A sitter choosing which listings to open gives each one a few seconds: the dates, the suburb, which animals. Yours gets opened when all of that is visible at a glance, and it gets applications when the detail underneath is about your pets and a normal day rather than about your house. Rewriting an existing listing to that standard takes about twenty minutes.
- The biggest fixable error is describing the house and never the pets or the routine.
- In photos, the sitter's room and bathroom matter more than your kitchen.
- Naming the hard parts, a reactive dog or a 5am feed, attracts better applicants rather than fewer.
- Distance is a trade-off to describe accurately, not a problem to hide.
- No applications? Widen the dates, add the routine, reply faster, and check the sit suits one person.
What a sitter is actually deciding
Four things, in roughly this order: can I get there, will I be comfortable, is this person organised, and what is the real workload? Most listings answer the second thoroughly and leave the rest to guesswork. A note on evidence, too: Sitterly publishes no performance data on listings and we will not invent any, so what follows is reasoning from what sitters say they look for. The sitter's side of this is our guide to what makes a sitter profile work.
Fix one: describe the pets and the routine, not just the house
Plenty of listings read like a holiday rental ad: three bedrooms, renovated kitchen, ten minutes to the beach. But a sitter is taking responsibility for animals they have never met. Under Queensland's animal welfare law, a person in charge of an animal includes anyone with custody, care or control of it, and each state and territory has an equivalent duty of care. So describe every animal as an individual: name, age, type, temperament, what they love and what they find hard. The RSPCA notes that staying in its own home suits a pet who prefers minimal changes to environment and routine. That routine is what you are asking someone to deliver.
Before and after: a listing opening
Both examples were written for this article. They are illustrative, not real listings.
Before: Lovely 3 bedroom home in a quiet street, close to shops and transport. Fully furnished, big backyard. Looking for a reliable sitter for our two dogs. Must be trustworthy and love animals.
After: Two dogs. Nella (7, kelpie cross, calm indoors, needs a solid 40 minute walk each morning or she gets restless) and Biscuit (3, staffy, friendly but pulls hard on lead, so they are walked separately). Both sleep inside. Nella has an arthritis tablet in her breakfast daily. Neither is good with cats. Three bedroom house, quiet street, ten minutes to the dog beach.
The second is longer, but every line works: ninety minutes of walking a day in two blocks, one dog on medication, do not bring a cat, and an owner who has thought it through.
Say the difficult parts out loud
Leaving out a reactive dog, a cat that bites when overstimulated or a puppy that is not toilet trained does not get you a better sitter. It gets you one who finds out on day two. Sitterly's form lets you flag medical needs and behavioural challenges, so use it. If your dog shows what the RSPCA describes as toileting in the house, destructiveness, excessive barking, digging or pacing when left alone, say so, give the current maximum time alone, and talk to your vet before you travel.
Say it in the listing, not at the handover
A behaviour disclosed up front is a fair warning a sitter can accept or decline. Revealed on the first night, it becomes a problem someone else must solve alone, in your home, with your animal.
Fix two: be specific about dates, and say where you can flex
Sitters filter on dates before anything else, and "sometime in January, dates to be confirmed" is easy to scroll past, especially over summer when everyone wants the same weeks.
- Exact dates: the day you leave and the day you return.
- Times: a 6am flight means the sitter arrives the night before.
- The overlap: whether they can stay the night you get back.
- Where you can flex: a day either way reaches sitters whose plans are close but not exact.
- Whether the dates are locked: if you are waiting on flights, say so.
Sitterly's form has a flexible dates option. Use it only if it is true, because a sitter who applies on that basis and finds no flexibility will withdraw. Timing around school holidays is covered in our summer pet care guide.
Fix three: answer the practical questions first
Most sitters work or study while they sit. The questions they would otherwise send by message are the ones your listing should already answer.
- Getting there: nearest station or drive time, and whether a car is essential.
- Parking: off-street, permit only, or none.
- Internet and a workspace: "NBN, fine for video calls, desk in the spare room".
- Your car: available or not, and on what terms. Many homeowners do not offer it.
- Their own space: which bedroom, which bathroom, whether either is shared.
- Who pays for what: usually you cover utilities and the sitter buys food.
- Partners and pets: the form asks whether a couple may apply and whether a sitter can bring a pet.
These are the terms of the arrangement, and the ones that matter belong in writing beforehand. Our guide to a house-sitting agreement covers what to include.
Photographs: the sitter's room matters more than your kitchen
Homeowners photograph what they are proudest of. Sitters want to know where they sleep, where they wash, and whether they will be comfortable for three weeks. A workable order:
- The bedroom the sitter will use, made up, in daylight.
- The bathroom they will use.
- Each pet, clearly, doing something ordinary.
- The main living space.
- The yard and the fencing, if you have a dog.
- The kitchen and anything genuinely lovely, last.
Shoot in daylight and tidy first. Sitterly allows up to five home photos plus one per pet, shows suburb-level location only and never publishes your street address, but still check the shots for a house number, mail on the bench or an alarm panel.
Write down the daily commitment in hours
This is the detail sitters most want and least often get. "Light pet care" tells them nothing. An hour-by-hour version of a normal day tells them everything. Say you have an older dog and two cats:
- 7am: feed all three, let the dog out, tablet in his breakfast. About 20 minutes.
- 8am: 30 minute walk, on lead the whole way.
- Midday: the dog can be left about five hours, no longer.
- 5pm: second feed, litter trays, a short walk or a play in the yard.
- Evening: the dog sleeps inside and barks once at possums.
That is ninety minutes of hands-on care plus a ceiling on how long the house can sit empty, and both change who should apply. The RSPCA advises that most dogs need exercise at least once a day, so if your dog's needs run heavier, spell that out. Add your vet, any after-hours service, and who to call if you are unreachable. The RSPCA's emergency preparation guidance lists what a carer needs, and our guide to preparing your home and pets covers the handover.
If you are regional or rural, sell the trade-off
Fifteen minutes out of town filters some sitters out and pulls others in. People without a car, city commuters and anyone wanting a beach nearby will pass. Retired travellers, van tourers and remote workers wanting quiet will look harder at your listing than at any inner-suburban one. So do not downplay the distance. Describe it precisely and say what comes with it.
- Distance in both numbers: "18km from Bathurst, 20 minutes, sealed road".
- Whether a car is essential. For most rural sits it is, so say so early.
- Reception and internet: which carrier works, and whether video calls hold up.
- A caravan spot, with power and water if you have it. A real drawcard.
- Nearest vet, chemist and supermarket, with drive times.
- What the land needs: chooks, horses, a pump, feeding out. Property work is a different job.
An illustrative rural opening: Small acreage 18km east of Bathurst, sealed road, own car essential. Two working dogs in a fenced run, fed morning and night, plus twelve chooks to let out and lock up daily (foxes about). About an hour of care a day. Reception is good and the satellite NBN handles video calls. Powered caravan spot if you travel with one. Six weeks over winter. Fewer clicks, better applicants: that is the trade you want.
Where homeowners lose good applicants
- Understating the workload to make the sit sound appealing.
- "Must love animals, must be trustworthy" as the whole requirements section.
- Going quiet for a week once applications arrive.
What to do when nobody applies
- Widen or soften the dates. A day either side opens a listing up in peak periods.
- Add what is missing. Nine times out of ten it is the routine and the hours.
- Reply faster. Sitters talk to several homeowners at once, so a reply two days later often lands after they have committed elsewhere.
- Check the sit suits one person. Three dogs, a puppy, a pool and a big garden over Christmas is a job, not a sit. Reduce the scope or welcome a couple.
- Approach sitters directly. Browse sitter profiles and message people whose experience matches your pets.
- Rewrite the first three lines. Lead with the pets, the location and the dates.
Applications are not the goal
Twenty applications from people who skimmed are worth less than three from people who read properly. Judge your listing by the questions you are asked, not the number of messages.
The twenty-minute checklist
- Every pet named, with age, temperament, feeding, medication and anything difficult.
- A normal day by the hour, with a total, and how long the pets can be left.
- Exact dates, times, and where you can flex.
- A daylight photo of the sitter's bedroom and bathroom.
- Transport, parking, internet, a workspace, and whether the car is available.
- Vet and emergency arrangements mentioned.
- Anything you were tempted to leave out because it might put someone off.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a house-sitting listing be?
Usually 250 to 500 words, though length is not the point. A short listing covering the pets, the routine and the practical details beats a long one about the renovation. If a paragraph does not help someone decide, cut it.
Should I admit my dog has behaviour problems?
Yes. A sitter who knows before applying can tell you whether they have handled a similar dog, which is the conversation you want. One who finds out on the first night is managing something they never agreed to, in a house they do not know. If the behaviour is new or worsening, see your vet before you travel.
Is it worth requiring a police check on my listing?
It depends how far you want to narrow the pool. Verification on Sitterly is optional and user-initiated, so requiring a police check means only sitters who already hold one can apply. Many homeowners leave the listing open and ask about verification, references and identity in conversation instead. Either way, Sitterly does not vet users on your behalf, and deciding who stays in your home is yours.
Can I reuse last year's listing?
Reuse the structure, rewrite the specifics. Pets age, medications change and old dates are worse than useless. You can run several listings at once, so publish separate trips separately rather than describing both in one.
Writing down what you already know
None of this asks you to write well. It asks you to write down what you already know: who your animals are, what a normal day looks like, and what you are asking for. Struggling listings are rarely careless. They are written by people so used to their own routine that they forget a stranger cannot see it yet.
Open your listing in another tab and read the first three lines the way a sitter would, then work down the checklist and add what is missing. When you are done, browse the homes currently listed on Sitterly, pick the ones you would apply to yourself, and see what they tell a sitter that yours does not.
This article is general information, not legal or veterinary advice. Animal welfare law differs between states and territories. For your own animals speak to your vet, and for your obligations check the animal welfare regulator in your state or territory.
