Hi anyone!
Is it better to wait for a sitter to reach out or better to invite them? Im new at this, any advice gratefully received!
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Post your listing dates and wait for people to apply is best.
You can reach out but you will have better luck from the push rather than the pull.
If you’d like others to provide feedback on your listing, you can add it to your forum profile and people will take a look and provide advice. X
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You could always do both.
With applications now being automatically ‘paused’ after 5 people have applied many people who may wish to have applied will not be able to do so. I now find it impossible to apply for sits in my area (Asia) as they often go to ‘reviewing’ within minutes before I’ve even been able to see them advertised.
Every now and again a HO will contact me directly as they’ve seen my reviews etc, which I’m very grateful for as it’s the only way I can be in touch with them. I’ve had a few sits happen in this way since the ‘5 application rule’ was introduced.
I find many new HO don’t realise about this situation.
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Hi, we have had invites 3 times now and accepted 2 out of the 3 so far, as other commitments were on our calendar for the 3rd one, we really appreciate invites as it also means they look through our profile and mention they liked it and thought we would be perfect for their sit, so i would say try doing both, it depends if you need to have a secure sit for your dates or are a bit relaxed so you can wait for applications 
I have never accepted an invite, as they invariably are from people who live in my town or very nearby. I have no interest in sitting in my own town, as there’s nothing new for me. Might just as well stay at home. Therefore, if I was a homeowner, I would always post the request and wait for the applicants to apply
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I have now changed my location to the area where I want to sit next: England.
Let the invitations come in!
(Of course I will still be relying mostly on applying to public listings. But it seems that the HOs of really nice properties like manor houses etc rely quite a bit on inviting privately. It does not matter, I am fine in modest accommodation, and I do not know how to take care of racing horses, hunting hounds, etc.)
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We have received 11 invites all of which we have turned down. Usually because of the pets, home, location or date. When we choose a sit, we have specific factors we are looking for.
I think you are probably better listing your sit and let sitters who are already interested in your sit apply.
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I’ve done a couple of sits from invitations - probably ones I wouldn’t necessarily have applied for - and they’ve been great. I’ve also turned down many either simply because of dates or not suitable. It’s worth trying but maybe then list if not much response.
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Both I would say as a sitter been invited recently and accepted it.
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I’ve accepted only one unsolicited invite during my first year of membership, despite receiving dozens of them. And the one I accepted, I did only because its location happened to be relevant to my work. (I normally telecommute.) And my calendar was free, because I’d just joined.
Timing, location and other variables make accepting unsolicited invites very unlikely. And now, I’m pretty much booked out for 2024.
I’ve also passed on repeat sits from previous hosts, as well as invites from hosts I booked to sit for later this year — they offered additional sits based on other travel they’d planned or considered adding.
Many experienced sitters book out far ahead. Some do it because they’re planners and/or full-time nomads. I’m neither, but found getting sits easy once I got a number of strong reviews under my belt.
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