@TheNomads Thank you for this suggestion, I am going to merge it into the thread 'What features would you like to see on THS, as product use this to review forum feedback. I want to make sure that it is seen and added to the list.
Or at least up it to ten or something more reasonable (to me)ā¦
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@Carla thanks 
Iāve been using the search function to make sure a topic hasnāt already been covered/question asked but have found it throws back so many threads that wading through each comment to find what Iām looking for is very long winded.
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@TheNomads You are most welcome and you are right there have been lots of useful topics on here so sometimes they are bound to overlap. I am still finding new ones every time I search. If we find matching ones then we help direct them to the right thread. If you need help with anything please let me know.
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Iād like to have a way to āunfavoriteā a sitter, like the person who just disappeared before we had even set a time to do a video chat. If that sitter ever contacts us again, I want to be sure to avoid him/her/them.
Iāve updated our HO listing with some of the suggestions here ā thanks! But I do agree that it would be nice for sitters if these things were required of all HOs from the very beginning. People will stop using THS if itās too cumbersome to find what theyāre looking for or eliminate what theyāre not looking for.
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Before the search changes there was a feature that I used often. It worked like this example, you could search for the United States and at the bottom of the page it would list the States with sits available and a number next to it of how many. Then you could go to a state and it would show cities that had sits available and how many.
It was always accurate. I wish theyād bring it back.
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Hi Gretch, Yes I would like that feature also. I have aften found my self somewhere after a sit, where I may have a few days spare either before another sit, or a folk/music festival etc. And it definitely is possible that a home owner may decide to go away, if they knew a sitter available. For example I had one home owner contatc me, as we had been in touch before, when already given a sit to somebody else. However she got back to me later and said she needed to go away for a few days and would fit in with whatever dates I could do. I was then able to work it, so that when I finished another sit I could drive to her, as kind of the direction of home and worked out convenient. But had she not got back to me, it is likely she would have been happy to look through to see who may have been available and when, and then fit in with those dates.
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This is a fantastic idea, particularly since itās so much harder to find back-to-back sits now that listings are paused after five applicants. Allowing sitters to post their availability in a specific location would help mitigate the shortage of listings, and makes much more sense than the current system (where sitters get requests to sit in their own cityāmost of us are here for the benefit of traveling while housesitting)!
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Would it be possible to add a means by which sitters could post a listing like HOās can indicating a sit desire in an area with a date range so that HOās could view sitters and make invites.
I know sitters have profile and a calendar and geographic preferences but it is not quite the same processā¦unless Iām missing this option.
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Lots of great suggestions here and Iām taking notes to add requested items to my profile 
Having the app and the website function the same would be super helpful. I discovered that I canāt leave a review for a sitter on the site (or at least couldnāt find how to do so) and needed to do it from the app.
Only show sits or sitters who are actively looking for a sit or sitter, otherwise hide their profile. Along with this, it would be helpful for sitters to have to update their location with where they are looking for their next sit. As a home/pet owner, I would love to be able to simultaneously search for sitters when I have a sit available, but discovered that searching in my city makes zero sense because most people arenāt looking to sit within their home city.
It may also be beneficial to have a standard template for all profiles with specific required information. Iāve had multiple sitters apply with hardly any information about themselves or information that makes no sense to input into their profile.
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When you consider āimprovementsā youād like to see THS make to the app or website, ask yourself, Will this be good for business? THS is a fabulous service but it is first and foremost a business and it favors homeowners. If your suggestion would appeal only to sitters, itās probably not going to happen.
I donāt expect to see following changes, as they will not serve to increase subscribers:
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Changing the review system so there are more honest, negative reviews
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Narrowing the search parameters so that a search on a specific city, shows only those
listings that are within the city boundaries. (I personally hate that I am shown places miles and miles away from where I want.) By showing homes that are farther out, a sitter unfamiliar with the area may unwittingly apply or a sitter who knows the area may consider a listing they would have otherwise excluded, thereby improving the HOās chances of finding a sitter. -
Changing the sitterās parameters so they can exclude certain areas or listings. By making sitters scroll and scroll there is always the chance that they might reconsider someplace that initially held no interest.
I hope I am proved wrong.
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I would like to see a āmember since XXXXā on HO & Sitter listings.
HO & sitter listings with very little activity and/or no reviews/feedback would be interesting info if they were members since 2013, say, with 3 reviews. Or zero reviews/feedback but joined say, Oct 2022.
We joined when we knew we had a HO listing ready to post so that we could start participating in the network. We didnāt want to start a membership months early and waste membership time without being ready to post, so our listing would show member since Jan 2023 and no reviews/feedback.
Also, it may help the more seasoned members know that they are going to engage with someone newer/less experiences in the community and so perhaps be more thorough in the basics at the first content should the member date be newer.
Mostly though, if there is a listing for āyearsā that has very little or no activity, I feel I would want to know that to discuss should there be an āengagementā on the network.
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Great idea.
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But if you are going to do it, have it for the sit as well, e.g. cleanliness, accuracy of listing, etc. Sitters would probably feel as obliged to give straight 5s as home owners seem to, but Iām sure there would be a psychological effect of knowing itās there, which would discourage inaccuracies and omissions.
Others have mentioned omissions such as medication, length of time animals can be left - my top ones are security cameras, and people who will be visiting the house. I sit to relax and be peaceful!
I always appreciate the honesty of hosts who mention pet behaviour issues, busy roads etc, in their listing and hope it doesnāt lose them sitters to hosts who forget to mention such things.
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@mars yes. Iāve had three years of mostly happy sitting with no issues, but on the rare occasions Iāve had problems, Iāve found the site to definitely favour home owners. Policies all home owners should be aware of before writing their listing arenāt even easy to find, and nearly all the reassurances about trsut and safety are for homer owners, not sitters. Home owners often tell me their friends have said, āDonāt you mind having strangers live in your house?ā And they are often surprised when I point out that itās equally a matter of trust to stay in the house of a stranger.
Sadly youāre right about changes implemented being the ones that are good for business, but I would like to remind TH that sitters are as important to the business as sits, as became very clear recently when there were far more sits than sitters.
A site that clearly favours home owners sends a message to the owner. Often theyāre led to expect a relationship that is more like boss/staff than an equal exchange. There are other house sitting sites for home owners (and sitters) who prefer that kind of relationship.
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Terrific suggestions!
I would like a filter to sit for a combination of pets. Cats & Horses is a combo I would like. Or Cats & Sheep.
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Thatās an interesting take. Sometimes home owners say to us āweāre new to all thisā and weāre very happy to accompany them through what happens from start to finish. Yes, it would be good to know theyāre simply new listings if they have no feedback.
I would suggest that even if someoneās been a member since 2013 and only done three sits, thatās not necessarily a reflection on their commitment and competence; there could be all sorts of reasons why theyāve only used TH a few times. On the other hand, we often get invitations because we now have so many sits (and positive reviews) under our collective belt, but thatās no indication we are any better than other sitters (shoots self in foot!) We do this all the time, so of course weāve ramped up the stats, but there are many brilliant sitters who perhaps see TH as a way of holidaying in their favourite place if it ever comes up, or visiting local relatives once in a whileā¦
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What a beautiful image 
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