Hi. I find that the process of finding a suitable exchange is quite long. Either the people who contact me live in a place I dont want to go or vice versa. How can I be more targeted?
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I have found the same. When we first joined in 2007, we had better luck finding exchanges. While I appreciate some of the upgrades to the homeexchange site, the addition of using “points” has changed our exchange prospects. I wish we could reverse search based on the types of activities in my specific area. For example, an exchanger may be interested in skiing/snowboarding but not specifically be looking to visit my area because they aren’t aware of what my area has to offer. I feel that people don’t add exchange destinations to their profiles as they used to either. No an answer to your question though.
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Are you aware of the reverse search function? It is only available on the website, not on the mobile app, it seems. You can see who has listed their interest in coming to your area.
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I have learned over the years to always do a reverse search first. Then I search for those who are open to any exchange.
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- Reverse search - with my city as well as my country
- Filtering for the exchange type I’m looking for, reading listing and profile in detail, and a friendly message with everything I have to offer to the other person
- until now: posting in the homeexchange Facebook groups to find guests - maybe this forum will be of similar use in the future
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We have had the same issues. We worked out that we had better luck searching for secondary properties, ie properties which weren’t their primary house. Using points for exchanges for secondary properties seemed easier.
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everything depends. London, NYC and Hawaii have more requests than they can handle. Other locations may have to compromise and be flexible on the places they want to go. Also I found personally after I had 10 exchanges my acceptance rate went way up and after 20 I would get a yes response quite quickly. It gets better. The guest point model works best from me because I am not super flexible on the times I can be away since I make my work calendar a year in advance. So I will finalize and exchange with someone using guest points and then put my home up for guest points to replenish. I usually find an exchange within 10 requests or less my using the search functions.
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I have found the same…
I have had more luck viewing the Home exchangers in English Facebook page… to see which members are advertising their home and telling you what dates or which month they have availability 
Cheers john
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I’ve had great luck using the «HomeExchange in English» fb-page. Moreover much easier after I got a little more experienced in HE.
It’s available on the app under filters too.
HomeExchangers in English
Hi,
I am also looking for someone to stay at my place in Barcelona to gather more points but I am unable to post here or find someone. Any tips?
Search for people with second homes. They often have more flex with dates / points and can do non simultaneous or just one way stays
We spent 3 months traveling in 4 countries in Europe this past spring and it was a great vacation, however, the process getting there was at times incredibly frustrating. We had people who said yes, then cancelled several months later, we had people who said yes but never confirmed and then ghosted any further communication, but the main frustration was the response from people did AirBnB and their place wasn’t available during that time. Their calendars did not indicated they wanted an exchange however, it would be much less frustrating if HE allowed people to black out certain dates so it was clear a home wasn’t available rather than leave it open by default or not allow any requests if not indicated. It felt like a waste of my time and theirs. There are many reasons people don’t want to be contacted at certain times ex. they use AirBnb during the tourist season, they are renovating, they don’t want to be away at certain times such as Christmas or New Year etc. All very valid reasons but to block these dates, they’d have to block all other dates that weren’t specified as reciprocal, GPs or any type of exchange. I have preferred times to travel but am open to requests at most other times and don’t want to block those.
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Try the Facebook page. Often that brings results for people.
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@Rahima what is your property ID I might be interested