer clear of violating t&c’s for the legal implications. What would happen if you were unable to let the 3rd party work from your home?
There are many places one can work from, ranging from libraries to coffee shops. I suggest they work there and the sitter not be put in a position where they and you violate t&c’s privacy rules.
Thank you for your replies and I would definetely not wish to go against THS T&C’s….. it was only after I signed up and read them properly that I realised my manager working from the farm office, which is inside my home, would cause a problem. I have spoke with him this morning and he says he can work from own home for two weeks. I was highly recommended to use THS as I know of no other platforms and I wouldn’t wish to contrene any rules to find a sitter.
I would also like to ask but would I have a similar issue with gardening staff working outside around the house? My house is located on my farm and I have a very large garden which requires a lot of upkeep and at least one of my employees works in them a couple of days a week. I also have a cleaner who comes into the house for three hours twice a week. Is this okay to?
Hi @Fred70 and welcome.
I have done many sits with cleaners and gardeners and don’t have an issue with it.
I do ask prior to the sit about the frequency of the visits. Are there set days and hours and do they need me to be present for them to gain access.
Many sitters are not comfortable with third parties at all.
I can only suggest that when you do the listing you make the situation as clear as possible and then sitters can make an informed decision whether to apply or not.
Good Luck
Cleaners and Gardeners are permitted . However all this must be put into your listing so that the sitter has all the information before they apply .
We have done several sits with gardeners and cleaners . All the arrangements were disclosed in the listing we were happy with the arrangements that were mutually beneficial so we were happy to apply with full disclosure .
Hi @Fred70
I’ve done a number of sits where the HO has asked if it’s ok for their regular cleaner to show up for a few hours. I also have a regular sit where they have a gardener and a pool guy. The latter have keys to access the back yard so don’t bother me.
It’s all about being clear on your listing and when you get to pre sit chatting that you have a cleaner and gardener.
Something tangential, if you have pets that have access to a fenced area/yard: I have sat where the gardener or window washer accidentally left the gate open on leaving. Had my sit dogs been runners, they could’ve escaped. If you have pets with such propensity, you might want to let the sitter know to check the gate before letting pets out.
