Hello, I’ve been reading the helpful advice for the person whose sitter cancelled. Ours has cancelled with less than four weeks to go. I’ve gone through the sitters who have liked our listing but none have availability. Grateful for any advice on finding a sitter and any feedback on our listing which might help us. Thank you
(Listing added to member’s Forum profile)
No clue what a “Passive House (i.e carbon neutral)” actually is, and if I don’t know, then it’s probably fair to say most won’t know either, and it’s probably best to use terms most people can relate to rather than leaving them guessing.
Uncover outdoor furniture before taking a photo.
Do the beds up nicely with pillows and with unwrinkled blankets and make them look inviting.
The holidays are gone, upload new pictures without the festive decor.
Looks like a nice looking sit in a great part of the world (my folks are near Hungerford). I missed the sofa bed was in the annexe bit, that’s not going to help as you have a main house with three decent bedrooms in it which you should be offering to sitters. Your other challenge is how many other sits there are near you. Can you also offer use of a car if you need Bob taken out? Can you make it family friendly as you have those three bedrooms? Move the bottom paragraph about the village and pubs and location to the top and then house details follow instead to add appeal. If you pause it, make those tweaks & then relist you should go up again as a “new” sit. #changethesofabed
“Passive house” is a very common term.
Just as a note, some sitters will not be up for sleeping on a sleeper sofa (even one described as comfortable) or in an annex. Completely understand if you want to maintain that separation…but if you are open to it you may attract more folks if you offer people staying in a bedroom in the main house as an option. The pets look very sweet!
Very familiar with the term passive house and would like to experience one.
It looks a great sit in a lovely part of the world but the only thing that would put me off is the sofa bed (no matter how comfortable it may be).
I agree with SRG as to the sleeping arrangements. In addition to the sofa bed issue , I wonder if the pets aren’t accustomed to sleeping with or near you, and having someone around at night to respond to needs.
No matter how nice, I wouldn’t sit where there’s an unattached annex and I have to go back and forth outside to get to the kitchen, take care of pets, etc.
I did a sit in a Passive House.
I don’t do sits where I am expected to stay in secondary accommodation.
Favourite spots to pee… and a sofa bed! I do not think so.
You’ll need to rethink what you’re offering your sitters-how you’ll overcome the pee accidents which is a red flag challenge ie how to make this sit attractive enough to persuade sitters to think ‘oh well everything else is lovely’ as compensation.
Why can’t sitters stay in the regular bedrooms in the house?
I agree with others that a sofa bed is not attractive to me as is being in an annex and not in the house. That means extra cleaning but more importantly I want to be where the pets will be. After all, their primary carers will not be there so I want to make sure they feel comfortable and secure with me being in the same place with them.
Do explain what medication Cookie needs, not just tick the box. Giving an insulin injection is far different to rubbing cream in an ear, for example.
Having had elderly cats myself, I do understand about the “accidents” but cleaning up these isn’t for everyone.
Can Bob be walked straight from the door or needs to be driven to walks?
@Claire8 I have slept on a sofa bed that was horrible, and more than one murphy bed with excellent mattresses. I often wonder why owners don’t show the relevant bed both nicely made and also partially uncovered so as to show the mattress. I think this is particularly important when you are trying to convince someone that your sofa bed is comfortable. Some had skinny mattresses and others have ones that are similar to a regular bed. I’d suggest adding an additional photo showing the mattress.
It is, I’ve never heard it. What is it?
I just had to Google Passive house, would not have had a clue otherwise. Interesting 
Guess we aren’t all up with the modern/new building standards.
The house and setting look very nice, but I also wonder why the sitters aren’t allowed to use any of the 3 bedrooms in the house. If they aren’t set up as bedrooms, why mention them? So if my bag and my stuff are out in the annex, in “my” bedroom, how many times a day would I be running in & out back & forth to get things, I wonder. Probably, the more I think about it, I would not enjoy this either.
So the pets are basically alone all night then?
"you can go out for the day (with Bob, of course 
"
Does this mean, you expect the sitters to take Bob with them whenever they go off exploring? Perhaps I misunderstand but I’d want to clarify that.
Sofa beds are a pretty subjective thing. I have a pull-out couch that guests have slept on and said it was really comfortable. I have lain on it and thought it was awful.
But, it takes all kinds and everyone’s preferences differ; you may find a match for this setup. I see you already have another applicant.
I’m with other commenters here. I felt an instant objection arise in me on reading that the sitters will sleep on a sofa bed in the annex when there are 3 bedrooms in the house. Firstly we don’t do sofabeds (when a normal bed is available) and we would not want to walk back and forth between house & annex in the rain (its UK after all)
Do the pets sleep in the main house? If so that’s where the sitter should sleep too so that the pets normal routines are maintained. Fine to offer sitters the annex for any overlap nights but not for the actual sit.
Some sitters may actually prefer to have a separate self contained space but I suspect many feel it reflects more of a staff-employer mentality.
There is a current listing up where the sitter stays in the Airbnb unit on the property and goes into the main house to feed the cats and to do your laundry. The detached unit is fully equipped and looks lovely though. I have sat in a similar listing to this and I like it, being separate from the main dwelling, feels more like I’m on holiday than sitting. I know this is different to what the issue is here but being separated from the main dwelling isn’t always bad.
Hi, thanks for replying - and to everyone’s feedback. Our last sitters really liked being in their own separate space so we kept it for this one. No problems with sitters having a bedroom in the house. Will take on board comments, make amendments and re-list. Thanks again
Thanks temba. Great questions - I’ll make sure the info is in the listing
We have a separate holiday cabin next to the main house. Our sitters have enjoyed having their own completely separate space with a proper bedroom, sitting room, shower room and even a sleeping loft for children, with none of my stuff around them. It is - and feels like - a holiday home.
I suppose my sitters self-select them that it suits their needs and preferences.