looking for the house sitting in overseas
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Hi - My wife and I are looking into pet/house sitting overseas as part of our slow travel life we are starting later this month. We've registered with trustedhousesitters.com to look for opportunities. So far we've applied for several, but haven't snagged the first yet.
Just about all of the house sitting opportunities I have looked at so far have all included at least one pet. I guess folks aren't as concerned about leaving an empty house, in these days of Ring systems and monitored alarms.
You should know you will have to complete a bio and provide verified identification before being accepted. You also need at least one reference before your availability goes public. Pictures of pets you have owned or sat for are also helpful. You may find that you need to accept a few local shorter term sits before you appeal to the overseas clients.
Hope that helps!
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By the way, if you have good reviews on Airbnb, those can help convince a homeowner to give you a shot even if you have no reviews on THS.com. (I am a "host" on THS and have seen some sitters link to their Airbnb profiles.)
As a somewhat nervous home and cat owner I never consider applicants unless they have at least three five-star reviews (these generally show that the person is caring with animals and also takes good care of the homes they are entrusted with). That said, there have to be hosts our there who are willing to give new sitters their first break.
As a host I have 6 sits under my belt and each has been a five-star experience. Here are some insights: I only consider applicants who 1- send a coherent message with their application, showing that they've read my listing with care (many do not; my listing states that these will be automatically rejected), 2- have a lot of cat-sitting experience as evidenced by their reviews (many sitters have experience with dogs and not cats), and 3- are self-professed cat-lovers (extra points if they say they have/have had their own). Once I've verified that the candidate(s) look good on paper, I always have a zoom call and only then, if my gut feeling is that we are a good match, do I offer them the sit.