So many last minute sits!

[anon55123711]

I had taken a couple of years off from house sitting but have recently returned to it, undertaking some sits in the UK.

The 5 application limit made things so much more difficult if looking for sits on mainland Europe and at the time it was Spain, Portugal, and Germany that would have been my preference so I did not renew my membership.

Much as I am enjoying my UK sits I would still like to find some on mainland Europe. However, as someone who likes to plan well ahead (I am fully booked until Jan 2026) I’ve encountered another stumbling block .

So many of the sits are advertised at the last minute. I’m getting multiple notifications a day, for favourited sits but they are for a couple of weeks or a month ahead! So, I’m going to have to change my strategy for next year and bide my time but it’s going to be a challenge to hold myself back. It will also cost more to book flights last minute

What strategy do others adopt to cope with this? Is this a recent trend?

I also wonder if this why we so often hear of home owners experiencing last minute cancellations, is it because sitters see something better.

[Garfield]

I think hosts in high demand areas can have the luxury of getting sitters regardless, they don’t need to plan ahead. I see short notice a lot in high demand areas and also in areas where prioritizing work is important (tokyo, singapore, dubai and such).

Some hosts aren’t aware of how good sits should be planned. Some prefer sitters already in the country, and short notice limit applications they don’t want.

Or maybe something just came up.

I’m planning my vacation next summer, and look into (and will book) hotels. If a good petsit comes up I might take it and cancel some hotel nights. Or not. Depending.

[JodieG]

Hi
As an owner I can tell you why there are so many last minute sits.
We can only view 5 applicants at a time.
In my recent experience 3 of the 5 were asking about dates unrelated to what I had advertised. The other 2 were not viable - for different reasons. But I had to wait to clear them
All. ..3 days wasted
Then I offered the sit… heard nothing and eventually they declined… another 2 days wasted. Then in the next round- 2 of the declined sits got stuck in the cache- a glitch that has not been resolved and so now I can only ever see 3 applications.
2 more people declined after I offered it and now my latest offer says they can’t confirm on the site as they are new to it… so now I am 5 days out and still have no sitter!
The app used to have unlimited sitters apply… this was much better as I could easily just all at once eliminate people wanting other dates and incompatible conditions… now it takes so much longer and the app is just unworkable. I will soon open an account somewhere else, pause my membership here until they fix the app and tell people who I once recommended it to, to avoid it.
Hope this gives another perspective
Chees

[anon55123711]

@Garfield

If a good petsit comes up I might take it and cancel some hotel nights. Or not. Depending.

Yes, that’s a good strategy if you are going to an area for a vacation anyway. I’m not really a vacation sitter, I just enjoy house sitting but it’s nice to occasionally get something near the sea or in an unexplored city.

I’m just going to have to hold myself back from booking too soon.

[anon55123711]

@JodieG , when they first introduced the five application limit we predicted all these problems and sadly they have proved to be true.

It must be so incredibly frustrating to get so many inappropriate applications, that would make me very cross. And if there are glitches in the app that’s making it all worse.

I know they’ll never go back to the old system but I really do lo g for ‘the good old days’

[HappyDeb]

There are some sits ahead of time… you just won’t know about them. Here’s why…

We sit in the UK and Spain. The UK plans ahead, but with Spain it’s 2-3 months ahead of time, same with Portugal from what I can tell. But we get privately invited to return waaaay ahead of time… other sitters won’t even see these sits advertised.

If you’re open to repeat sits, then it’s a perfect strategy longer term. We love returning!

It ‘looks’ like the country/ies as a whole don’t plan ahead… but some do! Ex-pats for example (they know when they’re next seeing their grandkids etc).

Over the past 2+ years of sitting we’ve got a handful of lovely owners who know when we’ll be vaguely heading back to their area, and also they reach out with future dates too and if we can do it, then other sitters would never about them.

Just a couple of days ago, a lovely HO messaged with their approx dates for next year, to see if we are free. We’ve sat for them a couple of times before.

Just a few weeks ago, another lovely HO messaged with dates that we can’t do, but I gave her our rough-dates ahead of time as to when we’ll be in their area again. We’ve sat for them once before.

Don’t know the stats on this. But for us (both in the UK and Spain) an extra tip to reduce your hassle, is to align yourself with HO’s who have the extra time/money to take longer breaks. So instead of just having 1 week here, 2 weeks there, you’ll need less sits over the year, so there’s less to think about.

Most times, our 2nd and 3rd sits have been for a longer period than our first sit, because the HO knows us already, so knows we’ll be able to take care of things.

[GotYourBack]

@JodieG, interesting pet parent perspective.

@JodieG

I will soon open an account somewhere else, pause my membership here until they fix the app

THS has an effective monopoly within housesitting. As experienced international housesitters then we’ve tried two other platforms. Negligible opportunities; limited informational disclosures; questionable processes. Good luck!

‘Until they fix it’ .. again, good luck. THS introduced the five application rule some time ago. To our knowledge, it’s here to stay.

In case helpful, some Pet Parents in high-demand locations include very blunt language at the top of their listings. Sometimes even in capital letters, just to reinforce the point! Language may state specific housesitter requirements (e.g. only listed dates only, local vs international, young vs old, single vs couple vs family, newbie vs experienced). Likely this reduces spam applicants.

[GotYourBack]

@anon55123711, we hear you. We’ve been fortunate to complete quite a few housesits within the Schengen zone. But it requires a very different mindset (at least to UK, Canada, US). Schengen zone housesits tend to be listed relatively last minute. Multi-sit adventures in the Schengen zone can involve significant cost, time and effort to travel between housesits and to bridge any gaps in dates.

@anon55123711

What strategy do others adopt to cope with this? Is this a recent trend?

TImeline - we block off months in which we’d like to spend housesitting in Schengen zone. But then wait until two months or less prior to blocked range to explore listings - as Schengen listings are rarely more than two months from start date.

Application timezone - we see more Schengen listings when we are located in near-Schengen time zones. Applying for Schengen housesits when based in North America, for example, is difficult. Note your UK location so less of an issue.

Application comfort - In applications, we use language to confirm that we have already booked flights from international locations to say UK … so applying for Schengen zone sit is reasonable. We also briefly check travel logistics (e.g. flight availability/cost) - again, gives comfort.

Criteria loosening - out of sheer pragmatism, we apply looser requirements/preferences to housesits in Schengen zone.

Perseverance - in a context of high excess demand, we persevere. As we have gained experience, reviews and Schengen experience then success rate is respectable but we don’t take declines personally - just keep looking.

In case curious, a recent thread identified Pet Parents in Schengen zone as key area of encouragement for THS marketing efforts …

In what geographies should THS spend its marketing?

It’s also about family dynamics. Maybe that’s not the correct phase but I’ll try to explain. It would be unthinkable (in some countries) to ask a stranger to come and look after your pets and property. Family live close by and would volunteer to help during holidays. This is shown by how many sits that are listed in Asia that are actually European or American families who live there. It is very unusual for an Asian family to list. Just an observation

[Huronbase]

I used to book quickly because I wanted to fill dates, when I first went nomadic. But now I find I can wait and there are other sits that come up. I had a repeat sit that just got cancelled, two weeks from now. I was a little worried it might get canceled since she was having work issues. Lovely little house. And cat sit, so time flexibility Found another sit for exact dates, in almost the same hood. House is not as nice. But works. I need a decent space since my daughter is taking the LSAT in the middle of the sit, so we don’t need hotel craziness.

[anon55123711]

@GotYourBack
Yes, I noticed that when I started, in many countries this is the norm.

@In what geographies should THS spend its marketing?

Family live close by and would volunteer to help during holidays.

All my house sits on mainland Europe have been for immigrants, 90% English speaking. But many of those were booked months in advance. Maybe there are more locals posting sits now and that has affected the time gap between listing and the actual sit.

Could be a lot of new pets acquired during lockdowns, I have noticed many of the home owners work from home.

There’s always changing dynamics.

[one-eyed_scallywag]

@GotYourBack

Application timezone - we see more Schengen listings when we are located in near-Schengen time zones

Another way to mitigate this concern for HOs is to include a line in your application like “I’ll already be in the region and won’t have any trouble sticking to these dates” (rather than saying where you are now)

[anon55123711]

@HappyDeb yes, I used to do a lot of repeat sits in Portugal, it was my favourite place to be at that time, and often did a month at a time.

I’m looking for shorter suits now, if possible, because I no longer have any work to do online so I get a bit bored on longer suits.

I used to get a lot of sits privately so I may try that again. I need to re-think my strategy and stop planning so far ahead.

[one-eyed_scallywag]

@anon55123711

I used to get a lot of sits privately

just curious if you don’t mind sharing what channels these were done through?

[anon55123711]

@one-eyed_scallywag I joined Facebook groups for the locations I wanted to go to and advertised in those. Not all groups allow advertising though so it can take a while to find ones that do.