Home Exchange Newsletter - January 2009
Previous Versions
In this issue:
- Season's Greetings
- Our special offer continues
- Want to be a French television star?
- Anyone swapped to or from the Middle East?
- Feature Article: New York, New York - my kind of swap
-
Our Regular Reminders
- Update your listing
- New e-mail address
- Our swap tips to help you organize a successful swap (revisited!)
- A word of caution
- Use our free flight search engine to save money
- Help us grow - tell a friend
- Home exchange stories
- Navigate 1st HomeExchange.com
- Unsubscribe from our newsletter
Happy New Year!
We'd like to wish you and your family all the best for 2009.
And if you're planning a house swap in 2009, best of luck with your travel plans.
Tony and Anne Marie
Special Offer!
If you have not yet subscribed to our Premium membership,
you'll be happy to read that our money saving offer continues.
Pay for a 12 month Premium membership at our already low price and get an additional 12 months for free.
That's the equivalent of a 50% savings.
With more than 15,000 members in over 130 countries our Premium membership is one of the best ways to save thousands of $$$ €€€ £££ on your next holiday.
Don't delay. This offer won't last forever!
Lights, Camera, Action!
A French TV network asked us to help them find two members who are swapping homes before the end of February 2009.
They would like to film two families (couples, friends, or other) swapping their apartment or house. They would film
prior to the swap, during, and after.
The filming can take place in France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, ... - countries relatively close to France.
The segment will be 6-7 minutes and highlight how home exchanging can be an inexpensive holiday alternative - especially
relevant during difficult economic times.
To preview a similar report produced by CBS and with the help of 1stHomeExchange.com, please see
Savvy Travelers Swap Homes (May 2008).
If you have already arranged a swap to take place before the end of February 2009, live in France (or close to), and are
swapping with someone in or close to France please
get in touch.
As this is for a French broadcast, you must speak French.
Here are some members who have told us they would be interested
in participating in this filming but have not yet found an exchange.
If one of these swaps interests you, get in touch with the member. And if you agree to swap, let us know and we'll propose
your swap for filming.
Europe / France / Aquitaine / Castillon-la-Bataille
Nice house with garden overlooking the river "La Dordogne", near St. Emilion and Bordeaux
Reference: 6694
This is a unique and exciting way to make a holiday swap even more interesting. And who knows, Hollywood may be next!
Have you completed a Middle East house swap?
We've been contacted by a leading Middle East English Newspaper to help them find someone who is interested in being interviewed
for a house swap article.
Have you ever swapped your Middle East home or traveled to the Middle East on a swap?
The interview will be by telephone and in English.
If you are interested in being interviewed please
get in touch.
Tips to help you land a New York Swap
If you are like many of our members, you may be considering a New York City swap. We've put together 10 helpful tips (we hope)
that might just make a difference on whether you succeed in finding a New York swap.
Note that the following tips are also relevant for other destinations, so read on even if a New York home exchange
is not in your immediate travel plans.
Tips for Finding a New York City Home Exchange
Take a Few Minutes to Update Your Listing
Are your desired destinations and dates up to date?
How about adding some new photos? (Photos are key to selling your offer!)
If you've already concluded one or more exchanges, let visitors know by adding
this information to one of the text boxes.
Why should you
update your listing?
1. TripAdvisor recently announced the results of its annual travel trends survey of more than 3,000 travelers.
Only one percent of respondents have done a vacation house swap but 43 percent would,
if given the right opportunity. Your offer may just be the right opportunity but if it's not up to date,
it's more likely to be a missed opportunity.
2. If you're considering a summer house swap (or winter house swap for those in the southern hemisphere),
now is the ideal time to start looking for a swap. Start by updating your listing.
3. An updated listing ensures that it is displayed for relevant searches.
4. No plans to swap anytime soon? You may still be receiving inquiries but have no time to reply.
By setting your offer to concluded people won't be left
wondering why you haven't replied.
5. Even if you have no plans to swap, an up to date listing increases the odds of receiving an interesting offer
to which you can't say no to.
New E-mail Address?
If you change your e-mail address, you'll need to let us know. It's easy and automatic to update your e-mail address.
House Swaps Tips
We are often asked to provide tips on how to find and ensure the ideal swap. Here are our top tips to help you land a house swap and avoid disappointment:
-
Maintain an updated listing
A comprehensive well written and up to date description is a door opener. -
Include lots of photos.
Photos show off your home and neighbourhood. Many members skip offers that have no photos. So avoid being passed over.
Did you know that our paid Premium membership allows an unlimited number of photos? -
Be flexible
Be open with your destination and dates. Often a destination you hadn't considered can turn out to be a pleasant surprise.
Use our advanced search to identify the listings of interest. Try a reverse search to find out who is interested in visiting your destination. -
Contact, contact, contact, …
We can't say this enough.
Unless you have the perfect home in the most desirable location, you'll need to send a lot more than 3 or 4 e-mails. Take the time to identify and e-mail as many potential swappers as possible. Waiting for someone to e-mail you regarding a dream swap rarely happens!
Be pro-active and avoid disappointment! -
Start early
The closer you get to your departure dates the harder it is to find a match. Starting early also has the benefit of allowing you time to get to know your exchange partner before committing. -
Get to know your swap partner before committing
Even though we rarely hear of problems with a swap, there's always a possibility that something can go wrong.
The best way to avoid problems and disappointment is to get to know the exchange member before committing. Use e-mail and the phone to ensure that you have the same expectations. Commit only when you are comfortable with the other person.
This requires time, so as we said before, start early. -
Discuss details
Make sure you've taken the time to discuss details.
This includes who pays for expenses, mileage allowed if swapping cars, enter and exit cleaning, when tickets are purchased and much more.
You probably want to put this all down on paper so there's no misunderstanding.
Do you have other suggestions? E-mail us and we'll be happy to include them in an upcoming newsletter.
A word of caution
A home exchange agreement is structured around the principle that you stay in their home while they stay in yours.
A home exchange implies no up front payment. You should never be asked for or expect to receive any form of security payment.
You should be aware that if someone asks you for money, there is a high probability that the offer is a scam.
We recommend that you
1. NEVER WIRE FUNDS
2. NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Please keep in mind that the best way to avoid a scam is to get to know the people you are exchanging with
through e-mails, telephone calls, reference checks, and possibly even meeting the other member upon arrival.
1stHomeExchange.com does not verify any of the listings on the site. We are not involved in the discussion/negotiation
between members. You must do your own verification. For additional information, please see our
Disclaimer.
This caution applies to any Website. We recently came across the following posting on Craigslist.
Beware of a home exchange for vacation scam on this site.
The scammer will either answer your advertisement for a home exchange or post their own fictitious ad.
They even include photos which they take from other sites.
The scam:
They agree to a home exchange with you, then at the last minute cancel, however they just happen to have a friend that
offers a rental. They may even offer you the rental free if you pay for the damage deposit.
The scammer wants you to wire the money for the deposit by Western Union. This is a scam.
The home either doesn't exist or if they give you an address of one that does, they don't own it.
Never wire money for a vacation related transaction.
- Recently posted on Craigslist
Save Money When Booking Flights
Planning to book a flight soon? Find the best deal on a flight in seconds. Our FREE
flight search engine
googles flights from 580+ travel sites!
Yet another great way 1stHomeExchange.com saves you money!
Tell a Friend
Would you like even more home exchange offers to choose from? Tell a friend about 1stHomeExchange.com!
Word of mouth is the best way to build awareness regarding this vacation alternative.
If each member convinces one friend to list their home, we can easily double the number of
offers on the site. The result, more choice for everyone.
We even have a Tell a friend form you can use.
Do you have a home exchange story you'd like to share?
Did you recently participate in an exchange? Tell us about your swap.
We also want to hear about any funny anecdotes and photos you want to share. With your
permission we'll share them with other members via future newsletters.
Navigate 1stHomeExchange.com
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Happy home exchanging!
