Photos of the pets are important and also the interior of the house and maybe one of the exterior. I need to feel right in the house as well as with the animals. I wish the profile photo of the owner was bigger so I could get a sense of them too.
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@Wendy I think owners show many photos of their pets because we can publish many. If THS had put a limit, you would see less, but we can publish 10 so as we like our pets, we show them. After all, owners are not supposed to live with sitters, but sitters will live with the pets !
I hope nobody thinks Iām pathologic because I chose 5 !!
!
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Unfortunately you canāt tell the nature of a pet by its photos but pictures of the inside of the home where you will need to live can provide a good indication of whether itās likely to be a comfortable sit or not.
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Always like to see a photo of the outside of the house too.
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HO can publish many photos of indoors too, i guess they hesitate to show many for security reasons If their home is luxurious ā¦
Few people show the sittersābedroom, the living, the kitchen. Strangeā¦ itās where we shall stay.
itās difficult to ask the HO once you are chosen, to send you more photos. I go to a house next monday, i just got the photo of the faƧade and a view of a corridor looking on a kitchenā¦
But as the owner told me i could open the newspapers and magazines they receive by mail, and as i read the same ones at home, i guess we have things in common and hope we share the same tastes !
I might be wrong.
I like the photos of the cats. Weāll see. 9 days itās not as we say in french āla mer Ć boireā (itās not the sea to drink")
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Thanks for asking! This is a great questions. If there arenāt sufficient pictures of the interior of the house but the sit sounds like a good one, we apply, then ask the homeowner to zoom with us and walk us around the house to show us where we would be staying. If thatās not possible, we ask them to send us pictures. In many respects the pictures should be similar to ones you would include in an airbnb / VRBO / etc. listing, as sitters want to know the kitchen is workable for fixing meals, the furniture comfortable, the bed big enough (if my husband is joining me for the sit), and the house tidy. One picture of the pet(s) is sufficient. We can explore the local area using Google, so we donāt need any pictures of the area.
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@OnTheGlobalRoad
Fantastic way of visiting the house.
But If they zoom you i guess it means you have been selected. So how do you tell them you decline ? You say the truth ? That you dislike their dƩcoration ? Or you explain another HO has chosen you and you prefer their place ?
I never made a vidƩo with owners or sitters i talked on phone only.
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When the main picture on the listing is of the owners, itās an immediate turn off. I couldnāt really care what they look like. I can look at the profile picture to ascertain whether they are 20ās, 40ās or 60ās+.
Iāve also seen the main picture being of the toilet? Why? I did contact someone we had sat for with a beautiful cat, to ask why their main picture was of a tree? A pretty tree, but still, a tree. She said they were hard to move aroundā¦
The house inside is useful to give an idea of clutter/cleanliness, and the local attractions, not useful.
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I wonāt apply for a sit unless I feel like the photos provide me with a good feel of the home. Iām particular about a clean, uncluttered home, so if there are no interior pictures, I wonāt apply. If the photos show cluttered counters, messy rooms, unmade beds, etc, I also donāt apply. Perhaps Iām too pickyā¦but I also donāt want to be stuck in a house sit that Iām not enjoying because of those issues.
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Some profiles are limited in content so pictures certainly enhance the overall host presentation.
For me, I like to see a couple of pictures that show the pet(s) off road parking option, the sitter bedroom and bathroom facilities. general internal pictures.
The provision of an external frontage picture is useful when trying to find the place after a sitting has been agreed.
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Definitely pictures of the pets, a few of the inside of the house is nice too, to get an idea of the cleanliness of the place. But thatās it really. I donāt need to see pictures of the owners, I generally Skype or Whatsapp before, so you get to see the owners at that time.
As @Jon-JWalking said, an external frontage pic is nice to see the general look of the house.
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Really? I never thought of it that way!
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I do like very much to see pictures of the owners (and sitters), the way they dress, make up, wear or not jewels, tatoos are good indications to me. Even if I shall not live with owners (or sitters) more than a day or two, Iām sure some types of people and I have or donāt have affinities.
The member photo shown on listings and profiles is so tinyā¦
Of course I appreciate to see indoors (with Internet itās so easy to show all rooms, bathroom or kitchen give you an idea of cleanliness) but I sat in some places where I had only seen the pets and the outdoors.
For me the ownerās choice (to settle somewhere with magnificent viewsā¦) is also very important.
And I prefer to sit in homes full of booksā¦
I like surprises. So far, they were all good surprises. Once Iām selected I always ask the full adress (my husband wants to know where I goā¦) so with Google earth I get a more precise idea of the surroundings. I discovered often too late (once I acceptg, I never change my mind) it will be very isolated.
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I also have never done a video chat or Skype but have always talked to the owners on the phone. Most of our sits have been local though - weāve only done three international sits. I feel like I can get a connection with someone and really ask questions etc on the phone. Some homeowners are really quick to deciding on a sitter and others like to have video chats, etc. prior to deciding. All depends on their level of trust and how comfortable they are. I guess weāve been lucky so far.
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@Provence After we apply, if the homeowner replies that theyāre considering us, I always ask that we arrange a time to chat over zoom, facetime or another video service. That gives everyone a chance to get to know each other and gain a better understanding of the details of the sit. Most homeowners Iāve worked with will video chat with a few sitters, so, while weāve made the short list at that point, we havenāt been selected.
If a video call isnāt possible, then weāll talk using a regular call. At that time Iāll ask that they send us pictures of the inside of the home. I explain that part of what we consider is whether weāll be comfortable in the home. Weāre really just looking for cleanliness, etc., not decorations.
If it doesnāt look like a place where weāll be comfortable I tell them that and wish them a good time on their travels.
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We like to see the pets - preferably up and alert and reasonably close and not curled up in a ball on a pillow. We also like to see the room weāll be using and maybe the bathroom. We also like to see the outside of the house in order to confirm weāve got the right place!
We always try to have a video call with the homeowner(s). Thereās a lot you can find out by talking with someone face to face.
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I agree with most of what Iāve read here. I like to see pictures of the pets, and one of our room/bathroom. One of the living area/kitchen is nice too. If weāve going to accept a sit, I will take a chance and ask for a photo of our bedroom if there isnāt one.
I usually get the address of the sit and check out the area on google street view so I may not actually need an outdoor photo. I find itās nice to know whatās in the neighbourhood/area weāre going to be staying.
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HI @pc10328 welcome to our community forum, thank you for joining in the conversation, pet pics are so important and seeing where we will be calling home and completely agree about Skype calls, we often also get the āRoyal Tourā which is always a bonus.
Weāre looking forward to getting to know our members much better and the forum is the way we will be able to do that and help members like you connect with one another.
Thank you again.
Angela & The Team