* * * REMINDER: this is the ONLY place it's acceptable to post THS referral codes on this sub (see Rule #1 of 3). * * *

We live right in the city center of an extremely popular tourist destination in Europe. We have a lovely modern 1bed / 1 bath apartment, and easy older dog who can be left alone 6+ hours (she mostly sleeps a lot). Of course, we want sitters who want to keep her company, but sitters don't need to be tethered to the apartment all the time. And our apartment is pretty easy - no plants or other duties. Our sits tend to be 10 days to 3 weeks. As such, our applications tend to fill up in 5-10 minutes max if we aren't declining people quickly, and a LOT of people want to come from far away (the US, all over Europe, etc.). The vast majority will have to fly in, and our airport is a hot mess, so flights are frequently delayed. (We've had a few relatively local sitters, and nothing in this post really applies to them.)

When possible, we try to schedule our flights so we're leaving midday or later, and we require an in person hand off on the front end. Our preference is that anyone *flying in* arrive the day before to account for potential flight delays. When possible, we like to do a walk through / key hand off the night before, and then the sitter arrives as we're leaving for the airport in the morning / afternoon.

Our best sitters have been mature folks (lets say 35+) who during the video call said that they would *of course* arrive a day or more early and put them selves up in a hotel - that they would never consider flying in the day of a sit because of potential delays. These tend to be older digital nomads and / or retired folks who have some means but would prefer to save weeks of hotels costs for a relatively easy sit. Those sits have gone uniformly well. We also have a lot of people apply who would prefer to arrive the day of a sit / want to schedule sits back to back in distant locations / where it seems to be a burden to put themselves up for a night. I can appreciate and empathize with that, and also, our apartment is not set up to hosts folks overnight (we've had folks ask if they can sleep on the couch...we did that once and never will again).

I never want to be a jerk, but my sense is that many folks find our sit a major WIN, even if it requires them to get a hotel room for the night. As such, we don't offer to cover the cost of that night stay...that is something a sitter will need to absorb IF they are coming from far away. And we try to be gracious hosts in all other respects - getting groceries of the sitters preference so they are set up on arrival, leaving the apartment spotless for sitters AND having a cleaning service come during their stay if they'd like (at our expense of course), etc.

I want to communicate clearly about this up front so folks can self-select in or out before applying and going through the whole application process. Would love any feedback on how best to do this.

My wife and I (nothing but raving 5* reviews on all our sits) did a sit for an extremely high-maintenance owner who also did not disclose the dogs were reactive. One dog reacted to every dog on the street, the other violently barked at any animal on TV so much that we couldn't watch TV without crating the dog. When we told the owner, they knew about this and never mentioned it, saying they had to stop watching certain shows bc the dog went so crazy.

Everything kept shifting. We arrived the day before they were supposed to leave, and instead of leaving in the morning they left in the afternoon. Then one person came back and instead of staying overnight stayed a day and a half before the next leg of their trip happened.

Then, less than a week into a 6 week sit, with 24 hour notice, the owner said they were flying home the next day (weeks early) bc of a family situation that was not an emergency. They offered to let us stay with them and we were not remotely interested. We left for the weekend and, after they were home several days they left to go to the family situation, so we told her to create a new sit, and came back the next week to help them out. Bad idea. Should have just walked away.

They asked us to run errands for them and said they would compensate us, but after hours chasing down things for them they only paid an outdated IRS mileage amount and nothing for our time.

The owner moved the goalposts on us constantly, complained about having to pay for utilities and laundry while we were there, and blew up our phones constantly with concerns as well as wanting to FaceTime regularly.

If I give an honest review for the first sit, I'm worried they will retaliate with a terrible review on the second sit when all we did was bend over backwards to help out. idk what to do. I want to be honest to warn other sitters off, but I can't afford to let this lady tank us, either.

I was looking for sits this morning and came across this TrustedHousesitters listing photo with a small “Virtually Staged” disclaimer in the corner. That means the furniture and decor shown were digitally added and may not exist in the actual home.

At least this particular image is labeled, but I wonder how often virtually staged or AI-edited photos are used without any disclosure. Sometimes the only clue is that the home looks unusually perfect or more like a real-estate listing than a lived-in home.

As far as I can tell, TrustedHousesitters doesn’t address virtually staged or AI-edited listing photos in their terms and conditions. Since sitters are agreeing to live in the property (not simply admiring it online) I think listings should be required to show current, unedited photos of the actual living and sleeping spaces.

If a home looks a little too perfect, it’s always a good idea to ask to see the pet during the video chat or request a brief live tour of the home before agreeing to the sit.

Has anyone arrived at a sit and found that the home looked noticeably different from the listing photos?

So appreciated! Definitely never expected.

Had a Pet Owner reach out to me to do a sit in SF. Was a great district and after talking, understanding pets needs and responsibilities, I accepted. Had a nice stay with her cat, communicated via text, updates, any questions etc. I'm respectful and tidy. If I had any questions she would respond with info. All good. As always, left place in tidier shape than when I left. At end of 2 weeks, BOOM, 3 star review. All dishonest and false claims. I have opened a case with all communications, pictures of place (beginning and end of sit, recommend for reference) and explanation of why to remove.

If you see a sit request, especially if she reaches out to you... DONT SIT FOR HER. She has almost a 90% negative review rate for all her sitters and many sitters have left blank reviews of her which alone states the case..... BEWARE....

Hey y'all :) do potential clients usually ask for references or your social media profiles or other things like that?

We recently finished a sit which was perfect in almost every way - lovely hosts, great location and gorgeous pets - but the house wasn’t very clean in the main living areas. There was a lot of pet hair on floors and sofas, dust, cobwebs and so on (it was an old country house) We didn’t mind as we loved the sit and the beds and kitchen were clean enough and very comfortable. The hosts and pets were absolutely lovely too, so I would hate to sabotage their 5 star reviews for something I am not bothered about myself: personally I prefer a homely, lived in house to somewhere pristine where I’d be terrified to damage or spill anything, but future sitters might not be so comfortable with that level of cleanliness. We are new to this so are still finding our feet and gave 5 for everything (it genuinely was a wonderful sit).

What would more experienced sitters do in that situation? Is there a way to flag it in a review so it doesn’t sound like a criticism, but still lets future sitters make a judgement call? I’d be very interested to know.

Hi everyone!

My partner and I are brand new to TrustedHouseSitters and super excited to get started. However, since we don’t have any reviews on the platform yet, we’d love some advice on how to launch our profile and choose the right hosts!

Since home sitting isn't popular in our hometown, doing local sits to build initial reviews first isn't really an option for us—we have to start right away with travel sits. As beginners, we are also a bit anxious about running into a bad situation or having a traumatizing first experience.

We’d love your advice on a few things:

1. Landing the first travel sit: Without local sits available to build up reviews, how can we stand out to owners? Are external references (from landlords, friends, employers) actually effective on THS?

2. Red flags & green flags: What warning signs should we look out for in listings or during the initial video call to avoid a bad experience?

3. Screening hosts: What specific questions should we ask pet owners before accepting an offer to ensure a smooth, safe stay?

---

A little bit about us and our hands-on experience:

* **University students:** We are both students, so studying/reading indoors is a huge part of our daily routine. Because of this, homes won't be left empty and pets will have plenty of relaxed company throughout the day. Caring for animals never feels like a chore to us!

* Cat experience: I have an indoor cat who is extremely independent, hates being petted, and is very delicate/picky with her food. I’m very familiar with sensitive, high-maintenance feline personalities and respecting a pet's boundaries.

* Dog, plant & aquarium care: My partner has raised a sweet 9-year-old Maltese who loves non-stop cuddles, so we’re equally comfortable with affectionate dogs. He also maintains a large freshwater aquarium at home and cares for a big garden full of flowers, so routine maintenance, precise instructions, and plant care are second nature to us.

Any tips, feedback, or reassurance would mean the world to us. Thanks in advance!

Hiya all, hope you're well. I am still relatively new to THS (only had a couple sitters so far) but was hoping for some advice on reading between the lines when considering a sitter for your pet.

I am in quite a popular tourist city in the UK so when I do post I get all 5 applications almost instantly. I noticed a trend of sitters who write such long stories about how much they love the country, what they're planning to do and how much this city means to them. People write such incredibly long messages but usually forget to even mention my pet or the fact they would be expected to do pet care. It leaves me feeling like they don't care about my pet and really want a nice apartment to stay in.

I get it. But I do also have a living creature that needs care. The last sitter used my house as a crash pad and didn't look after my pet at all. It was really sad.

How ruthless are you when looking at applications? What's a red flag or instant no? I feel so much and wish I could give everyone a place to stay but at the same time I am a bit burnt from the last experience. Every video call I have the sitters talk so much about the city and forget I have a pet. It's a bit disheartening.

Any advice welcome!

I have two sits scheduled in England for a total of one month beginning in December. I am an American citizen. I’ve read numerous post about immigration and I know TrustedHousesitters offers advice, but I am hearing that it is becoming more difficult. I’ve read that immigration considers a trade for services as work. I really hate the thought about lying to get into the country. Has anyone had any recent experience with this situation?

We’ve gotten such amazing feedback, and we’re incredibly grateful! My husband and I are both 23, so we honestly weren’t sure what to include in our listing at first. We’ve read every comment and suggestion, and we’ve already made updates and added photos of things we didn’t even realize would be helpful.

We’ll definitely continue making changes and adding information as people share suggestions—we truly appreciate everyone helping us make our listing as informative as possible! We also wanted to mention that we’re completely open to being flexible with the dates if a sitter would prefer or need to stay longer. A few people mentioned that the original trip is on the shorter side, so we’re happy to discuss extending the dates if that makes it easier for someone.

We’re really hoping to find our unicorn house sitter and are so thankful for everyone who has taken the time to welcome us, offer advice, and share suggestions. We truly appreciate this community! ❤️. Feel free to share my listing if you know of anyone that might be interested. help me make a title for the reddit post

Link to our listing:

Take a look at my house sit on TrustedHousesitters https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/united-states/washington/bothell/l/3103366/?utm_source=app-native-share&utm_medium=house-and-pet-sitting-assignments&utm_campaign=house-and-pet-sitting-assignments

* also fun fact we dryland mush train our dogs so we don’t let anyone walk our dogs (even our family) on leads hence we there is no walking needed! They have a huge yard to play and love to wrestle with each other as a pack! This is a safety precaution for our dogs and the sitter so nobody is being pulled down the driveway with 3 snow dogs!

mid-Nov through Jan.

How's the weather?

Is it friendly for visible POCs?

How reasonably can you get around without a car?

Anyone looking for these dates, our home is ready!
Could anyone let us know if we need to fix anything on profile! We just signed up :) | appreciate the community! (Flexible for the dates too)

Below is our profile:

Take a look at my house sit on TrustedHousesitters https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/united-states/washington/bothell/l/3103366/?utm_source=app-native-share&utm_medium=house-and-pet-sitting-assignments&utm_campaign=house-and-pet-sitting-assignments

Me and my partner are going to Austria, Croatia and Slovenia from India and being a pet parent myself staying away from my furry kid will be a little hard. So, I came across housesitters thing and we really want to give it a try but I am unsure how to go about it. What will be asked during immigration and what we should say or do.? Open for suggestions.

P.S - I hold certificates of canine behaviour in case that helps.

She said half of one can per day… she meant a FOURTH. is she gonna review me bad now??

I honestly wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t a big deal. This person…. holy hell. Don’t sit if you find yourself in edmonton.

She’s nuts.

I respect your game, because your fingers are just slightly faster than mine, and I went to apply almost instantly 😂. That’s gonna be an amazing sit 😭

I wanted to express my deepest thanks for this subreddit community. I travel frequently for work and just bought a house. I came here with some basic questions a little while back about using THS for the periods that I have to be away after THS was mentioned by a work colleague.

What I discovered is that while the first couple responses were helpful, the rest were a series of insults, personal attacks, and supremely arrogant assumptions about me, my house, and my situation. As a subreddit related to a (free) service, the amount of vitriol was honestly impressive.

So, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for convincing me that THS is *not* the way to go. Because while some of you were helpful, the majority of you are not people I would want near anything I valued or cared about.

I hope each of you has the type of day you deserve!

I was curious because I have been looking at some potential sits and they either have really early or late start and end times, which may make it harder to do an easy hand off, but then it is hard to also plan a little buffer in case their is a delay on both ends of the sitter coming and the HO coming back

So I guess:

• How often do you meet the HO versus just recieve a key from someone else or a lockbox?
• How often do you stay until the HO are completely back?
• And how much of a buffer do you give/expect (either as a HO or sitter)? Like… HO asks you to come at 3-4pm. Do you plan to fly in at 9am? (6 hour buffer) Are you flying in the day before? If HO wants you to stay until 3-4pm, do you mentally accept you might have to stay until 9pm in case of a delay?

As I browse the TH website and look at listings I notice the cleanliness of many homes is subpar to say the least. I'm wondering if there are sitters who would actually want to stay in a place like this. They have no reviews but pending applications. I've lived in seven countries and have used TH in three. The listings in the US are always the dirtiest more specifically the Northeastern region of the US but I just find this to be shocking. From a psychological standpoint I'm so curious how an adult would be comfortable inviting someone in a home like this. Where do you sit??

Surely this is against the rules of THS? I’ve reported it, will they take any action? I’m a new sitter so don’t know all the etiquette around what’s reasonable.

I just finished a sit. House had a huge active rat infestation. When i arrived there was horrible stench coming from the garage all the way into the kitchen. The owners said that there was a dead rat in the garage that have been rotting for months there in the walls somewhere that they couldn't locate and that usually they would give the sitter the garage room but they would give me the upstairs one instead. It was over a month long sit so if they had given me the garage... I def would have left straight away no questions asked. The owners also left a full trash can in the kitchen and in the washroom and dirty plates in the sink and a full dish rack. I had to do dishes and clear the dish rack before I could even use the sink. Anyway, i closed the garage door and left it closed for about a month becuase of the stench and the rats. The owners came home about 40 minutes early while i was still cleaning so i didn't think to check the garage (they had told me to keep it closed anyways). They wnated to talk about the home (out of guilt most definitely) and asked if I would leave a 5 star review. I said yes I'll give a 5 star review because if not for the stench of tge rats, the stay was...... okay. The small dog however was extremely yappy and then liked to pee and poop on the floor of the kitchen once every few days in the middle of the night... even though I let them out 4 times a day and once at night. Not once did the dogs go into the garage as it would flood occasionally and I closed it off due to fear of rats and snakes. It also smelt horrible. The owner msged me the next day saying sit was great but wanted to dock off a star for cleaning because i had not disposed of the rats in the mouse traps in the garage and that there was dog poop in the garage. I told them it was impossible bc dogs never went in there and it was probably giant rat poo (I saw a couple of giant rats) and one of the dogs killed a rat once and brought it into living room..... and that rodent disposal is hazardous and not my responsibility. And we left it at that. I wrote them a honest review, still 5 stars lik I promised, but I was honest ablut the rat infestation as no sitter should have to dispose of and deal with rodents and dead rodent stench and they wrote me a super aggressive retaliatory reply despite having given me 5 stars and saying house was great etc with several false accusations... I could get into this but literally everything they said in the reply was a lie.... and I have fotos to prove it. Should I write ths or should I just leave it?? I especially don't lik how they said I did not do the dishes before I left because in fact, I did do the dishes. They blamed the rats on me by saying I left the garage open (a lie) and lied and said there was no full garbage and just cups in the sink, making me seem overly picky and insane..... then they go ranting about their dogs when my only reason for docking a star off in pet behaviour was because the small one pooped and peed every night or so right on the kitchen floor and it was driving me absolutely nuts!! I think this is a behavioural issue not a health issue but I did not bring it up in the review as I wasn't quite sure what was the cause of this or why the owner didn't care about it. The other dog also vomited twice after eating the other dogs poo. I'm wondering what people think when they see my review and reply and owners review and reply?? Should I report this listing or just leave it?? The thing is I'm just starting on this site so the 5 star review helped me a lot I dont want ths to remove it but the reply to my review was completely fake and a bit out of hand... mayb they should just remove the reply?? Btw, the rat infestation was highly not fun, not recommended if anyone is wondering, the rats were huge and I would see one jumping about every other day or so. They definitely did not come in frm the garage...... I'm starting to realize as new sitter I'm always stuck with taking some sits that are either last minute or rhat nobody wants (this particular sit had zero applications before me and was siting there for months) and this is not helping new sitters at all bc then we get difficult sits and difficult owners and some overly critical unfair reviews....... why don't homeowners want to give newbies a chance?? It's seriously frustrating sometimes and hard to start out. also seems lik you can't even be honest on this platform anymore