Hello, Iām very new to Home Exchange. Weāve agreed on a reciprocal exchange and dates with another couple, but neither of us have done such an exchange before and are unclear what the next steps are. They have pre-approved the exchange. What does that mean? The choices the app gives me are either to 1) cancel the pre-approved exchange or 2) finalize the exchange. What is involved in finalizing the exchange? I would love to understand what the steps involved areā¦thank you.
Finalized means the exchange is agreed and all details have been discussed
Hi Karen,
There are 2 types of exchange, guestpoints or reciprocal.
In a guestpoints exchange the guest asks the host to agree to host them. If the host agrees he pre-approves the request and the guest can immediately finalise. The guests points will immediately be transfered to the host .
Iām giving you this example to show why itās important not to pre-approve too quickly. Both sides should communicate and be sure they are satisfied with the agreement before pre-approving.
So pre-approving and finalising can be very close to each other.
For a reciprocal exchange there are 2 hosts and 2 guests. The first host/ guests requests the exchange. The second pre-approves his interest by replying and pre-approving his acceptance as host / guest. The first then has to finalise his agreement by finalising his side of the exchange. The exchange isnāt finalised though until the second host/ guest has also finalised his side of the agreement.
At any time both sides can cancel the pre-approved stage, but not the finalised.
Itās important to communicate all your needs and questions. Some members pre-approve rapidly but this stage can be cancelled, so a guest shouldnāt buy their flight tickets for example until the exchange has been finalised. Pre-approving means ā weāre seriously considering this exchange ā.
Finalising means the exchange will only be cancelled under exceptional circunstances.
In your case you know your host is seriously interested. But have you communicated well to be sure that youāre both 100% happy with the agreement ? Now is the time to do it. If you donāt come to an agreement you can cancel the pre-appoved stage. If you finalise your host can also finalise and it could be too late to ask that important question 
You can ask each other the question ā Are you ready to finalise?ā before pushing the buttonā¦
I would add that ānormallyā a reciprocal exchange is without guest points, or guest points set at ā0ā if you prefer to see it that way.
However, some members prefer/expect to take into account and āchargeā any difference in the amount of guest points (this very much surprised me the 1st time).
You should discuss this jointly and be very clear about the expectations.
In the context of a reciprocal exchange, I personally do not accept cleaning fees because I do the cleaning and prep for my guests and, hence, I consider that they are responsible for the same at their end (regardless whether they do it themselves or hire someone). Both parties to the exchange should also be very clear about expectations in this regard.
Lastly, even after both parties have finalized, you can still adjust and mutually approve date changes, for ex. if flight options are much better by shifting a couple of days)
Have a fabulous reciprocal exchange!!
Thank you, Susan and Etienne, for your advice. We were finally able to finalize the exchange but it was very difficult, in that both sides had to first set their guest points to zero, and our exchange partners had to cancel the first pre-approved offer and send a new one without guest points. However, that offer showed up on my mobile as still having points. When I tried it on my laptop, the offer was correct and both sides were able to finalize. I find that the app really does not sync well between mobile and Macā¦and itās alarming that the new, corrected offer did not show up on my mobile as thatās what Iāll have when travelling. I think the user experience of the app really could be improvedā¦Karen
This is another case in point of complications for new members that would not have happened if the default/normal setting for reciprocal exchanges was set at ā0ā in the system, and those members who want to function otherwise had to check off the alternate option. For now, it is the exception that is set as a default.
There was a lot of discussion of this on the French forum and the HE team was supposedly studying the potential to correct this, but no news yet!
Thanks, Denis ā I couldnāt agree more! It was way too complicated.