How long does the home owner have to pick a sitter once they have reached 5 applicants?
As long as they like, or as long as you give them
There is no time limit, but THS guidelines ask owners to respond within 72 hours. Many sitters apply to multiple sits at once and operate on a first come first serve basis (whoever gets back to them first). Many also withdraw their application if they haven’t received a response within 2 - 3 days.
Don’t wait for it. Apply to other listings.
I’m a HO and will respond within 1-2 days thanking the sitter for the application and telling them we are reviewing all applications.
We had a great video call with a sitter and waited 7 days for the sitter to make up their mind about our sit. They gave me excuse after excuse. I finally told them I needed an answer that day because if they weren’t interested, I needed to find another sitter. They still couldn’t make up their mind, so I made it for them. They apologized and said they were being unfair because they couldn’t make a decision. Were they waiting on another sit to come through they liked better, who knows. So, needless to say it goes both ways.
For some of us, good communication in a timely manner is one of our tick-boxes to decide whether or not it is a good match for a sit. For my sits host has usually reached out within 24-48 hours, and often it has been also both a videocall and a confirmation of sit within that timeframe. For me - when host doesn’t reach out for days or weeks, the end result has usually been nothing. And it isn’t a communication style that matches mine.
Each must decide for themselves, but at least - don’t wait for answers to consider other sits. Apply for multiple sits if you find listings you like.
As a HO I list my dates when I know I’ll have at least 2 clear days in order to respond to applications when they come in. I reply right away, even if that sitter doesn’t tick every box, and ask them a simple question, like how much French do they know or where they will be before my dates (if not in France). This is to acknowledge the application but also to gauge how interested they really are in my sit. Many times they do not reply before I’ve had a video chat with and accepted someone else. At that point the THS system tells them I’ve chosen a sitter so don’t have to write back and tell them this myself. I have the luxury of doing this because there are few sits in our region. I can imagine that it’s frustrating for a HO who has few applications and only one seems suitable. (Not that this is your situation) But I wouldn’t want to accept a sitter that I was already frustrated with.
Like others have said, they are not required to pick a sitter or respond within any particular time frame. Also, just in case you were not aware, hosts are able to receive more than 5 applicants–if they don’t find anyone suitable within the first batch, they can simply decline whoever they want and repost and get more. I frequently see sits in more popular areas get listed again numerous times.
In my 10 years of sitting, I find that the vast majority of hosts respond fairly quickly to applications, usually within a day or so. How long you wait is up to you. I have found it is a good idea not to get too attached to any one sit, so if you see other sits you like equally with similar dates, don’t hesitate to apply.
I personally don’t find myself applying to multiple listings with overlapping dates all that often, and that is largely down to the combination of being selective about where I do sits, not feeling pressure to fill open dates as quickly as possible, and having most hosts respond pretty promptly.
Good luck!