Breadcrumbs: Home > House Sitting Guide > House Sitting Video Call
📊 QUICK FACTS:
Always do a video call: No video call, no confirmed sit
Be ready: 10 minutes early, alarm set, no exceptions
Structure: Rapport first, logistics second, red flags last
Two-way street: You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you
Postponed calls: In our experience, homeowners who reschedule video calls have a significantly higher cancellation rate
We were at the tail end of our month-long sit in Lullin, France. We had a Bratislava sit lined up for two weeks later: two cats, a chance to drive back through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Prague, and Bratislava before heading home to Bochum. We were excited about it.
To kill time before the scheduled video call, we started a quick game. Ten minutes later we looked up at the clock and realized we had missed the start time entirely.
We messaged the homeowner immediately, apologizing as fast as we could type. It did not matter. She was furious. She cancelled the sit on the spot and did not want to hear another word from us.
In the moment it stung. Looking back, that reaction told us something useful about how the sit would have gone. But the lesson we took was simpler: set an alarm, put the game down, and never let it happen again.
Since then we have a clean record on video calls, and they have become one of our favourite parts of the whole process. Done well, a video call tells you more about a sit in thirty minutes than a month of message exchanges ever could.
Before the Call: Confirm the Platform
In 2026, many homeowners prefer WhatsApp video over Zoom or FaceTime. Before the scheduled time, confirm which platform you are using. A quick message the day before: "Looking forward to our call tomorrow, are you happy with WhatsApp or would you prefer something else?" takes thirty seconds and removes any awkward fumbling at the start when both parties are trying to connect on different apps.
Rule One: Be on Time
This sounds obvious until you are the person who missed the call.
We now sit down five minutes before every scheduled call. Phones alarmed, laptops open, ready to go. If something comes up and we cannot make it, we message the homeowner immediately. We never let the clock run out without communication.
The reason punctuality matters so much is what it signals. You are asking a homeowner to trust you with their home and their animals while they are on the other side of the world. The video call is the first moment you get to demonstrate reliability in real time. Being late, even by ten minutes, starts that demonstration in the wrong direction.
Interestingly, we have noticed the inverse is also true. Of the homeowners who have postponed or rescheduled calls on us, every single one except one either cancelled the sit afterward or the sit fell through for other reasons. It was only when writing this article that I connected those dots, but it tracks. Dis-organisation in the scheduling phase tends to show up again later when the stakes are higher.
Rule Two: Dress Like You Mean It
You do not need to be formal. You need to look like someone a homeowner would happily hand their keys to.
We treat every video call like a casual job interview. Clean shirt, brushed hair, good light. Nothing elaborate, just the visual equivalent of showing up on time. It signals that you take the opportunity seriously without making the call feel stiff or transactional.
The camera background matters too. A tidy, neutral background tells the homeowner something about how you occupy a space. It does not need to be perfect, but it should not be chaotic.
Rule Three: Rapport Before Logistics
Most sitters make the same mistake on their first few calls. They jump straight into questions: how often does the dog need walking, where is the vacuum cleaner, what time does the cat get fed. Useful questions, but not how you open.
Think of the call less as an interview and more as a first meeting with people you might spend a week living in the footprint of. You want to find out whether you actually like them, and whether they like you. That matters as much as any logistical detail.
We usually start somewhere easy: their travel plans, something about the area, the pet's name and personality. People relax quickly when you are genuinely interested rather than running through a checklist. Once the conversation is flowing and both sides feel comfortable, then you move into the specifics.
Some of our best connections have come from these early minutes. In Leysin, Switzerland, we had a warm, easy call with the homeowners without many photos of the house to go on. We arrived and were genuinely gobsmacked by how beautiful the property was. We even mentioned to them that they were underselling it in the listing. That moment of honest surprise became a nice icebreaker when we arrived.
Rule Four: Ask the Questions That Protect You
Once the rapport is there, work through the details that actually matter. These are the questions we run through on every call without exception.
Confirm the animal count. Ask directly: how many animals will we be looking after in total, including any outdoor animals? After our Kefalonia sit, where the listing described one dog and one cat and we arrived to nine cats, this became non-negotiable for us. We raise it conversationally rather than as an accusation, framing it as something we have learned to ask after a previous experience. Good homeowners welcome the question. It also opens a useful conversation about what we have seen on other sits.
Medical and behavioural details. Is there anything about the pets we should know that is not in the listing? Medication schedules, separation anxiety, how they behave with strangers, anything unpredictable. This is information the homeowner often forgets to include rather than deliberately withholds. Better to surface it on the call than on day one.
Date flexibility. Are the travel dates firm or is there some flexibility? This matters if you are chaining sits together or if you want to extend when things are going well. Some of our best extensions, Athens being a recent example, happened because the homeowner had a little give in their dates and we were flexible enough to offer more time.
Getting there. What is the best way to reach the property? If it is rural, is a car essential? Is there any possibility of using the homeowner's vehicle, and if so, what do they need from us in terms of insurance? Our guide on using the owners car covers the question in more detail.
Local knowledge. What do they recommend we see while we are there? This question does two things: it shows you are excited about where you are going rather than just looking for free accommodation, and it usually produces genuinely useful suggestions that do not appear in any guidebook.
What the Call Tells You About Them
The video call is not just a hurdle to clear before a sit is confirmed. It is one of the most reliable tools you have for assessing whether a homeowner is organised, honest, and easy to work with.
Pay attention to how they answer questions. A homeowner who answers directly, who volunteers information, and who asks thoughtful questions in return is usually a pleasure to sit for. One who deflects on specific details, who rushes through the pet information, or who seems irritated by practical questions is showing you something worth noting.
One specific thing to watch for in 2026: THS now requires homeowners to tag photos of specific rooms in their listing, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and so on. If anything you see during the call looks significantly different from those mandatory room photos, ask about it directly. A homeowner using five-year-old listing photos is a serious red flag for how they maintain the property and how honest they are being about what you are arriving to. It is a fair and reasonable question, and a good homeowner will not be bothered by it.
We have walked away from sits after a call. There was one that looked perfect on paper: a great dog, a swimming pool, an outdoor shower. But the homeowner could not give us firm dates. He thought he might need a sitter but was not sure. His messages became increasingly hard to follow and one voice message in particular made no sense at all. We told him not to confirm the sit and to stay in touch if his situation clarified. We found a sit in Ostuni that was a far better fit, and we were glad we had not locked ourselves into something that was already giving us doubt signals before it started.
We do not ask for a house tour on the video call. Interestingly, the three homeowners who did walk us through the house on camera were the same sits that either got cancelled or we chose not to proceed with. We cannot say there is a direct cause, but we have noticed the pattern. We prefer to see the house for the first time with the owners in person. It gives you something real to react to, genuine moments of "this is beautiful" or "how long have you had this" that land differently than complimenting a screen share. People love honest reactions to their homes and their animals. It is a natural icebreaker that no amount of pre-call research replicates.
When the Vibe Is Off, Trust It
Not every call ends in a confirmed sit, and that is fine. The point of the call is to find out whether this is a good match, not to close a deal at any cost.
We have turned down sits because the conversation felt forced, because the homeowner seemed unrealistic about what the exchange involved, or because something was said that made us question whether the listing was accurate. Every time we have trusted that instinct, we have either found a better sit quickly or avoided a situation we would have regretted.
The reverse is also true. Some of our favourite sits came from calls where we connected immediately and confirmed within minutes. The Leysin call felt like that. So did Cortona. When it is right, you know.
For anyone just getting started with video calls, our house sitting profile guide and AI application guide cover how to get to the call stage in the first place. And our TrustedHouseSitters review covers how the platform handles the confirmation process after a successful call.
Konrad and Caro
DM us @housesittersguide if you have questions — we answer everyone!
FAQ
How early should I be for a house sitting video call?
Ready and waiting ten minutes before the scheduled time, with an alarm set so you do not get distracted. Being late, even slightly, is the worst possible first impression you can make before a sit. If something comes up and you genuinely cannot make it, message the homeowner immediately. Never let the clock run out without communication.
What should I ask on a house sitting video call?
Start with rapport: their travel plans, the area, the pets by name. Once the conversation is comfortable, move into the details that protect you: exact number of animals including any outdoor ones, medical or behavioural information not in the listing, whether dates are firm, and how to get to the property. End by asking for local recommendations. It shows genuine interest and usually produces better suggestions than any travel guide.
What should I wear for a house sitting video call?
Clean, neat, and presentable. Treat it like a casual job interview. You do not need to dress formally but you should look like someone who takes the opportunity seriously. The background matters too: tidy and neutral is better than chaotic.
What if the homeowner reschedules the video call?
Be flexible and accommodating, but pay attention. In our experience, homeowners who postpone or reschedule calls have a significantly higher rate of cancellations or complications further down the line. It is not a guarantee of problems, but it is worth keeping in mind as you decide how much travel to book around that sit before it is confirmed.
Should I ask for a house tour on the video call?
We do not, and we have noticed that the sits where homeowners offered a camera tour were the same ones that most often did not proceed. We prefer seeing the house for the first time with the owners present in person. The genuine reactions you have when you walk in, complimenting the kitchen, noticing the view, meeting the pets, are a natural and honest icebreaker that a screen tour cannot replicate.
What if I do not feel comfortable with the homeowner after the call?
Trust that feeling and move on. The video call exists precisely to find out whether this is a good match before you commit. We have walked away from sits that looked perfect on paper because the call revealed disorganisation, vague answers, or a dynamic that did not feel right. Every time we trusted that instinct we either found something better quickly or avoided a sit we would have regretted.
