I see that the THS website and this forum is full of lots of good practical information for home owners and sitters and I particularly like the idea of the Welcome Guide. I do not seem to be able to access it from the dashboard. Despite the instructions it just does not appear and perhaps I have to wait until my listing goes live before that happens. I am still working through the information on the posts here and the THS website so forgive me if I have missed something.
I notice that many people prefer to do their own in Word or PDF. I think I would like to do that as well as use the Welcome Guide. I think a sitter deserves as much information as possible about their destination home since they are often paying out a lot of money in travel costs to reach their destinations.
If anyone can send me a template or advice on the things I should include that are not listed on the THS guide then it would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Personally, because I am old (school), I like to see the Welcome Guide online AND have a printed copy of information and instructions waiting when I arrive at a home.
The THS Welcome Guide is pretty comprehensive, so hopefully you can access it on the website (NOT the app) and either complete the Welcome Guide or use it as a guide to create a Word document or Google doc or whatever!
I like to have a printed copy of the Guide, and apparently the Welcome Guide is difficult to print out. You will see that there are a variety of preferences, pros and cons in using the THS Welcome Guide versus a Word document.
It is nice to see that a new Owner is keen to get the Guide completed! I think it takes a few HOURS to complete, so some Owners don’t ever complete all of it. That is frustrating for Sitters, and some Sitters refuse to follow through with a Sit unless they receive the Guide well ahead of time.
We’re owners & sitters. Definitely use the Welcome Guide template as it makes an owner detail things that they might not think of. As sitters we have experienced an owner’s WG and their own freestyle document (non WG) and definitely prefer the detailed WG format and being able to access it online.
Please ensure you have it ready to send to your sitter when you have confirmed them, that way if the sitter reads something they are not sure about or that is a deal breaker, you both have time to resolve any issues before the sit. If you introduce new responsibilities later on after the sitter is confirmed, the sitter is not required to agree to these and can cancel the sit.
The more time you invest in a detailed WG the better off both parties will be.
Thank you. I have found it now and it does indeed take more than a couple of hours to complete it but a very good exercise and a great template for the house copy that I will provide for when people arrive. Much appreciated.
What I usually do as a sitter is use the website WG and then I copy paste everything and save the document in case I don’t have access to the online version for some reason.
You can’t do that with the app and you can’t copy the whole document in one go but it will save you typing the same info twice and you can also print it if you like.
I don’t need a full copy printed but I do like a cheat sheet with the main reminders to refer to.
I also like the calendar function in the guide for garbage days, changing patterns of medication, cleaners or gardeners visits, etc.
Nice of you to give the WG good attention. As others have said, it’s very important for a successful sit for both parties.
Thank you so much for your input and advice. We have our first sitter booked now and we are making sure that we provide as much information as possible.
Creating a Google Word doc is much better than the THS Welcome Guide template. The HO can send the link for messages, so it is still on the portal. The advantage for both parties is that the guide can be sent before confirmation. The plus for the HO is that it’s much easier to create and update in the future. The plus for the Sitter/Guest is that making a PDF is much easier. I just suggested this to a first-time HO I sat for. They went the Google Doc route and were grateful; they found the template cumbersome and frustrating.
During a sit this year- I discovered (by accident) that the app version of the Welcome Guide doesn’t contain all of the information that the web version does.
It has all of the same sections but some of the information was missing from the WG on the app
Thank you Lou. I had not thought about creating a word doc but I have created a website with most of the details on it including places to see and visit around where we live. I also created the Welcome Guide in PDF and Word so I can upload that and provide it as an alternative link for those that find it easier.
With regard to the THS Welcome Guide. I think it is exceptionally good and although it takes over 2 hours to complete it the information and content is well thought out. The downside is printing it and finding that all the text is in large blocks rather than nicely spaced out with paragraphs etc.
, I like to see the Welcome Guide online AND have a printed copy of information and instructions waiting when I arrive at a home.
