House Sitting Cancellations: Why Every Sit Needs a Backup Plan

A member of our Facebook group recently found herself in a difficult position.

She had advertised for a house sitter, received several applications and chosen someone she felt comfortable with. Once the arrangement was settled, she deleted her Facebook post.

That probably seemed like the tidy and considerate thing to do. The sit had been filled, so there was no reason to keep attracting more comments.

Then the sitter cancelled.

The homeowner went back looking for the other people who had applied, only to discover that their comments and details had disappeared along with the deleted post.

She had not only lost her sitter. She had lost every possible backup sitter as well.

Do Not Delete a Filled Facebook Post

This leads to one very simple recommendation.

When you find your sitter through Facebook, do not delete the original post.

Edit it and add:

#SitterFound

Put it clearly at the top so people can see that applications are closed.

This stops most new enquiries while preserving the comments, tags and names of people who expressed interest. Should something change, you still have a record of possible alternatives.

It is not a perfect system. Some conversations may have moved into Messenger, and people who were available when they first commented may no longer be available. But it is much better than having to begin again with nothing.

A Shortlist Is More Than a List of Second Choices

When homeowners hear the word “shortlist”, they sometimes think it means ranking people from best to worst.

That is not really the purpose.

A shortlist is simply a small group of people who appear suitable enough to keep talking to. Each may have different strengths.

One sitter may have experience with large dogs. Another may know the local area. Someone else may be especially comfortable with medication, acreage, gardens or anxious animals.

The homeowner eventually chooses the person who seems the best fit, but that does not make the other suitable applicants poor choices.

They may become valuable alternatives if dates change, travel plans fall through or the chosen sitter becomes unavailable.

House Sitting Australia already allows homeowners to review applications, compare profiles and shortlist suitable people while keeping their messages and listing details together. Unlike a disappearing Facebook thread, the application history remains connected to the listing.

A shortlisted sitter is not obliged to remain available. They have not been booked or placed on standby. If circumstances change, the homeowner must contact them again and ask whether they are still interested.

The important point is that the connection has not been lost.

A Cancellation Can Leave Either Person Stranded

When a sitter cancels at short notice, the consequences for the homeowner are obvious.

Flights may be booked. Accommodation may be paid for. Work leave may have been arranged. Pets still need care, and suitable kennels or boarding facilities may be unavailable during school holidays or Christmas.

But homeowners can also leave sitters in a difficult position.

Some house sitters travel full-time. They may have arranged their movements around an accepted sit, declined other opportunities and paid to travel to the area.

A last-minute cancellation may leave them needing accommodation at the most expensive time of year.

One experienced sitter in our community recently described having several homeowners cancel within a short period. One cancellation came only two days before a three-week sit. She suddenly had to reorganise her plans and pay hundreds of dollars for temporary accommodation.

The cancellation may have been unavoidable, but its effect was still real.

That is why consideration must work in both directions.

The Time I Ended Up With Four Dogs and Two Homes

I once had a two-week sit in a lovely part of the Perth Hills during the school holidays.

I was looking after a greyhound and a whippet. Both were beautiful, well-behaved dogs, and the arrangement was straightforward.

The neighbours were also going away and had arranged a sitter for their two dogs. At the last minute, their sitter became ill and could not come.

They were suddenly in a difficult position.

Because the properties were next to each other, I was able to help. I ended up caring for four dogs across two homes for the fortnight.

The walks became considerably more entertaining, but all four dogs behaved beautifully and the arrangement worked.

That solution will not suit every situation. There may be security concerns, insurance questions, difficult animals or responsibilities that one person cannot reasonably manage.

But it shows what can happen when people look beyond the obvious answer.

The solution was not another advertisement or a complicated emergency service. It was a conversation between neighbours and a practical arrangement that everyone understood.

Sometimes the Original Sit Does Not Need to Disappear

A change of plans does not always mean that every part of the arrangement must be abandoned.

Suppose a homeowner becomes ill and can no longer travel. Depending on the home, the relationship and everyone’s comfort, the sitter might still be able to stay.

There may be a separate room, granny flat, studio or caravan available.

A friend or relative may be going away and have an empty property nearby. They may not own pets and therefore do not need a conventional sitter, but they might appreciate someone collecting the mail, watering plants or mowing the lawn.

A neighbour may have recently moved, leaving a vacant house awaiting sale or settlement.

None of these possibilities should become an expectation. A homeowner is not required to find alternative accommodation, and a sitter should never feel pressured to accept an arrangement that feels unsuitable.

They are simply possibilities worth considering before both parties conclude that nothing can be done.

Consider the Costs Created by Your Cancellation

When cancellation is unavoidable, the person cancelling should consider whether the other party has incurred costs.

A homeowner might offer to help a displaced sitter with temporary accommodation or altered travel expenses.

A sitter who has to withdraw might help contact other experienced sitters, share the listing with trusted contacts or provide the homeowner with useful local alternatives.

This is not about assigning blame every time someone becomes ill or faces a family emergency.

It is about recognising that an unavoidable event for one person can still create a serious problem for someone else.

Where compensation is appropriate and affordable, it should be discussed openly between the parties. House Sitting Australia should encourage consideration, but it should not attempt to impose a fixed compensation formula or decide who is legally at fault.

What the HSA App Can Do Now

Facebook remains an excellent place for homeowners and sitters to discover each other.

The problem is that Facebook was not designed to manage applications, compare candidates or preserve the full history of a house sit.

In the House Sitting Australia app, applications are attached to the listing. Homeowners can compare profiles, shortlist suitable applicants, message them privately and complete a digital sit agreement with the person selected. The listing, application and agreement remain accessible after the original Facebook post has disappeared.

That means a homeowner facing a cancellation is not necessarily starting from zero.

They can return to the original applicants, see who was shortlisted and make fresh contact.

The app cannot guarantee that those people will still be available, but it preserves the possibility.

A Simple Cancellation Recovery Feature

We are now considering a small cancellation recovery improvement for the HSA app.

The aim is not to create a large emergency accommodation marketplace. HSA needs a much larger and more geographically distributed membership before features such as nearby rescue alerts could work reliably.

The first version should remain simple.

When an accepted sit has to be cancelled, the app could:

• record who cancelled and when;
• notify the other party;
• preserve the accepted application, messages and agreement;
• allow the homeowner to reopen the original listing;
• keep previous applicants available for review;
• make it easy to contact shortlisted sitters again;
• suggest practical ways to reduce the effect on the other person.

Most members will rarely, if ever, need the feature. It should therefore remain quietly within the existing sit-management process rather than becoming another complicated section of the app.

The app’s main purpose is still to help homeowners and sitters find each other, communicate clearly and make good arrangements.

The Responsibility Is in How We Respond

Cancellations will happen.

People become ill. Family emergencies arise. Vehicles break down. Travel plans change. Pets develop new needs, and sometimes circumstances become unsafe or impossible.

The measure of a person is not simply whether they have ever cancelled.

What matters is how they communicate, how much notice they provide and whether they make a reasonable effort to reduce the damage caused to the other person.

A sitter who must cancel should help the homeowner where possible.

A homeowner who must cancel should remember that the sitter may have nowhere else to go.

Neither party should simply drop the news and disappear.

The Practical Backup Plan

For homeowners using Facebook:

Keep your original post and add #SitterFound at the top rather than deleting it.

For homeowners using the HSA app:

Invite suitable people to apply properly, shortlist more than one strong applicant and keep the application history attached to the listing.

For both parties:

Confirm the arrangement in writing, communicate quickly if circumstances change and think about what practical help you could offer.

A backup plan does not prevent illness, emergencies or changes of circumstance.

It simply means that when something goes wrong, everyone has somewhere sensible to begin.

Keep Your House Sitting Arrangements Together

The House Sitting Australia app keeps listings, applications, shortlists, private messages, pet information and digital sit agreements together in one place.

Facebook is where many house-sitting connections begin.

HSA is where those connections can be properly organised and preserved.

Join free at hsa.oze.au.

About the Author

Colin Dixon | Founder, House Sitting Australia

Colin spent eight years travelling Australia as a house sitter and has helped homeowners and sitters connect through the House Sitting Australia community since 2011.

Drawing on his background in education, IT and software development, he created the House Sitting Australia app to make listings, applications, communication and agreements easier to manage while preserving the personal, community-based nature of house sitting.