Should I take an empty-profile out-of-state sit?

Hope this is okay to ask here, as it's a question about another site that allows me to search for housesits. I really need some advice as to whether my spidey-sense is too finely tuned.

I'm in discussion with a homeowner who has an empty profile but has been a member of the site for a year. The owner describes the dog as 'not keen on new people' and says there will likely be a lot of barking the first day, but then the dog will settle down. It's an 8-hour drive, so I can't do a meet-and-greet now, but I'll be in that area in three weeks and have offered to do one then. Sit is seven weeks away, so that would give her only a month to get another sitter.

Owners are leaving early in the morning, and the original posts mentions that the sitter coming in the night before would be possible, which I took to mean the sitter could stay in the house that night. I offered to do that so the dog could see I was a "good friend," and the owner said, "I think she'll be fine if you arrive when we are not here, but will be a mess if you arrive when we are here." (It's possible I misunderstood what the owner was offering; I know most owners would not want the sitter staying in their home while they were there.) Also, "We've never had any problems with other pet sitters who have taken care of her, but she does seem to be worse around new people lately than she has been in the past." The yard is not fenced, and the dog gets a walk two or three times a day. My concerns are whether I'll even be able to get in the door on arrival, once I'm in will I be able to get a leash on the dog during that first day to give her walks, and for heaven's sake is she going to bite me?

Otherwise the sit as described sounds fabulous. Large luxurious-sounding standalone home in the city center in a great city, walk to metro and most sites of interest, only other pet is a reptile, parking pass for street parking which is described as 'never more than two blocks.' By my calculations this has to be a multi-million dollar property. BUT that empty year-old profile concerns me, and the fact they aren't INUNDATED with potential sitters including I would think past sitters as almost anyone would love to visit this great city a second time if it weren't the sit from hell. She's very responsive to me, answering within hours, so she's clearly not inundated with offers. I don't have any references on that site, but they do have a very comprehensive set of verifications and checks and I have them all.

I contacted her rather than the other ... (more)