Sitters need photos of the bedroom!

I would say, only show the photos of the rooms/area that would be accessible to the sitters lol

Question on this. My spouse and I live in a one bedroom apartment. Our sits are generally shorter than 2 weeks. Weā€™ve done our best to declutter especially in the last couple of years. Sitters our welcome to sleep in the bedroom but we just donā€™t have a lot of ā€œfreeā€ drawer space for them. The best I can manage is clearing out a little space by shoving things in an off limit closet. Would that put sitters off?

1 Like

@Marion it wouldnā€™t put us off, as we hardly ever really unpack. But it would be great if you can clear a small ā€˜topā€™ space, perhaps on top of a dresser, or even a collapsible luggage rack, where we can put our small open suitcase ā€˜to live out ofā€™. Or have a chair in the room where we can at least drape our clothes :innocent: Perhaps put a sentence about limited space in the listing? Personally, I wouldnā€™t bother using your ā€˜little clearanceā€™ as it might just confuse me, Iā€™d be scared I accidentally pack one of your things if ours is directly adjoining.

2 Likes

Definitely not. Common sense prevails. A one bedroom property will always have storage issues even for the residents. Just leave out a couple of clothes hangers and the sitter will figure something out.
Hope you carry on enjoying THS and the people you meet.

4 Likes

Thanks, Elsie. We had our first sitter guest and it went purrfectly!

3 Likes

Marion,

I think the key is honesty and transparency. Post photos and be honest about lack of space. Those for whom this is not an issue will still apply, therefore you have a better chance of things going smoothly because expectations are realistic.
I wish all HOā€™s were just forthcoming to avoid unrealistic expectations creating disappointment.
Am glad your first experience went well!

2 Likes

We drive to pet-sits here in Australia, so I have room in the car.
I have always taken my own bed linen, as my husband is a heavy night-sweater, I wouldnā€™t wish that on anyone elseā€™s linen!
Also, sometimes his snoring is unbearable, so I might use a second bedroom.

I would never accept a sit with only a fold-out sofa bed as the only option offered, especially if there is a perfectly good proper bed going unused.
Yes, some people are squicked out at the idea of someone else using their bed, but happily go stay in a hotel.

We also do home exchanging. For our guests, we have a dedicated linen supply, including mattress protectors and pillows.

We ask that our guests put any unused linen, pillows etc into the walk-in wardrobes.
That way, I know what needs washing.

2 Likes

Iā€™ve been reading the post on minimum number of photos on a sit listing but what would also be super helpful is to have a requirement for HO to include a photo tag description; e.g sitterā€™s bedroom / sitterā€™s bathroom.

Photos without context are open to interpretation by sitters and could make the difference between us applying for a sit and scrolling past.

This could be a drop down list to speed up the process for adding photos

:blush:

4 Likes

The app shows the photo captions but not the web site. Is that what you mean?

1 Like

@HelloOutThere partly yes but more to make it a mandatory thing as at the moment you donā€™t have to add a description to uploaded photos (sitter and HO alike).
For example, on another thread someone said they would like to know if the photos of the pets on a beach was within walking distance of the property or just a nice holiday snap the HO thought would be nice to upload. A beach within walking distance would be amazing for some sitters.

1 Like

Gotcha. Good points!

Although I certainly appreciate having a decent amount of pictures of the home, I donā€™t care much about pictures of the bedroom. I rather see a picture of the living room and any set-up they may have for WFH. Iā€™ve also done sits with very few pics of the house, and so far itā€™s always turned out well - or even better than expected!

Couldnā€™t agree more! As SIT we asked how many pillows, what weight duvet. Now as SITTER we would like to know size of bed, house heating. A Happy Sitter = Happy Homeowner. A mutual respect

2 Likes

The Help section on THS has this in
Listings and profiles > Listing and profiles photos > Do I need to add photos?

Pet Parent

As a pet parent, you must add at least 5 interior photos and 2 pet photos to your home listing and the more you can add the better. Displaying clear photos of your home and pets will help improve your success on the platform as it helps potential sitters get a feel for where they will be staying and who theyā€™ll be looking after.

You should add an account photo on your dashboard so that sitters can put a name to a face.

Every listing on the platform is manually approved by us to make sure no sensitive information has been added. However, make sure not to include any number plates or street names or photos of children, for your own security and so your privacy is protected.

And this:

How long does it take for my listing to go live?

Once you have inputted the required listing information, this will come through to us to approve.

Each new listing is manually checked and approved by our team to make sure it has the relevant information and is inline with our listing guidelines. Listings can take up to 12 hours to be approved. If your listing cannot be approved by us for a particular reason, one of our Membership Services agents will contact you by email to discuss that with you

Again, these are THS requirements according to the THS Help section.

Admin Notice: Edited to adhere to posting guidelines.

1 Like