I am condsidering doing a house swap for our home in central NJ for a home in London.
what companies have anyone had experience with?Do people register with more than one company?
Thanks
Melissa

It's perfectly OK to sign up with more than one home exchange company. We liked HomeLink; their US web site is www.swapnow.com . They have been around for over 50 years. Another popular site, a newer company that's entirely internet-based, is www.homeexchange.com .

You need to understand that it's very late to be planning an exchange or this summer. And that exchangers get the best results when they're flexible about when and where their exchange takes place.

So when i have looked at some house swap web sites and they have houses in london for this summer that want to go to the ny-nj area , are they filled and not taken off the web site or are the houses really bad?

i have loked at several web sites and they seem to have qute a few choices listed.
please explain
thanks
Melissa

The listings stay up whether the homes have made their plans or not, but the listing will indicate what time period the homeowners are interested in, and their availability, as well as the location.

My comment on the lateness of your planning is based on my research and experience a few years ago; perhaps the timeframe has changed since then and there are plenty of places still available. Since New York is a popular destination, you're going to see more members interested in exchanging with you than if you lived in Nebraska.

Be sure that you are honest about your location, especially how long it takes to get into Manhttan; if you're in central NJ, that might be too far for many of those prospective exchangers.

Given our experience, Anonymous is correct about the time frame and being flexible about your exchange destination.

We are members of www.homeexchange.com and it is not uncommon for many exchangers to make plans up to a year in advance. Your home stays on the web and it is up to individuals to change their dates / listing, which we have found is very rarely done once an exchange is agreed upon. Additionally, just because a home is listed with preferred dates and destination does not mean the lister is really going to agree to come to your house -- all kinds of circumstances can make a lister not interested.

Homeexchange has an option where members can view the most recent listings so this is a nice way to see new members who might not have anything arranged.

I have just joined Geenee - http://www.geenee.com which has an extra focus on the big cities of the world like London and New York. You may want to have a look at them - right now it is free to join.

What I like is that it that they make it really quick to get to a shortlist of possible homes which is the really painful thing about home swapping. Good luck.

I am topping this due to a recent thread on the same subject.

Yes, you can sign up with more than one service. The only thing that is not "kosher" is jumping to a better deal after you have committed to someone during that time period. Once you have a deal, that should be that. Remember that the other party's vacation depends on you following thru.

The current discussion was on the Europe board, not the US board.

ttt

Know Your Trade (www.knowyourtrade.com) has just launched. It's slogan is "Home Exchange made Easy" and that is what it does. It lists all 60 home exchange clubs, reviews them and rates them and offers detailed information about what to look for in a home exchange club. It also offers a forum for exchanging information, a chance for traders to rate their present clubs and more. Take a look at it.

Good idea for a site. There is not a lot of interest on travel forums in exchanging homes. A key to getting the site up and running would be to have the big exchange services put up links to it.

Why on earth would the exchange services be interested in linking to a site that basically advertises their competition?? Well, maybe the top-rated one would.

Because the the new site is for people to discuss home exchanging. The new site is not a home exchange service. The services do not have message boards. If the services work well for people, the message board could benefit them because people will recommend them. There is, by the way, no "top rated" home exchange service. I recommend Homelink and Intervac because I know them, have gotten deals from them, and have belonged to them both since 1990. That does mean that some services that were developed later could be equally as good, but paying for two of them is about as far as I will go.

If you join any home exchange site, remember, the membership base has to be huge to increase your chances of getting a deal.

My use of "top-rated" was a reference to the original description of the site: "It lists all 60 home exchange clubs, reviews them and rates them"

Well I put some posts of a general nature on that site. It will either take off or it won't. It might interest others in home exchanges. In my opinion, there is an untapped market out there, but many people are just spooked by having strangers in their home. I always tell people that your home is always safer with someone in it than empty. Yes, not all my exchanges have been trouble free, but they have all been unusual experiences and they do make for comparatively inexpensive vacations.

Yes, I agree sometimes people are spooked by others in their homes, but it seems to me with ample communication you know a bit about the person. And...of course, you know where they live!
The biggest minus for me is prep time. Once the first exchange is over and you have gone through all the cleaning, king room in closets, organizing instructions etc., then it is a piece of cake. Unless, there is too much time between exchanges and you are a person like me who is not an A+ housekeeper and then you start again!
But, oh, the benefits. I was sold after I took the plunge the first time. I would have never been able to afford to stay in Paris for two weeks. I would never have gotten along so well with my traveling companion if we had not had some room to spread out. I would never have become known at the local bar and invited to join the French students for drinks. I am sold and look forward to my taste of Florence in a few weeks.

In response to anonymous, who asks, "Why would a home exchange club want to link to Know Your Trade that lists the competition?", it is interesting how they have reacted. Many of the clubs have greeted us Know Your Trade with open arms and agreed to link to us and have written us congratulatory emails. It seems that some of the clubs are not so scrupulous and they appreciate having an unaffiliated organization like Know Your Trade publish the true facts about the clubs.
I also think that they feel that the more exposure home exchanging gets, the better it is for everyone.
I do suggest if you get a chance and are interested in home exchange (or curious) take a look at www.knowyourtrade.com. It is Home Exchange Made Easy

As I said, the more exposure exchanging gets, the more people will do this. For the money, there is no better way to vacation.