Hi, we are new to HE and just wanted to ask some questions. We are Rob and Carol, living in South Australia and just about to take early retirement to travel. I posted on a fb page called Home Exchange World for People Like Us, is this the correct fb page as most people on there seem to be signed up to People Like Us. Should we be signing up to both?
We are hoping to travel for several months and thought this a good way of seeing the world. What happens about cleaning between exchangers to my home? If we are lucky enough that 2 or 3 want to exchange and stay in our home, I am worried about our home being left clean for the next guests? Also do I remove personal items such as photographs on the walls and any expensive breakables and sentimental items? How do we accrue more GP? We have already used the ones we were given when signing up as our first destination didn’t want reciprocal, which is absolutely no problem.
Thanks for any help. We are really excited about this journey with HE🙏
Hi there, I contacted Carol through messenger and put her on the right path
The group you mentioned doesn’t belong to HomeExchange ( in all fairness their cover page explzans this, even if for some reason they use the words Home Exchange. )
You’ll find all the help and exchanges you need on HomeExchange !
Getting started takes a bit of time as many members like to exchange with experienced members with reviews. Its often easier to start with shioter local exchanges to build up your profile.
Some members do 'back to back ’ exchanges but this takes organisation and a certain investment. If you dont have a cleaner you should at least have someone of confiance who can check yoir home between exchanges.
To accumulate points you need to invite guests. To start you can even offer your home whilst you’re elsewhere * visiting friends/ family, camping , etc. As soon as you receive your points for guests you can use them for your own trip. You can also sponsor friends and earn bonus points.
Use every opportunity to promote your listing . Add it to your facebook posts, and of course on this forum. You can post your search here in the Category ’ Community/ boost your listing. ’
Good luck!
I would also say you do not need to remove your photos. People know they are coming to someone’s home. You would need to remove anything you don’t want people to use or you would be upset if broken. (e.g. expensive breakable or sentimental), I put away personal papers. I don’t leave a lot of alcohol out although some do (for me that’s a concern about teen access, not from HE but other experiences with teens). For cleaning between exchanges you either have to have people clean or a cleaner and at minimum someone to check between exchanges so you can release the deposit. You can charge people for cleaning or absorb the cost. For getting more guests points make the house available when you are going to family events or traveling otherwise. You could also set up a room in your house for hospitality hosting if you think that is something you would like, this is hosting when you are home and accrues less points but more interactions with visitors.
I agree with what Susan and cafrobose are saying. But since you are on Facebook, I thought I might as well give you the links to all the groups of HomeExchange on Facebook:
All About Home Exchange
This group is managed by HomeExchange but is open to anyone who is interested in home-exchanging, regardless of whether they have an account with http://homeexchange.com/ or not.
HomeExchangers En Espanol A group for Spanish speaking members of HE. You can join it if you are looking for swaps with Spain/countries where they speak Spanish or if you’d like to have guests of these countries.
Home Exchange in The Netherlands and Belgium For Dutch and Flemish HomeExchangers, open to other members who want to talk to members of these countries. Mind you, this group is not officially managed by HomeExchange.
