HOME EXCHANGE HATERS
If you're reading this blog, you are probably interested in home exchange. Whether you are new to home exchange, or an old hand, your questions are welcome. But from time to time, I get comments aimed at bashing home exchange. These are usually from people who have never swapped homes, or who perhaps did one home exchange. I am not sure why people who hate home exchange, or think they will, bother to engage others who like it. I am guessing the purpose is possibly to be rude to get a reaction. Another possibility is that home exchange is threatening to those in the travel business.
THE COMPLAINTS
A reader named Kathlyn left a classic comment in this vein today. I won't publish it because it's extremely long, repetitive and negative. But I will address it because all concerns about home exchange have some validity.
Kathlyn has completed only one exchange. She stated all of her complaints several different ways, but they boiled down to these:
RESPONSE RATE
""The response rate is awful."
This is a real concern. In other posts to this blog I have demonstrated how to up your response rate without bombing other exchangers with spam. Let's all remember, tho, to at least say "not interested, thanks" when we get an offer.
SAVINGS
"Cost saving isn't that great - most of the cost is the flight."
This is applicable only if you are flying internationally for a one week vacation. A decent hotel room in the popular home exchange countries (Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia), averages at least $100 per day for two people.
If, like most people, your international trips last at least ten days, the savings in lodging is greater than the airfare and the accommodations are usually far more comfortable. When airfare is even more expensive, why tack on even $500 for a weekend stay in a cramped hotel room when a comfortable exchange home is available.
And when exchanges are domestic (within one's own country) lodging is the main cost of any vacation. I do not find this excuse not to swap homes valid in any way.
AMENITIES
Kathlyn also complained that on her only home exchange her husband wanted her to cook, since the swap home had a kitchen, while he "retires to sofa with paper". This is best addressed through marriage counseling, not a blog. If you do not want to cook, the exchange home kitchen is optional. But most people want a fridge for beverages and snacks, a toaster oven for breakfast, etc.
If you are traveling with kids and a senior, as I am, having a kitchen is crucial for milk, medication cold storage, and keeping everyone hydrated. Since I don't have a mean husband, I have never seen the kitchen as anything but a wonderful benefit to home exchange.
WHERE TO?
This was the complaint I found most interesting in Kathlyn's long comment:
"It's almost impossible to go where you really want to go."
This tells me more about the writer than it does about home exchange in general. Either her home isn't very interesting, or she lives someplace she has yet to promote properly.
In previous posts I have shared strategies for making your home enticing and emphasizing the wonderful aspects of your area. If these do not work for you and you are really having trouble landing an offer, there is still another option. I will tell you about it in more detail another day.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
You can subscribe to this blog to receive each day's post. Just enter your email below :
What an excellent post. I agree wholeheartedly with every word you say. The person whose negativity you address so effectively reminds me of a few members we've encountered over the years, although the complaint about not actually saving money IS a new one. She must have stayed in some really cheap and sleazy hotels in the past!
ReplyDeleteThe savings also frequently extend into the cost of car rentals too. My husband recently spent more on a car rental in the UK than he did on his air fare.
Keep up the good work ;-)
Anne ExchangeHomes.com
I know that home exchange is often recommended on the cash savings (which are good) but I don't think that it's really about the money- it's more the cultural immersion- maybe the comment maker just prefers resort environments and anonymous hotel rooms.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the comment about response rate. I am nosy enough to wonder what response rate other people get. We have received 80 offers in 4 months with one organisation and 2 mths with a second one which seems amazing to me but I realise doesn't match the tourist hotspots like New York!!
On offers made we haven't received answers to all but to about half- and a very good "yes" rate- about a third (we target carefully & try to write in the appropriate language). Our home is pretty but modest, location good but not well known everywhere - we have lots of photos though and our website has received over a thousand hits.