House Trade and Home Exchange

FAQs

There are 2 levels of membership - what do they include?

1. Basic membership (free)

• List your exchange home - free. Click on 'Register Your Property Free'.

2. Full membership (small subscription)

• Ability to contact all other members (send emails to all members, receive all emails, reply to all emails).
• Update your property details at any time 24/7 from anywhere in the world.
• Automatic new listing updates to your RSS Reader (e.g. 'Google Reader') for your chosen destinations.

How much does full membership cost?

• Before you can contact other members it is necessary to complete the final step in the registration process; upgrading to full membership.
• Full membership costs GBP £16.95 (US $29.00 approx.) for 3 months membership. Your subscription will continue at a charge of GBP £16.95 (US $29.00 approx.) every 3 months. Of course you are free to cancel your subscription at any time by emailing us at sales@homexchangevacation.com. We require 1 months notice of cancellation.

How can I contact the owner of a property?
If you have registered as a full member you can contact other members by clicking on 'Send email to member' which appears to the right hand side of all property details.

After emailing a member, how does the recipient know which house I am offering for exchange?
A link to your exchange house is automatically inserted into your email sent to the other member. They can click on this link and go straight to your house details. You do not need to know your property ID no. or insert this into your email - it is done for you.

Why can't I find my house?
Log in and go to 'My account', then click on 'Check or modify your properties' - you will see your property. If not, go back and please register your property. Also please use Quick Search or the World Map to find your listing – not Advanced Search or Who wants to visit my country?.   Advanced Search works on the basis that it returns only those houses where members have said they want to visit your location. For example if Jack lives in France, and has selected USA, UK, Spain and Italy as his preferred destinations, the results returned to him within Advanced Search will not include his house in France – because Jack doesn’t want to visit France – it would appear if France was one of Jack’s listed destination preferences.

How can I keep a record of the houses I have emailed?
Please save the houses you have emailed in your wish list. There is a link called 'Add property to wish list' next to every house.

What should I write in my email offers to other members?
Draft your email in Word and save it so you can copy and paste this text into your emails any time you need to - please don't re-write your email from scratch every time you contact another member (you will soon lose all your enthusiasm for the process if you do!). Make your email as descriptive and appealing as possible - the more personality the better since other members are attracted to lively and interesting offers. 

Will my name, address and email address be exposed on the Internet?
No. Home Xchange Vacation does not reveal your name, address or email address in property details. Your personal contact information is confidential. Members can make first contact with other members by emailing with the 'Send email to member' facility.

How can I improve the number of replies I receive to the emails I send?

• Please enter a good description of your home and area plus a selection of clear photos. Allow plenty of time to find and arrange an exchange before the dates you want to travel.
• Prepare an appealing message to send, offering to be as flexible as you can on dates and length of exchange. Save your message in Word and then copy and paste the message into the message form which appears after you click on ‘Send email to member’. Try to personalise each message before sending – e.g. say what attracts you to their home and area. Also everyone responds well to messages which indicate you have read their listing carefully.
• Target your messages using the ‘Who wants to visit your country’ search feature. This shows the members who want to visit your location.
• It would be unrealistic to expect everyone to reply to every exchange offer. But by contacting other members who want to visit your location, and sending your exchange request to a good selection of members, you will find a good match.

Is it safe to swap my house on vacation?
Yes, home exchanging works because members establish trust and get to know their fellow exchanger by email and telephone. Exchanging extra photographs and videos of family will help enormously to build this trust. Both sides want to make the exchange a success, their concerns are similar to yours. A home exchange is built on getting to know people and realising they are genuine and honest - the world is full of generous and honest people - we are all very good at 'seeing' others so your judgement here is important. This is of course also true in all other aspects of life.

What are the benefits of a home exchange, in addition to a fantastic low cost adventure vacation?
Exchanging is fun and is often the beginning of lasting friendships.

Will anyone be interested in my "average" home?
Yes, everyone has different needs for their vacation home; a small apartment in a city centre can be very attractive to anyone wanting to explore that city.  Your "average" home may be perfect for someone wanting to exchange with you.

Can I see a list of new and newly updated listings?
It is possible to receive automatic updates of new property listings to your newsreader (e.g. Google Reader) for your chosen destinations.