You have applied for a sit.
Ho responds what is your expectations
You expect from this sit.
Do you think its rude or just Ho being careful.
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@Provence any off site communication between members should be conducted with privacy as the main consideration and no exchanging any personal information without full disclosure and written permission.
If an owner requests another owner’s number the only way to handle that is to get permission from the the requesting owner to pass on their number to the other owner and leave it up to them to open up communications, or not.
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It depends on the context of the rest of the message, but if that was all that was said I would find that quite rude and would withdraw form the application.
As @anon36831737 said, some HO feel like they are employing sitters and forget that it is a mutually beneficial agreement. But I guess TrustedHousesitters is just the middleman and there are no hard and fast rules on how to proceed after an application.
We have a much more pleasant experience with homeowners who get that both sides have to trust one another and treat us as people not staff.
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I think there’s an inference in this thread that HOs are asking intrusive questions for no good reason. Here’s what I do:
- short list from the applicants
- Skype/zoom interview with the shortlist
- Complete the sheet hat Trusted Housesitters gives us with suggested questions to which I add my own.
- Narrow it down to 1 or 2 people, & then ask if they can provide referee contacts that I can email or call. I have no way of knowing if the short, usually very general, reference paragraphs on the THS website are genuine. I have maybe 3 questions I ask the referees.
- I make my final decision & then ask for copy of passport, home address, copy of police check or similar and confirm that I want proof of travel arrangements (e.g. airline ticket) about 2 weeks before the sit.
- Only once everything is checked and agreed do I give my full address and make final arrangements.
Sitters need to realise we are inviting strangers into our homes; much is based on trust, but a sensible HO will do as much robust & stringent research as possible. Imagine if it all went horribly wrong & we had to admit to our insurers that we didn’t know the person who was in our home while we were away & didn’t know how to contact them again!
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Of course we appreciate that you can have your own process and do it your way. It’s all about doing what is comfortable for yourself, but we would not sit for you if that is what you require.
We get that you are letting strangers into your home, but we are also putting ourselves in a situation which requires trusting the homeowner. And feel that the trust needs to work both ways.
Would you accept an applicants if they asked you for referees, house deeds, vet certificates, proof that you are going away etc…
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Actually, it does amaze me that sitters don’t ever ask for any sort of proof of anything. If I were a sitter, yes, I’d want something along the lines you suggest. As a HO I’d be happy to supply it.
I can’t operate on blind trust and I think as a HO I have far more to lose in terms of my beloved pets and my home.
No, it’s all confirmed usually months in advance, I ask for a copy of the tickets a couple of weeks before the sit. By that time we’ll have had a lot of conversations about the best airport to use to get to me, maybe I’ll pick them up, etc.
I don’t generally post pictures of my pets or tell people where I live as there’s a huge trade in stolen reptiles in this country.
Forgot to add the point I made before somewhere - THS doesn’t share with HOs copies of passports, ID checks, etc, just expects us to accept they are done. My home isn’t insured if I give a stranger a key without taking every precaution!
I think I would be a bit put off by that question and I know my husband would be really put off! We were asked to provide our driver licences once when we were shortlisted for a sit. My husband was put off by this but I talked him into agreeing. We have sit for the couple four times now and they won’t even consider anyone else looking after their dog and we have become great friends with them. So I think you have to go with your gut sometimes.
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Well said.
So you are saying Ths aren’t doing their job
(They just acccept us)?
They didn’t ask this because we were driving their car - we live in the same city. They asked strictly for identification purposes. Funny though the two sits we’ve done where the homeowners loaned us their vehicles, we weren’t asked for our driver’s licence!
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When we apply for sits on TH ,I offer to email all the other house sit, or character references we use when using the Aussiehousesitters site. I give our real names etc as nothing to hide esp with applying for visas with my husband’s overseas roles etc. I should add I’ve never give my real name on any forums i’ve belonged to but happy to do so in private messages or email.
I’ve never asked HO for any extra as don’t know what our rights are as TH members. Also, I can find thier info using google or Linkedin but also go by the initial conversation on whether they’re legit 
or pass.
The only annoyance I have is when an ad location is say, Perth/Brissie/Newcastle/Auckland/or other places we know well but no hints in the ad if they’re close to blah or blah blah. I have to apply & explain why I want to know what their exact area is so I don’t spend gazillions of hrs travelling from place to place in thier area.
Just my thursday afternoon ponder 
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As sitters we never ask for any specifics from home owners, and don’t generally give any detailed info on ourselves. We do it in trust, it is Trusted House Sitters after all isn’t it?
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Agree with the above
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I haven’t read anywhere in this thread that HOs don’t give their address. I said I might do an airport pick up (& drop off) if they’re coming to the one that’s just 6 miles from me - I do that as a courtesy/favour.
I haven’t said anything of the sort. I said we HOs don’t get to see whatever checks THS do, therefore we do our own, according to our own needs.
Just on the AirBNB point - I don’t rent my home out. We HOs are having sitters to stay as guests in our home for free when we’re not there and I need the comfort of having some basic background reassurance as there’s no way I can know more about them in advance of meeting them. I wouldn’t let my child go off with a stranger without being sure it was safe, the same goes for people coming into my home. I don’t understand why it’s such an issue - it’s always worked really well for me and we’ve made some lovely friends as a result. I work in a sector where we take nothing at face value because people and situations are not always what they seem and I apply the same level of ‘security’ to my family/pets/home as I do with vulnerable people at work/in society.
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Think if I was so concerned about my property would just close up
Send them to kennels catteries stables etc.
Having a vet in the family you hear a lot of stories about those places.
And people leave their trust in them.
What our the prices roughly Province for a 2 week stay for a dog ?
When you check into a hotel abroad you have to hand in your passport, why is it different to ask for it when someone comes to stay in your home? I’ve never had a sitter say they thought it was intrusive and never had one be surprised by the request or decline it. I think the number of people on this forum & thread is very small and not representative of the massive number of HOs and sitters on the THS books.
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