Your neighbor has decided to get started on HomeExchange (
).
If you had to give just one piece of advice (one, not two!), what would it be?
Dont give up sending messages 
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The key is communication, so talk about everything with your guests and hosts.
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When you first start don’t have a ’ dream’ about where you’d like to go, be flexible and accept what turns up. The more experience you gain the easier it will become to start fulfilling those dreams!
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Use your pc to send messages,app isnt good enough for searching
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Totally agree. Be open and flexible about the places you might receive a request from…our best exchanges have been to places we didn’t have on our list, were not well known tourist areas, and turned out to be magical. Also…talk talk talk before you exchange so you both know what to expect!
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Clear and concise communication. Can’t stress that enough. And be willing to be flexible as you can. Perhaps your #1 destination choice isn’t available yet another in the outskirts of that area is. We’ve ended up discovering areas we wouldn’t have enjoyed otherwise!
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This is true. Usually i choose a place which is far from the city’s centre,so i can explore the surroundings!
Be forgiving if the place is not 100 percent clean like a hotel quality stay. As long as the essentials are clean such as sheets, towels, floors and surfaces, be grateful. I have had guests SEARCH out for possible reasons to complain and not pay the cleaning fee as agreed upon. When you attack someone’s home, it is a personal attack as our home is a sanctuary and sacred place. You are not paying for a hotel, so understand that you are not entitled as a paying customer.
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This will be your only way of traveling from now on 
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Focus your requests on those who have a high response rate to improve your chances.
Complete all components of your home and personal profile as much as possible, especially your home’s availability and your preferred destinations.
Many people use both search and reverse-search to locate homes that are available and members who want to come to their own home. In some of the more popular areas such as Paris, New York, etc there are hundreds and hundreds of members and their homes. It will greatly reduce your search-time for possible exchanges and minimize you receiving excessive unwanted messages if you complete all aspects of your home and personal profile completely.
That’s why is better to use points, it’s way simpler
For you to accept others to come by GuestPoints, is the easiest of things. On the other hand it’s difficult to find other members who will accept you by GuestPoints!
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Hi Philip!
I’m sorry to hear you have this experience! I’ve personally haven’t had issues looking for members to host me for GuestPoints. I always use the filter “GuestPoints exchange” when looking for an exchange with GuestPoints so that I see members who are wanting to receive GuestPoints.
And to increase my chances further, I choose “Secondary residence” as another filter as this means that the home’s more likely to be available.
I hope this helps!
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Thank you. I didn’t say it’s impossible but difficult. Actually, I managed to be accepted for GPs 11 times! But to elaborate, in the first months of this year, I sent requests for an exchange with GP in Rome in April (starting 5 days AFTER Easter, so I’d have more chance). I started with those marked in blue and second homes, then I spent hours on end trying with others marked green. After no success, I tried the same process with Venice. Again no success. I tried more for both cities, but in vain. In 5 weeks I had written to 30 in Rome and 23 in Venice.
Then I decided to try Western Sicily, Marsala and Trapani. I got 2 favourable replies.
So… that’s why my advice to a newbie is to be careful with GPs. Before going to Marsala I had 6,500 GPs and a member from Venice told me he was stuck with over 10,000 GPs! Being accepted for GPs in the most sought-after cities is difficult and needs a lot of patience.
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Yes and especially in Italy the jubilee year, they are very overwelhmed by requests
Hello Etienne, we know each other! … I accepted you in my apartment for GuestPoints.
What I wrote is about February-April 2024. The GP exchange near Marsala was another success. The Jubilee Year 2025 concerns only Rome.
I’m happy to read your Philip, are you ok ? I’m glad to see you are still exchanging on the site. That’s true it’s not always easy, especially in capitals and very touristic places like Venice etc.
Hi Etienne, as you know I’m one of the older members, the pensioners. I do face some health problems, but that didn’t stop me from making 3 exchanges in 2024, at Marsala, Sarlat and Umbria; 3 areas which I recommend to other readers. All the best!
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