It's necessary for homeowner to have an active ad on Mindahome before they contact sitters because, when contacted, sitters will want to know dates, location, pet details, home owner requirements as well as see photos of the pets and property before they respond. Also, we have found that when owners contact sitters they can sometimes wait days for a response only to find the sitter is not available, where as, when their ad goes on the site, only sitters that are available for their location and dates will respond promptly. You can unpublish your ad if you feel you have enough applicants by going to the 'Main listing' page and scrolling to the bottom then click the "Save and unpublish" button. You can then continue to conversing with existing applicants on your Messages page.