Hi! First timer here. We are seeking a sitter over Thanksgiving for 10 days. I can’t remember when I posted the listing probably a week and a half ago. We have about 7 save the listing and 1 apply. I just read that saving doesn’t necessarily mean available. After looking at their calendars none of them are available. I replied to the applicant within 24 hours but they have not even read the message in the last 5 days so I’m not sure how reliable that application will be.
What’s the average timeframe applicants might apply at what point should I start to panic. 
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Hi. Don’t read into the calendars too much as some sitters don’t keep them current. Also green means they are available, white mean not available, and a line through the date means they are booked for a THS sit. A little confusing for many people.
Many of us favourite a sit so that we can be notified when that homeowner lists a sit. We may not be available for your current dates though.
A forum staff member can help you with ideas next time they’re online. I can’t see your listing to give you more specific feedback. I hope all goes well for you.
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Hi. I’m not sure that you’re allowed to show your listing on the forum. You may want to add the link to your forum profile instead. It looks lovely to me but I’m not available for the US right now. The only thing I can suggest is to add a photo of where the sitter would sleep and maybe the bathroom.
Therese can give you info on whether you can boost your listing. I’m not a homeowner so I don’t know about the options available to you.
Have you considered approaching sitters who live in your area? Newer sitters usually start out by doing local sits to get themselves established.
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Your home is lovely and clean, and the pets look wonderful. Your best bet may be someone coming into town for T’giving who has family nearby.
Only suggestion is to offer the use of a car if you have a 2nd you aren’t taking. Car rental prices are outrageous right now, so if someone is flying there, that might help.
As far as I know, posting your listing here is fine. As sitters, we cannot see your listing otherwise.
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Ok, I will keep the link up until I am told for sure not to. That’s a good thought about the vehicle. Is that normal to use a homeowners vehicle? I suppose we’d need to verify the sitters insurance, but that’s doable.
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I’ve had use of a HO’s car a few times.
For the three years I was car-less, I maintained non-owner’s insurance, which covers liability. It’s USAA, so I think that has helped people feel comfortable. For my last long-term sit, the HOs notified their insurance agent. The car itself has to be covered by your own insurance.
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@bbrowne @katie if you look at the community rules you will see that you are asked not to post listings and the reasons why.
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HI @Katie and thank you for contributing and offering a good suggestion re the car. I’ve been horrified to hear of some of the rental rates currently being floated, particularly in the US.
Just to confirm, as @Snowbird rightly advises, we ask members not to post links to listings in threads as per the guidelines here:
Posting links to house sits and profiles
For safety and privacy reasons, we kindly ask that you do not upload house sit listings or profiles to the forum topics or comments.
Our forum is designed to be a place where members can chat, share advice and share their experiences, rather than being another platform to find a sit or a sitter.
Keeping listings and profiles on the TrustedHousesitters website also ensures that every member (even those not signed up to the forum) gets a fair and equal chance to apply for a house sit or reach out to a sitter. It also ensures that best practices are followed and there is no confusion about how the process works for both sitters and owners.
However there is one exception and that is for owners when there are less than 7 days until the start of the sit. We recently created a new category “Last Minute Sits” where details of sits can be entered (not the link but enough for members to find the details on the website).
We are trying to create the right balance of fairness for all members and while also helping to fill sits with less applicants by using the forum in an effective way.
Have a lovely weekend… and @bbrowne I hope it’s a weekend full of applicants 
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We sometimes applied to sits just before they started because our previous hosts had to come back early (1-2 days notice). In general we don’t usually apply to sits that have been up for longer than a few days, because some people just forget to take down their listing even after they have found somebody. It’s probably good to relist the sit or let THS push it back up. PS: When we save a sit we usually do this to get notified when the sit gets listed again. Then we get a push notification and can see right away if we can do the dates and be the first ones to apply.
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Hi @bbrowne welcome to our community forum, you already have some great support and feedback from fellow members as @Snowbird says, we don’t allow links to owner listings or sitter profiles to be fair to all forum members, however we will do all that we can to help members have success whether owners or sitters.
We have created a category for last minute sits where details of a sit can be shared (without links) to enable members to search and find on the website, the optimum place for reaching members but hopefully you won’t need to post on the last minute section and will receive applications.
There is still time to find your sitters, we can also share your listing on our Social channels, please Direct Message me if this is something you would like to do.
Welcome again.
Angela and the Team
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@Vanessa_A, just to be on the safe side, it is allowed to post the listing in the forum member’s profile under website, isn’t it? That’s what I did and I wanted to make sure that this is ok.
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It absolutely amazes me that someone would apply for your sit then not read the HOs reply!
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Yes that’s absolutely fine and where I’ve got mine too 
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I’m with @LTD i’m surprised they have not replied to your message. Unless they don’t have a smart phone to check the app on a regular basis.
I hope you find the right sitter, don’t rush to select one because your in a hurry to secure a sitter.
Hi @Mslaura welcome to our community forum thank you for joining in the conversation … we look forward to sharing in your THS journey, enjoy connecting with our members from all over the world.
Angela and the Team
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Where is your sit? We are free at Thanksgiving, but live in CA
Hi @bbrowne … I have emailed you directly from memberships services regarding boosting your listing. It is an excellent way to put your listing out there again. Warm regards Therese
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We are in Illinois near St. Louis. Not the most exciting places to be for the winter. 
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We can’t do it as it is too long to drive and flights are not practical around the holidays. It has nothing to do with it being winter. We were just thinking if it was driveable, we’d do it
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I appreciate that and totally understand!