Annoyed by vetted sitters expressing future interest in caring for your home and pets for free whilst you’re away?
Okay then.
Yes, of course it is annoying with applications that are not applications.
That’s good to know!
Absolutely! Sits for us are typically flexible a day or even two on both ends (we have two healthy adult indoor-only cats who would prefer company but are fine alone for a day or so) so we usually list the sit for a shorter period (sitter in the day after we leave, out the day before we return) and mention in the first sentence that the dates are flexible.
I doubt many HOs find the fact a sitter has liked their listing annoying. It’s applying to a sit you can’t do, and even then unless the listing is high-demand (and therefore likely to get five applications quickly) it’s probably not annoying enough to make an HO decline the sitter for a future sit.
I imagine it could be annoying for hosts in high demand locations. That’s why I wouldn’t send an enquiry for future unposted dates to hosts in high demand areas — I try to put myself in hosts’ place. They have low or no need for such applications.
I have sent such enquiries to hosts with low-demand sits, though, noting that I’d immediately withdraw my application since I couldn’t make their posted dates, but might be available down the line, if they want to consider that. That’s worked out well.
My next sit for instance is with hosts who offered me multiple sits that they’d not posted yet. They even started asking me about possible dates before planning additional travel. For them, they love that I used to live in their neighborhood and that I telecommute from sits. It means I won’t be doing sightseeing. I’ll be enjoying lunches or dinners catching up with friends there, with plenty of time with my sit dog.
One of the things that might be annoying is sitters who apply not only unable to make the posted dates, but also otherwise not a strong match for the posted requirements of a sit. And/or they have mixed reviews. If so, then it’s likely to be an applicant the host wouldn’t consider in the first place, even if the sitters could make the posted dates. Personally, I consider that when applying and don’t pursue without a strong potential match. And I have terrific reviews. If my reviews were mixed, I wouldn’t bother hosts with applications just to ask whether they might be interested in engaging me down the line.
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