I have found great sitters for 2 future sits, despite mentioning that there may be construction noise next door. I said “may” in my listing because the work has been very sporadic for over a year until a few weeks ago and is now consistent. I was very honest about the construction and the hours.
There is a new townhouse development being erected about 40 feet from my bedroom window, and work is 6 days a week starting at 7 am. One of my sits is just 2 weeks, and one is 6 weeks. I had multiple great applicants for the long one next year, so you could have a similar experience. My house is in a major US city, but not one of the highly desirable ones, so I was very pleased.
I cannot add any more than has been said here already. For me the 0630 start would be annoying, to say the least and I wouldn’t like such a long sit without pets. I’m sure you’ll have a few applicants but maybe suggestion by @temba is the best
But there are many sits with drawbacks. I would find the noise and the builders probably easier to deal with than pets that would wake me up in the night, pets that could not be left alone, etc.
A deaf person would not mind.
The good thing is that this is declared in the listing.
We stayed in a large airBnB apartment in NYC that was half the price of a hotel room because there was construction going on next door . ( when I say next door the building under construction was less than a meter from the side windows of the apartment ) This was all disclosed in the listing.
As tourists with an itinerary of places we wanted to visit ; we wanted to be up and out the door early and have somewhere comfortable to sleep at night . With the option of being able to cook at home if we didn’t want the expense of eating out in the evening . So it was a win win for us and made the trip affordable.
No harm can be done by listing your place - it may be perfect for someone and if the sitters that apply don’t seem suitable you don’t have to have one .
I have met sitters who have used THS to find a stop gap home for the following reasons ( whilst there was internal remodelling work at their own home / relocating to new city or country for their job so house sat for a few months whilst looking for their own home in the area ) . They had their reasons to be committed to the sit ( job or family in the area ) they weren’t tourists . They went out to work during the day and had friends and family in the area that they visited on weekends so the no pets sits were perfect for them.
Just want to add to (and say thank you @Crookie)that when I was living in Uruguay, I rented this gorgeous furnished condo on the eleventh floor of a twelve story building. I had access to all the amenities, 24/7 security, gym, daily housekeeper, walking distance to everything with extraordinary views of the ocean and spectacular sunsets.
It had not been disclosed at the time I agreed to stay there for 5 months that the entire building was being renovated.
There was noise, dust, power and water outages and total disruption, even days I had to time when to go out because the corridor floors were either dug up, (replumbing and rewiring) or wet from fresh cement and tiling.
I survived. My agenda was not one of desperation. It was a perfect wonderful location. It provided what was most important to me at the time, and that was just that, TIME.
If we didn’t have family coming from Aus Summer 2024, and my Daughter had her Aussie Citizenship/Passport sorted, I’d say, we will happily do it.
We have had sits where new Windows were being installed in Winter! What I can say, is the house was much warmer when it was finished.
Ear Plugs if you want a lay in, as for no other guests, in the 70 sits we have done, I have had my Parents/Brother and Wife over for Dinner on Twice on Sits last Summer and my Dad came and stayed for a Week at a sit, I was very upfront in my Application and said I understood if they were not comfortable with it, it’s their home after all.
Other than that, we went to them or we were out sightseeing or sharing meals out anyway, so I personally don’t think that’s an issue.
Moving your belongings off your Balcony, again, I don’t see that as an issue, it’s not like you are not going to know when they Scaffolding and Construction crew are going to be doing your place.
Maybe you could post a photo from the Balcony of what the Sitters will be able to see apart from when your balcony is being worked on? so they can see that they still have views, it’s not covered up and there’s no view outside? We all have Noise Cancelling Headphones being on the Autistic Spectrum, so the noise would not bother us, my Teens sleep with theirs on (even though I discourage them from doing so and suggest ear plugs, they get sleep so that’s what matters)
I think, if you word it right, you will get a good set of applicants.
Wishing you all the best and happy travels in over this side in 2024. x
@Crookie
Hi! I think you will be able to find a sitter. Unlike others, I don’t think you would have to look at anyone wanting to sit with distrust. If we weren’t already booked up, we would consider your sit and we are certainly not desperate. Obviously, it wouldn’t work for a sitter working from home but us retired people could handle it.
Without any pets to care for, the sitter would be able to explore the region during the day and avoid being around during the noisy times of the day as long as they were early risers. We would love the chance to explore and get to know the area. A combination of early rising, noise cancelling headphones, a good deal of patience and tolerance, living in a wonderful place could make an awesome combination.
Would you be okay if your sitter also tried to escape with local sits as long as they returned every 2-3 days to check on things?
Will the building be wrapped, like for envelope repairs and that related noise and dust, or will it just be scaffolding for painting and minor balcony repairs? Scaffolding always makes me thing envelope work and that can be very dusty and very noisy, much worse than construction next door!
@meow yes, absolutely ok with sitters doing other sits or travelling as long as they can spend some time at our place too.
Our building won’t be wrapped. The work will be done in sections over 30 weeks so sitters wouldn’t even know there is work going on at the west and north sides of the building, unless they were in the pool. Our apartment is on the south east corner. When it’s on our side of the building it will be very noticable and we don’t know how long each section will take until the work starts in Feb/March. These are major waterproofing works and repainting. Work on our balcony will be daily over 3 weeks.
Hi Crookie,
This actually sounds like an interesting proposition. Could work well if you wake early, which i tend to do, when in warm sunny climates, and take breakfast to eat on the beach. away from any early morning noise. And if you love exploring during the day you woiuld come back to peace and quiet in the evenings, where you could sit on your lovely balcony and unwide with a lovely evening meal, watching the sun go down. It is only a problem if wanting to stay in the apartment all day but if happy to venture out exploring, or sit in a cafe watching the world go by, or even spending some time in a a library then not a problem at all. Good luck.
I think if you’re 100% honest about the situation, you can put it out there and let sitters decide. There truly seems to be a person for every situation! But just please, please be totally honest about the full situation in your listing. You never know whose dream sit it could be!
Thank you everyone for your feedback. We have been very clear in our listing about the impact of the construction noise next door. We are now waiting for details of our building’s major maintenance works from our owners corporation which will help guide our decision on whether to post our sit or not. If you are interested feel free to DM us or favourite our listing via the link in our forum profile. Thanks again.
Our listing is now live for March 2024 to June 2024. We will let you all know how we get on with sitter applications. Thanks again everyone for your feedback.
@temba@Amparo@Samox24 we got 4 applications in the first 30 minutes, 14 applications so far. Been spending the afternoon reading, responding, declining with messages & unpausing (multiple times) until we got to a shortlist of 5. It’s been hectic!
I hope you find a wonderful sitter! I saw your listing and considered applying until I realized it was over 90 days. Pretty sure I can only stay in Oz up to 3 months . I spent a couple months in Brisbane a long time ago and would love to return. I’m sure you will get someone great!
. I spent a couple months in Brisbane a long time ago and would love to return. I’m sure you will get someone great!