Hi
I’m having a FaceTime tour of my next Petsit and the owner has asked me to prepare a list of questions. As everything about the pets is in the welcome guide I have no idea what questions she wants me to ask???
Any ideas please
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A great new topic. We always have a few on hand just in case the conversation runs dry even though, as you say, the “welcome guide” is now such a great TrustedHousesitters resource.
As they’ve shared the welcome guide this might prompt some further discussion points - but I suspect if they’ve chosen you they might just want to get to know you more, and some reassurance that you’re OK with everything they’ve said and haven’t missed anything you need or want to know.
You could mention how well they’ve covered everything, but ask some more chatty questions about their prior house sit experiences, or their upcoming trip. Ask more about the pets - if dogs, walks from the home, on or off leash, socialisation, do they enjoy play with toys, are they food motivated, is there anything that makes them anxious? If cats, have they ever stayed out overnight and do they have any special hideaway places in the house.
I’ll stop there as this is a great topic for gathering questions from other sitters and members that we can all refer to. Would be good to get some confirmation from owners too about what they hope to achieve from pre-sit chats, after confirming sitters rather than prior to selection.
Do let us know how the chat goes!
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Maybe there are no further questions for you to ask. As @Vanessa_A has said, they sound as if they have covered everything in the Welcome Guide. I am assuming that you will already have asked all the questions you would need to be able to confirm the sitting
I would just relax and have an unscripted conversation while they show you the house. The tour may throw up some questions e.g. where do the pets sleep/eat
If I am asking questions then I want to make notes of their answers which is difficult on Facetime.
So my recommendation - don’t worry about it - they obviously want you
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It sounds like you have already been confirmed for the sit and perhaps this is a FaceTime tour in lieu of (or to shorten) an in-person handover? Since we’ve generally had our pre-acceptance questions answered at this point in the process, I use the Welcome Guide as an opportunity to dig into the details of house and pet care and look for gaps in the instructions. While touring, you have a chance to have the HO show you locations of things that are mentioned in the guide (pet food, toys, and grooming tools, sleeping areas, cleaning materials, etc.) and to point out any idiosyncrasies (e.g., locks that stick, appliances that need a little TLC) in the home that you should be aware of.
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Thanks guy’s
I just hate face timing. I freeze. I would much sooner meet the HO in person for 10 minutes or so before they leave lol 
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I feel your pain !! I still hate those first uneasy moments on video chats - and seeing myself makes it worse haha!! But I’m sure it will go great - Good luck and let us know 
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I don’t do them. I think most HOs suggest a video chat because they have read the recommendation on the website. If any suggest a videochat I reply by saying "Can we just have an old fashioned phone call? They always say yes. That way, as I have said earlier in the thread, I can take notes without worrying about trying to make eye contact at the same time.
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I do like video chats with prospective sitters. I think of sitters as friends who are taking care of my pets and find a face to face video helps me get to know them better. It’s not in place of a face to face before we leave as I also like the sitters to come the day before so that we can show them the house, let the cats see them, and then we take them out to dinner. The more comfortable the sitters are with us, and us with them, the more comfortable we will be on leaving home and enjoying our trip.
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You are such a warm and considerate owner @ShirleyE and your posts on the various threads have been uplifting to sitters. Whereabouts are you as you sound such a lovely person to sit for and have beautiful cats to be loved?
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Thank you. I am in eastern Connecticut
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I’m so sorry America is not on my radar this year @ShirleyE!