The Official HomeExchange.com Newsletter

Vol 4 - July 2006

We really enjoy getting to talk to many of you each month by phone and email, and from those conversations we know that many of you joined anticipating that the major benefit of home exchange would be the cost savings. But after that first exchange, even the thousands of dollars that are saved on a typical home exchange don’t seem as important as the experience of living like a local instead of a tourist, and the comfort of staying in a spacious home instead of a cramped hotel room. And that question about "Aren't you concerned about having a stranger in your house?" never seems to come up again. It's one of those rare situations where the benefits turn out to be greater, and the problems less, than ever imagined.

We are very excited that with all the media coverage HomeExchange is getting, it's going to be easier to share that concept with friends and fellow travelers.

HomeExchange.com in the Movies
In December, a major motion picture is being released that we think will do for home exchange what “You’ve Got Mail” did for internet dating.

Home exchange and HomeExchange.com play a prominent role in "The Holiday", from writer/director Nancy Meyers. A romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet who use home exchange to change their lives as they trade homes between Los Angeles and England, the film also stars Jack Black, Jude Law, Ed Burns, and Eli Wallach.

We have been involved since before filming and are excited to be the working with Sony and Universal to promote this soon to be blockbuster. We will be posting updates, contests, and maybe even a report from the red carpet later this year.

For photos, more information and a link to the trailer, click the following link-http://www.homeexchange.com/holiday.php

So after December, we don’t think many people are going to ask “What’s home exchange?” anymore. We just hope that all new Members don’t expect to meet Jude Law, or stay at Cameron Diaz’ house on their next exchange.

HomeExchange.com on TV
That’s “home exchange” in the movies, but we are still looking for one more family who would be willing to have their August home exchange filmed for the pilot of an upcoming Travel Channel TV show. It’s short notice, but they are looking for a family doing an exchange within the US, in August, with kids. As a bonus, they will pay the selected families $1500 each. If you want your 30 minutes of TV fame, email TV@HomeExchange.com as soon as possible. Both sides of the exchange need to agree to be filmed, and will be asked to submit a very short, informal video interview and tour of their home.

HomeExchange.com in the Press and Radio
In just the last month, we have had Members interviewed by the Baltimore Sun, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). We have also had 3 Members participate in news segments on French TV, 2 on National Public Radio in the US and an interview on CBS Radio in New York City.

Stay tuned for more exciting new from HomeExchange.com

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Last Month's Survey
We had an incredible response to last month’s Survey and received hundreds of new Testimonials, which will soon be posted on the site.

Meet a Member

Joe and Leslie Friedman - Home ID #41971

Joe and Leslie Friedman, Mill Valley, CA (jcfriedman@yahoo.com)

Confessions of a Home Exchange Addict:

Be VERY careful what you wish for! It could be hazardous to the REST of your life!

Leslie and I ventured into the home exchange experience primarily as a way to afford taking a few extra vacation trips a year. But 15 house exchanges and two years later - we've become irretrievably HOOKED. It's now a lifestyle. Though fortunately one we can afford.

And we were the least likely of suspects. Paranoia was the primary state of mind when we even THOUGHT about having other people stay at our home. What about the wine stains on the new carpeting? And how do we protect our collectibles, art work and first editions? And do we really want strangers driving our new car?

And being a recently retired trial lawyer I of course fretted about the legalities. And Leslie, who retired at the same time from her career in tax accounting, worried about out how this was all going to affect the household budget and bottom line.

The good news: none of our fears came into fruition. Take the legalities. At the beginning I was scrupulous about having our exchangers execute a formal Exchange Agreement, spelling out pretty much everything we could think of that might come up during an exchange. It was fun "negotiating" the agreement, coming to a mutual understanding about how things would work, who would use what, when, where, etc. But by the time we had completed our first couple of exchanges, it was clear that a formal agreement was entirely unnecessary. The first lesson we learned about home exchanges is that they are NOT based on written agreements or legalities. They're based on trust. And the highest level of trust you can imagine. Your exchangers are in YOUR castle, sleeping in YOUR bed, and relaxing in YOUR hot tub. And where are YOU? You're doing pretty much the same exact thing, but at THEIR castle and with THEIR personal property.

The level of trust is extraordinary. By the time you've e-mailed and talked to your prospective exchanger, over the several months preceding the exchange itself, you've come to see and treat them as old friends with whom you'd trust the family pet AND your new car. If there ever WAS a mishap you know, absolutely, that YOU would pay to repair or replace the item; and you're confident they would do the same. It's not a matter of legal obligation or contract; it's a matter of common sense, mutual respect and, yes, friendship.

And financially? Once the air fares have been paid for, the rest was gravy. We spend no more (and often less) than when we're at home. We buy the same groceries, purchase the same gas for the car, and treat ourselves to dining out or extra purchases no more than when we're at home.

Lessons learned? There were many. And continue to be many. On every exchange we seem to learn something new about how to make exchanging easier and more comfortable, on both ends.

First there was our house. WE were used to the little idiosyncrasies we had lived with for years: the sticking door, the pesky entryway leak, the balky toilet that sometimes didn't completely flush. But we realized how unfair it would be to expect our exchangers to live with these flaws. So the minor house repairs began in earnest. Plus a few upgrades here and there as well. You want your guests to be as comfortable as possible. Who knows, you might want to do a "repeat exchange" with them sometime. And you'd certainly like them to be great references for you on future exchanges as well.

Then there were all the little issues that occasionally come up during an exchange that you couldn't reasonably have anticipated. Like what if they need a dentist? Or a doctor? Or if the furnace breaks down? So we began developing a detailed "House Book", with multiple sections, to cover all of these contingencies. Exchangers wouldn't have time to actually read all the contents of the binder, but the information would be organized in such a way that it could be easily accessed if and when needed.

The most challenging part of house exchanging has been trying to anticipate exactly how things will work - on both ends. We've goofed a couple of times, for instance, by not adequately explaining exactly how to get to our house. We live on a ridge above Mill Valley, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. We have dramatic views out over the Pacific and look down on the redwoods in Muir Woods. But the roads leading up to our house, from downtown Mill Valley, are best traversed during daylight hours, especially when the fog is rolling in from the ocean. So detailed instructions, and a map, are necessities we failed to address properly when we first started exchanging.

And at our exchange houses we've run into occasional problems as well. A primary culprit has been tv/stereo systems. People often assume that their music and television systems are "intuitive" and that exchangers will somehow figure out for themselves how the various remote controls work and which switch has to be "on" for the system to work properly, etc. So we make sure, prior to the exchange, to inquire about their stereo, tv and computer systems, especially, to make sure they leave us clear, written, instructions. And we, of course, do the same on our end.

But no matter how carefully we plan our exchanges, it seems that something always comes up. At our Boston exchange, for instance, we waited a week before realizing we didn't know where to empty the kitchen garbage. We looked on the back porch, in the garage, in the front yard, everywhere we could possibly imagine - but couldn't find the garbage can anywhere. We even went over to the neighbors to find out how they disposed of their garbage, thinking there might be a community trash facility of some kind. No luck. We finally gave up and called our exchangers.

"The GARBAGE?" our exchangers asked? "We don't empty the GARBAGE; we STORE it! In the basement. When we accumulate enough of it, we take it out to the dump ourselves!" Turned out that our exchangers, unbeknownst to us, had eliminated their garbage service in favor of a serious recycling program. What little non-recyclable garbage they accumulated was stored in a special container in their basement and then taken out to the dump once every month or two. A perfectly reasonable system. Assuming you knew it existed.

For the little quirks and puzzles around our house we're great fans of reusable "post-it" notes. We keep a little collection of them and just re-post them prior to each exchange. They're as indispensable as the welcoming bottle of wine, cheese and crackers we leave out on the dining room table.

So what began as a lark has, indeed, turned into a lifestyle. We've become good friends with several of our exchangers, in fact, and pride ourselves on having completed four "repeat exchanges" over the last two years. The occasional mishap has either been quickly resolved or overlooked since the enormous financial savings have more than compensated for the minor scratch here or a missing cup there. And meantime, we've been to places, and experienced more new cities, museums, beaches and parks than we ever could have imagined.

So THANK YOU HomeExchange for helping make all this possible!

Special Notices

Please make sure that if you select the RV/MOTORHOME or the PRIVATE BOAT quick search desgination for your listing, that you actually own a boat or an RV that you are making available as part of your exchange. We've noticed that some members who have marked their exchange listings with these designations do not offer a boar or RV in their actual listings.

Also, if you do own an RV or BOAT you want to make available in your listing, please consider uploading a photo to your listing of your BOAT or RV so people can see what you have to offer. More photos for your listing is always better, and don't forget, you can add as many photos as you want without any additional charge.

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