Reasons for petsitting in ones' town/city Explained (by me)

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
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I recently had an exchange with a Homeowner who was so sanctimoneous and rude on every level. But one thing she said struck me and as I have been thinking about this person and their worldview, I feel compelled to comment on the question: “Why would a sitter want a sit in that town/city where they live?” Before I go on, this homeowner said “That is not the point of THS”. I didn’t respond as I THOUGHT I wanted this sit, but upon further investigation, I realized this HO falls in the category of always finding fault with the sitter.

At any rate - Here are some viable reasons for a sitter to sit close to home (in no partiuclar order of importance):

1- The sitter loves animals but cannot have any of their own. For some people having their own pet is a luxury they cannot have at that time. What better way to bond with an animal than caring for one?

2-Home renovation or construction - Why not take care of a pet and have shelter while necessary work is being done on ones’ home. This is also a great option after natural disasters. It’s a universal truth that insurance companies are slow to compensate for hotels after fire or natural disaster, this makes the traumatic situation a lot easier, AND a pet gets the care they need.

3 - Some cities are sprawling - e.g. Los Angeles. If you live on the west side and had an ill parent on the east side, it would make sense to want to be closer to work to reduce commute time.

4 - Checking out a neighborhood as a viable new home location.

5 - Why is it anyone’s business? Truly, what does it matter? The bigger issue is are your pets looked after and is your home protected.

After 15 years of petsitting around the world, I have seen a steady decline in respect from both sides, but more and more often HomeOwners are acting as though they are granting Sitters some sort of divine favor for staying in their home - and ironically, it’s usually a home that wouldn’t even rent on AirBnB.

Homeowners, if you don’t like the reason for a petsitter wanting to stay in your home, that is your choice, but keep the judgement out of it. You have no idea what anyone is going through.

Good luck in your search!

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2

You’re not wrong but an HO left to wonder about a sitter’s motivation to take a local sit is 1 strike against that sitter. Your reasons for taking a local sit are quite good and should alleviate a host’s initial concerns. So why not offer your good reason in the application?

Exactly because an HO is trying to look after their pets and protect their homes. That is the HO’s responsibility. While your examples are great, they are hardly inclusive of all the reasons a sitter might apply for a local sit. Without a sitter sharing their reason, the HO is right to proceed with caution.
FWIW, we ask all sitters why they want to sit in our area. It’s a natural and gentle way of getting to know them a bit. Most applicants also ask us where we’re going. We’ve never considered such banter at all confrontational for either party. But if that banter raises any tension during the chat, it is a bit of a yellow flag.

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As a homeowner,I understand why homeowners ask the question. It’s not about being nosy. When you join the site it seems like a site for people traveling. The reality is that some sitters are full time nomads, some do occassional getaway sits, and there is a lot in between, but some hosts might not expect locals to apply and might be wondering if there is a catch. The site is set up especially recently with the clear instruction that homeowners need to “vet” sitters, so trying to find out why someone would want a local sit isn’t an unreasonable thing to ask.

Here are some reasons a homeowner might be suspicious of someone local:

  • They might think the person is unhoused and will try to claim residency.
  • They might think the person will try to charge them in some way or demand a “tip” since they aren’t doing this for travel accomodation.
  • They might be concerned the person wants this “extra” space for some nefarious purpose as sometimes happens with Airbnb.
  • It might just seem suspicious as THS advertises travelers and other people applying are from far away.

There’s nothing wrong with a local sitter simply having a ready, simple answer that they are comfortable giving if they are asked the question. As a homeowner, I’ve had a few local sitters. I have asked. The fact that they could comfortably answer the question and we could have a conversation was one of the reasons they got the sit. If someone tried to shut me down or made me feel that I’d overstepped by bringing it up, it clearly wouldn’t be a good match for either of us.

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I love your #2 reason, esp with so many natural disasters these days. :pleading_face:

I can personally add a very common reason to your list: new sitters looking to build up their portfolio/experience/reviews.

When I first started, I specifically noted in my profile that I was new & looking for sits in my metro area or w/in 3-4h driving distance, & was willing to help out folks with cancelled- or last-minute sits — both because I wanted the experience & frankly, because I like helping people out. (Yes, there are still people who believe in karma, or who just like to pay good deeds forward — & I feel terrible for people in a bind like that, and especially for their pets :confused:)

The up-shot is that I still get a lot of unsolicited invitations for sits — more now than I can take, but when it happens I do my best to try to help out if I can, even if that means just directing them to the “last minute sits” forum topic (you’d be surprised how many people don’t even know there IS a forum!)

Some people do ask me why I’m willing to do local sits, and that is what I tell them. I have a perfectly lovely house in a perfectly lovely neighborhood, but I’ve met some great people and experienced some fantastic houses & neighborhoods I’d not been to before, and frankly I even met my “Heart-Dog” on a last-minute local pet sit (I remain friends with his “paw-rents” to this day, and we hang out sometimes when I’m not traveling…I just love the chance to see that doggo, I really do!)

I do know HOs who’ve had bad experiences with local sitters & who say they wouldn’t do it again, as in some cases it’s because the sitter had an unstable home situation that led to an unstable sit situation — so I totally get it, and it’s completely reasonable for a HO to ask the question “why.” I’ve had other HOs say they have a policy not to offer sits to people who don’t have a permanent home of their own somewhere, and I can understand that also.

In the end, everybody has to feel comfortable — we may want to help someone out, but it’s about comfort levels & a fair exchange of needs, right? There’s a sit for every sitter, and a sitter for every sit, as I say every single time. :wink:

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As someone who does local sits sometimes, 1, 3, and 5 especially resonate for me.
And with 100+ sits I’ve been fortunate to not run into this situation - a steady decline in respect from both sides, but more and more often HomeOwners are acting as though they are granting Sitters some sort of divine favor for staying in their home
Some have been more appreciative than others :wink:, but just about everyone has expressed appreciation for my taking care of the critters and home. I guess I’ve been really lucky.

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I’ve done number 4 when I was looking for an active retirement community to settle in. It was great staying at the community as a local for a week to 10 days and experience that community as a local. Otherwise you just go for a few days, get an Airbnb close by and let a real estate agent show you around. Completely different experience. Loved talking to the locals, participating in their events, etc, etc. when I look for areas I still want to travel on THS, I will always read the profile of those they live in an active over 55 community. I still enjoy looking at other communities although I now reside in one. Seeing other senior communities the way I did was so helpful to me in figuring out what were the key elements I really wanted in this stage of my life.

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Your points are really valid, and I appreciate you opening my eyes to the nefarious ways one could use THS for housing - a couple hadn’t occured to me.So, thank you! What I was more caught up on was the fact that this HO said “that is not the point of THS.” and I had to really think, well, who is it for this person to claim the rights to knowing the “why” of it all.

Looking at your reasons again, I have to wonder how often that really is happening!

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Oh brilliant! I would love to get a chance to use this one!

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I’m not saying any of this happens often. I’m saying these are things people might think about. Certainly, in a big city like New York where everyone can tell you some nightmare roommate or tenant story (as well as a nightmare landlord story) it’s not unreasaonable that someone would think twice before inviting a local sitter. (I’ll also admit to twice having local sitters hit me up for money. They didn’t get the sit but still just a waste of time.)

My point is that sitters and homeowners often have questions for each other, and it’s not about being a busybody or mistrust or wanting to get personal, it’s about trying to figure out if this is a good fit.

It’s very normal local or not that during a chat a homeowner might ask some form of “What makes you want this sit?” If a sitter reacts in a way that makes the homeowner feel uncomfortable or that they were out of bounds, the homeowners may move on and look for someoe they can have a conversation wtih.

Nobody should tell you that you doing THS wrong. There are all kinds of sitters and all kinds of homeowners. If the homeowner is only looking people who are traveling from a distance that’s fine too but personally I wouldn’t take a sit (I do both) if I felt someone thought I was doing it wrong.

But in terms of the person’s right to know the “why” you are literally going to be sleeping in someone’s bed, handling their mail and taking care of a pet they think of as a family member, and you don’t think it’s okay if they ask a question about why you would choose to do this free of charge?

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Hubby is allergic to cats so getting a local cat fix often suits me, when we travel as a couple it’s just dogs/horses and never cats. We’re all individuals with unique reasons for doing ‘stuff’….

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As if this person is one to define what the “point” of THS is !!!

Buh bye to Mr/Ms Sanctimony and hello to, “Whew. Glad I didn’t get that sit”.

I have another reason for local sits (likely shared by exactly no one else here):

I have no tv, no wifi, not tech at home. Spending a few nights bingeing on junk streaming with cuddling animals is heaven ! I’ve not mentioned this on local sits but would have no shame doing so if asked.

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On the other end of the scale, we have been asked why we would pay hundreds of pounds in travel expenses to care for strangers’ pets for free?

I think both are perfectly reasonable questions to ask.

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How odd. Most HOs I’ve met, backed into a corner, would prefer a local sitter to one who’s travelling from another country, or even continent. Less scope for potential travel probs.

Another reason to sit locally - to answer your question - is that it gives the option of paid sits. I do several of these in and around my own city, when I’m not able to travel further afield.

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@bauhausfrau thank you for the topic!

‘Homeowners, if you don’t like the reason for a petsitter wanting to stay in your home, that is your choice, but keep the judgement out of it. You have no idea what anyone is going through..’

Reasons for sitting near my home:

  1. Experience for THS site. I’ve been a home/pet owner longer than I’ve been sitting.
  2. Our current pet is reactive to other dogs and cats. I’m a true animal lover and love the experience of caring for other animals.
  3. Change in scenery. I live in the country so sits that are located in a walkable area really allow me to get out and explore on foot.

And finally as stated in the OP, we never know what others are going through. Sometimes just getting away can be necessary to ‘reset’.

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Our latest reason for wanting to sit close to home …

Younger son has both a school Geography trip to the Bay of Naples, and a football tour to The Netherlands during or overlapping into the school Easter holidays. We would still like a change of scenery and the company of some pets to distract older son and I from our envy! I need to be within reach of home so that I can act as a taxi service for younger son, dropping him off and picking him up from his adventures. Luckily one of our lovely regular sits need us, and understand our situation!

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99% of the invitations to sit that I receive are from pet parents in my area. They know I live nearby. I haven’t saved their sit or applied to their listing.
I never accept because when I’m not traveling I like being at my home. I always reply and say “I’m not available for these dates” I dont tell them why but I foster cats when I’m home. I do sit for someone, occasionally, who has a beautiful historical home near downtown. I have friends that live walking distance from this house. Also, I go to museums, theater, music venues, and meet with several friends in that neighborhood. I don’t have to drive back to the suburbs to my house. It’s a lot of fun and I like the doggie.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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I will never deal with sanctimonious people if I am aware and I think if you interact with people somewhat, if they’re sanctimonious, it shows in their attitudes and how they treat others. I think we should interview home owners before we sit. That way we can notice any red flags.

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Well said :heart:

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I am having a hard time finding sits where I can bring my cat, but I don’t think I should just get rid of her yet, because there might be some people who wouldn’t mind. I think the key to finding the right sit depends on the sitters circumstances. I would love to do sits in Portugal, but because I have living expenses I can’t afford the airfare, this is why I stay in my area where I can drive there. Since I’m not getting paid, I can’t afford the fare.

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Great explanations for same city sits. I had someone apply for my last sit, he was about 40 minutes from me so I DID wonder why he wanted to sit. I actually was suspicious and didn’t even look at his profile. But now that I have a better understanding, I’ll consider a same state sit in the future.

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