Agreeing to a Home Exchange - What to Discuss??

Well, it's mid February and things are really starting to happen! Before I write about the things to discuss with potential home exchange partners I want to update the list of all the places we have had offers from since my last post on January 30. We are averaging about 1 offer every day or so and some of them are very tempting! Here's the list...

* Martinique in the French West Indies
* Normandy, France - a 16th century cider farm...sounds so amazing!
* Dorset, England
* Berkeley, California, USA - 3 offers here
* North Zealand, Denmark
* Geldermalsen, The Netherlands
* Paris, France
* Aix-en-Provence, France
* Strabane, Ireland

For some of the offers I receive, I reply to immediately to say that we are not interested. I think it's just good form to let someone know right away if you are not interested in an exchange. I quickly reply something along the lines of, "Thank you so much for your offer of home exchange but we are not able to travel to Europe this summer," or some such thing. No big explanations needed!

With others, I will reply to say that we are interested. When this happens I begin with a very short reply that covers just a few basic things.

1) The date range during which we are able to exchange.
2) The maximum amount of time for which we are able to exchange.
3) I let them know that we have a car available for exchange - of course, this is not required...it does make your exchange more attractive to some people though!
4) I remind them that our home is close to the beach, Los Angeles, and Disneyland.

I then ask them to reply to let me know if they are still interested and, if so, will the dates and the length of the exchange work for them.

If you get a reply back it's time to start an email discussion in earnest! This is where it starts to get very real and VERY fun! This is your chance to get to know this stranger who may end up being a friend and in whose home you may end up spending quite a bit of time!

My goal today is to make sure that the discussion you have is complete and leaves no stone unturned. Every exchange we have done has been successful because everything is thoroughly discussed beforehand and there are no surprises.

This is the point in the process where you will need to choose a home exchange partner and commit. Sometimes this happens part of the way through the discussion of details, sometimes it's at the beginning, and sometimes it's at the end. It all depends on the complexity of the exchange and how comfortable you are with each other.

A commitment to an exchange really means purchasing airfare. Yes...it's a little scary!  

You are laying out a lot of cash and you are trusting that the other party will follow through as well.

Before doing so I make a fairly formal announcement along the lines of, 

"We are ready to commit to an exchange with your family and come visit London! Is this something you are ready to do? I am looking at flights on June 16th arriving on June 17th and departing on August 5. Let us know if you are ready to commit to an exchange and we will book our tickets!" 

I always tell my home exchange partner when I will be buying the tickets and ask them to tell me when they will be buying theirs. As soon as I make the purchase I send them a copy of my flight information so they can see I have purchased it and I also ask them to send me theirs as well.

There are several general categories that you need to cover with a potential home exchange partner. I'm simply going to list them here along with some of the issues that typically arise.

The Houses

Both yours and theirs!

* Will there be a housekeeper or cleaning service during the exchange? If not, what are the expectations for having the homes cleaned during the stay and upon departure.
* Entry to the house - how will they get the keys to your house and how will you get the keys to theirs?
* Leaving the house - where should they leave the keys and where should you leave theirs?
* Is there an alarm system on their house or yours? If so, how is is disarmed and does it need to be armed whenever they house is not occupied?  How unfortunate it would be to set their house alarm off - not the best way to meet their neighbors!

Cars

If you're exchanging cars you want to ask if they have experience driving in your country or area. I typically find that most international home exchangers have quite a bit of experience driving in other countries. If someone is from a country where cars drive on the opposite side of the road, you will want to make sure they have experience driving on your side of the road!

If you are driving their car you will want to know what insurance arrangements they have to cover you. Several times, I have been asked to supply my driving record, which I am happy to do!

Here are some other things to discuss...

* How will you get their car? Will they leave it at their home and you will take a taxi to get there? Will they leave it in long-term parking with the key hidden? Will they park it in a serviced garage where it can be retrieved at the airport? You will also need to make arrangements for them to get access to your car.

* At the end of the trade where should you leave the car? Parked at the house? In a garage at the airport?

Who Is Staying In Your Home?

It's important to clarify exactly who will be staying in your home. Just because their listing shows a picture of a cute family with a dad, mom, and two kids, they may want to bring other people on vacation with them.

This summer we had a mom and her teenage son stay at our home. About a month before the exchange they asked if their friends, another couple and their two kids, could come along. Luckily we have plenty of room and they had a great time! We have also had last minute additions to our exchanges and it's always worked out fine. This has only happened on 3 of our 13 exchanges and we always would have the option of saying no if we weren't comfortable with this.

Pets

Make sure to be clear about pets. Some people don't mind and may even love to care for your fur babies! Other people don't want the hassle. Again, you would hope that they would have read your listing and know if you have a pet or not but sometimes, they may not have!

I have a cat. Like most cats he is incredibly independent and really doesn't need anything besides food in a bowl twice a day. Outlining the pet care expectations is important.

We have cared for cats, dogs, and fish on our exchanges. Some were very low maintenance and others were a little more work! One dog had pre-prepared, gourmet food in the freezer that needed to be defrosted and fed to him. After that exchange we decided not to care for any more dogs. Archie was a cute labradoodle but a handful at the same time who should have had his own personal chef!

To Skype Or Not To Skype

Sometimes a potential home exchange partner will want to talk on the phone or Skype to discuss details. I always think it's rather fun to hear their voice and chat for a while! Sometimes it's just a call to get to know each other and other times it's to hammer out a list of details. Before getting on the phone or the laptop, make a list of items you want to discuss so the conversation moves and it constructive!

Most of the other details that need to be discussed will come up in the course of the subsequent discussions. 

Every home exchange is going to have details that are unique to the exchange situation and to the individual homes. If you exchange to southeast Asia you may need to discuss a live-in housekeeper and how that will work. Some homes are a bit difficult to find and you'll want very specific instructions for how to get there. You'll want to discuss who you can call if you have problems with the house or car. In a subsequent posting I'll give examples of some of the interesting details that I have come with our home exchange partners.

As you work out details and questions are asked, your home exchange will begin to take shape!

Next time I will discuss the part that is the most important...preparing your home for the actual exchange. There are so many things to think about and I will do my best to outline all of them.

Until then, good luck finding a home exchange partner in a fabulous location!!

Home Exchange Offers in January!

So January is the first month when most people start sending out home exchange offers. If this year is like years past, we will begin to get multiple offers per day from all over the world very soon. People from places we have listed as preferences on our home exchange page will be where most of them are from.

The fun ones though, are the offers from crazy places we have never considered going. Our best home exchange ever was 5 weeks in Thailand - and we had never even thought of that as a destination for our summer vacation before we received an offer of home exchange and decided to go for it! Other wild places we have received offers from include Namibia, coastal Turkey, Tenerife, India, Kenya, and Russia just to name a few. We wanted to go to all of them but, alas, reality limits the loveliness of dreams.....

This year though, for the month of January, here are the home exchange offers we have received...

The Hague, the Netherlands
Albi, France + their vacation cottage on the Mediterranean
Portland, Oregon, USA
Budapest, Hungary
Nantes, France
Antwerp, Belgium
Oxford, England - a thatched home!
Toulouges, France
Copenhagen, Denmark
Montpellier, France
Jagerspris, Denmark
Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2 offers here)
Strasbourg, France
Barcelona, Spain

...and it's only the end of January! The home exchange offer season still has many months to go.
Any one of these fantastic homes would be a great place to spend our family vacation this summer!

Want to find out how to have your own list of offers like this??
Then keep reading down the page.

I'll be posting the next entry within the next day or two.
The topic? How to narrow down your offers and what to discuss with potential home exchange partners before you agree to an actual exchange.

Stay tuned!

Home Exchange Is Full of Surprises!

Home exchange is always full of surprises!

The best surprise is when you walk into your new, temporary "home" for the first time.

There is nothing more fun than getting the keys to a house and exploring! I remember our very first home exchange in a small town in southwest France. The taxi driver who picked us up at the train station couldn't find the house at first and we couldn't imagine where it was tucked in on the little side street it was supposed to be on. When we finally narrowed it down to where it must be there was no visible front door; just a large garage door in a stucco wall bordered on one side by a large stone building and on the other by a tall, very typical stone house with beautiful blue shutters and decorative steel balconies. The "house" we were to stay in looked like a walled fortress. I was not amused!

Finally we figured out that the steel front door was tucked into an alcove behind another stucco wall and the taxi driver left us standing with our bags and we just hoped that the key would fit!

It did but then we entered a pitch dark entry way that was about 3 feet by 3 feet square. Finally we opened a door and entered a long, very dark hallway that sloped downward and then upwards. I began to get a little worried. Up two steps at the end there was another closed door. Without anyplace else to go I turned the handle and, with a heavy sigh of relief and a pleased / happy bounce and squeal from my 7 year old son, we entered into a beautiful light and bright living room with lofty ceilings, massive fireplace, and huge windows looking out onto a large terrace with the grassy garden and large swimming pool below.

This was the thing that really got me hooked...even though you have seen many pictures and gotten acquainted with your home exchange partners before you leave, there are always fantastic surprises that await you at your home exchange destination!

Home Exchange...how to introduce yourself to potential home exchange partners!

Home exchange offers since last blog post: 7

Strasbourg, France

Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2 offers here)

Copenhagen, Denmark (2 offers here)

Montpellier, France

Toulouges, France

Now that you have taken the time to create your home exchange listing you are ready to start searching the database of the home exchange website you chose to join. Many of these websites have reverse searches, making it easy to pinpoint potential home exchange partners who live in a place you would like to visit AND who want to come to your area. This is the best way to find people quickly without randomly searching through hundreds of listings hoping to find someone who wants to come to your city.

Once you find homes that you are interested in you can start sending out tempting queries to potential home exchange partners in hopes that someone will "bite" and you can begin a conversation that may lead to your dream vacation. 

So how do you create a query that will be informative, enticing, and attractive?

Communication is everything!

And, as with everything, first impressions are important!

Keep your initial query short and to the point. You want to share basic information that will quickly let a potential exchange partner know if an exchange might work for them as well!

Here are the 8 things you query should include:

1) The date range in which you wish to travel.
2) Your desired length of stay in their home.
3) The number of people in your group, their ages, and relationships.
4) Your location.
5) Basic information about your house.
6) Whether or not you have pets that need care or that will be absent from the house.
7) Whether or not you would like to consider a car exchange.
8) A few tempting tidbits about your home and area.

To give you an idea of how your initial query might be worded, here's my standard spiel from last summer.

**************************************************

"Hello from sunny southern California! 

Our family is looking for an exchange to Amsterdam any time between the dates of 

June 15 - August 10. 

We would like to stay in your home for 4 - 6 weeks so that we can visit family in Amsterdam and enjoy the city.

Our family includes Randall and Anita (the parents) and our 17 year old son, Skyler.

We take excellent care of our home and would care for yours as if it were our own!

Our house can comfortably sleep 5, is newly remodeled, and includes a fire pit in the backyard for relaxed summer evenings. 

Our cat, Butterscotch, needs to be fed but is otherwise very independent. 

Ideally we would like to swap cars.

Our home is located in a quiet neighborhood in (our town) California about 10 minutes from some of the best beaches in the area! We are 20 minutes from Disneyland, 30 minutes from Hollywood, and you can be in Las Vegas in 4 hours by car. Our friendly neighbors will welcome your kids to play and will probably invite you for a barbecue during your stay!

Please let us know whether or not you have interest! We look forward to hearing back from you.

Randy, Anita and Skyler"

**************************************************

This short message is enough to let other parties know if the swap may work for them or not. 

I usually copy and paste this message into a word document that I keep on my desktop and use it whenever I find a promising house that I think might be a good exchange for us.

So what do I do once I get a response or a query?

Well, of course, that's up to you! I find that I get a response from about 60% of all the queries I send. About 70% of our actual home exchanges have come from people who query us.

When I send out a query, some respond with a flat out "no thank you". Others have additional questions that I answer as honestly as I can. Some are a fast and enthusiastic "YES!!". That's when it starts to get very interesting! Sometimes I will get multiple "yesses" at once and I need to quickly start conversations with each of them to weed out the ones that won't work for us or that just aren't very interesting.

In the end, between those who have queried us and those we have queried, we almost always have 10 - 15 excellent choices and can choose which one is the most spectacular with which to confirm a trade. 

Of the 7 queries I have in my inbox right now I can easily weed out several of them. One of them does not have an adequate bed for my 6'3" tall son. One of them wants to come for 4 weeks in August which will not work for us. Two are from Copenhagen which is not of interest to us. One is from Montpellier which although it is a beautiful city, we already did a 5 week exchange there several summers ago. 

So, as of today, I'm left with a gorgeous Amsterdam house right on a canal or a fairly standard house in Strasbourg, France, a place I've ALWAYS wanted to visit. Decisions, decisions....

It will all come down to preference in these two cases. Do I want to further explore Amsterdam and visit my husband's Dutch relatives OR do I want to go to a brand new place, eat croissants, and drink French wine, and improve my language skills??? 

Once you have several viable choices in your inbox, that's when you need to start getting into the details with each one of your potential trading partners.

My next post will be about prioritizing your potential trades and then negotiating the details of an exchange! It isn't difficult but there are certain things that you want to make perfectly clear before agreeing to an exchange and investing in airline tickets. There are questions to be asked and details to be hammered out. 

Stay tuned!