A day after we flew to California for our Central Coast home exchange, one of the 10 worst snow storms on record hit the East Coast. I lived in Northern California for 13 years before moving back home to New York City. I suddenly remembered the "deep concern" with which I used to ask relatives how they were coping with winter weather. I may have blushed at this shameful recollection, but I can't be sure, since it may just have been the warm Los Angeles sun on my cheek.
This house swap is exactly the sort that makes home exchange intriguing to adventurous travelers. The house is smack dab in the middle of the California Coast, exactly half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is the kind of place you would never find in a guide book. Home exchangers live in real places, and they may offer you a home someplace fascinating you would never have heard of otherwise.
California is a big state. It takes four hours to drive from LA to this swap home. That's pretty far, but it means we can visit with friends in both LA and Northern California on the same trip. Driving that distance after a cross-country flight was out of the question, and we didn't want to put out friends by barging into their home at midnight.
We booked an airport hotel for our first night. It is a well-known high-end chain hotel with a four-star rating. I was surprised at the sophisticated boutique-style decor since this hotel is not known for innovation. It was nice for a hotel but, say it with me, crummy compared with an exchange home. I don't care how many threads the sheets have, if I am crammed into one room with two small children.
There was another obnoxious draw-back to this hotel -- a $25 per night charge to park a car. You'd never find that at a home exchange. And the swap came with something else most hotels don't offer -- free use of a luxury car for two weeks. But a problem arose that I had never experienced when we picked up the swappers' car. More on that next time.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
WORST SWAP OFFER OF 2009
During 2009 I received hundreds of home exchange requests. Most were of some interest. I don't plan to go to Paris any time soon, but a lot of Parisians offered me gorgeous flats, should the mood for a walk along the Seine strike me.
Just as the year drew to a close, I received the most excitingly awful swap offer ever. The completely unappealing nature of this exchange request was such that I have never had a bad exchange offer that even came close to it.
Here is the exquisitely horrid swap email I received, with nothing removed but identifying details such as the exchangers' names:
This swapper isn't just asking for a third-party exchange where strangers who I have not vetted or screened stay at my place, he actually wants "various couples" to do back-to-back swaps at my place. If am not foolish enough to allow even one of these couples, whose home I will never use and who thus have no mutual responsibility to me, to use my home. But if the Salt Lake City swapper had his way I would have a series of such couples use my place. That means if any damage occurred I would have no idea which of the third-party swap couples was responsible.
It's also possible that this exchanger is mis-interpreting the following polite demurral from the Europeans he contacted:
I clicked on the couple's listing and saw an extremely unappealing home. It was cluttered, unrenovated since the 1970's, with no attempt to decorate. In a word, ewwww.
The exchangers did something else I've never seen in another swap offer, and hope never to see again. They made a point of listing their caucasian ethnicity, which I found odd and off-putting. I can see someone doing this in a European country to indicate which languages they speak or the cultural flavor one might expect when using their home. For instance, Belgians of French descent may have a different lifestyle than those of Flemish descent.
In the United States, especially in a city like Salt Lake City which is well-known to have very few non-white residents, underlining the fact that one is of caucasian descent is, to say the least, in very questionable taste. Why do I need to know if the people staying in my home are White, Brown, Green or Purple? A home exchanger's skin color makes no difference to me, and I would not exchange homes with anyone who considered that to be an important factor in choosing a swap partner.
These swappers also describe their neighborhood by saying "most homes are in the $200k value range" which is something I have never seen any other swapper note in their listing. The average home price in the city where these swappers live is $255,000, which means that these exchangers live in a neighborhood where the average home is valued at 30% less than most in the same city. People sometimes brag in the offer email that they have a "million dollar home", but they never emphasize that their home is shoddier than those of their neighbors. The purpose cannot be to trade with properties with a similar value, since they are writing to people with large apartments in central Manhattan.
To "sweeten" the offer, the exchangers suggest that instead of using their home we might want to use their camper. This might be tempting, except that the camper pictured is in very poor shape and incredibly tiny, the kind with a mini kitchen outside, hanging off the rear of the trailer.
People usually emphasize things of interest about themselves and their home. The fact that it is much more modest than others in the same area, and owned by White people who have a rattle-trap camping trailer and who don't even want to visit my city themselves is the opposite of interesting. The many, many ways that this exchange offer turned me off is unique in my experience. These exchangers don't just get the 2009 prize for bad exchange offer, they win the Lifetime Achievement Award.
When getting to know someone with whom you are considering swapping homes, it's important to read between the lines to really get to know the family. In this case, I learned everything I needed to know from the offer email. Be open to these subtexts and you will never accept an offer from possible White Supremacists who want to treat your home like a cheap hotel for avaricious Europeans.
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Just as the year drew to a close, I received the most excitingly awful swap offer ever. The completely unappealing nature of this exchange request was such that I have never had a bad exchange offer that even came close to it.
Here is the exquisitely horrid swap email I received, with nothing removed but identifying details such as the exchangers' names:
"What we're doing is contacting home exchangers in Europe to exchange with us in SALT LAKE CITY. What we're finding is, several exchangers would like a stop over in New York City for a few days either on their way, or on their return. Most are interested in shopping. What we want to know from you is, are you interested in hosting various couples for a day or two in your home for an exchange with us in SALT LAKE CITY? P.S. If your [sic] not interested, could you please refer me to someone who might be"
This swapper isn't just asking for a third-party exchange where strangers who I have not vetted or screened stay at my place, he actually wants "various couples" to do back-to-back swaps at my place. If am not foolish enough to allow even one of these couples, whose home I will never use and who thus have no mutual responsibility to me, to use my home. But if the Salt Lake City swapper had his way I would have a series of such couples use my place. That means if any damage occurred I would have no idea which of the third-party swap couples was responsible.
It's also possible that this exchanger is mis-interpreting the following polite demurral from the Europeans he contacted:
"Thank you for for offer, but we prefer to visit New York City to go shopping."
I clicked on the couple's listing and saw an extremely unappealing home. It was cluttered, unrenovated since the 1970's, with no attempt to decorate. In a word, ewwww.
The exchangers did something else I've never seen in another swap offer, and hope never to see again. They made a point of listing their caucasian ethnicity, which I found odd and off-putting. I can see someone doing this in a European country to indicate which languages they speak or the cultural flavor one might expect when using their home. For instance, Belgians of French descent may have a different lifestyle than those of Flemish descent.
In the United States, especially in a city like Salt Lake City which is well-known to have very few non-white residents, underlining the fact that one is of caucasian descent is, to say the least, in very questionable taste. Why do I need to know if the people staying in my home are White, Brown, Green or Purple? A home exchanger's skin color makes no difference to me, and I would not exchange homes with anyone who considered that to be an important factor in choosing a swap partner.
These swappers also describe their neighborhood by saying "most homes are in the $200k value range" which is something I have never seen any other swapper note in their listing. The average home price in the city where these swappers live is $255,000, which means that these exchangers live in a neighborhood where the average home is valued at 30% less than most in the same city. People sometimes brag in the offer email that they have a "million dollar home", but they never emphasize that their home is shoddier than those of their neighbors. The purpose cannot be to trade with properties with a similar value, since they are writing to people with large apartments in central Manhattan.
To "sweeten" the offer, the exchangers suggest that instead of using their home we might want to use their camper. This might be tempting, except that the camper pictured is in very poor shape and incredibly tiny, the kind with a mini kitchen outside, hanging off the rear of the trailer.
People usually emphasize things of interest about themselves and their home. The fact that it is much more modest than others in the same area, and owned by White people who have a rattle-trap camping trailer and who don't even want to visit my city themselves is the opposite of interesting. The many, many ways that this exchange offer turned me off is unique in my experience. These exchangers don't just get the 2009 prize for bad exchange offer, they win the Lifetime Achievement Award.
When getting to know someone with whom you are considering swapping homes, it's important to read between the lines to really get to know the family. In this case, I learned everything I needed to know from the offer email. Be open to these subtexts and you will never accept an offer from possible White Supremacists who want to treat your home like a cheap hotel for avaricious Europeans.
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
SOMETHING NEW, AND ILL-ADVISED, IN HOME EXCHANGE
The first home exchange I did was to Colonial Williamsburg when I was eight. In the decades since then, my family has received hundreds, if not thousands, of swap offers. So I sit up and take notice when there is something in a swap listing that I have never seen before.
One couple that just contacted me will get the 2009 prize for Creativity in Bad Home Exchange Offers. Their swap offer was one of the worst I have ever received, but for refreshingly uncommon reasons.
Most bad swap offers fall into a few common categories:
* SPAM OFFERS: these are very short, general requests for a swap that are clearly cut-and-pasted to dozens of home exchangers at a time, as evidenced by the > symbol before each line of text. An example would be "Want to visit New York. See my listing and let me know if you're interested." Often these are addressed by name to someone besides me because some swap clubs automatically add the name of the exchanger being contacted to the email, and swap spammers forget to delete the name before sending the message to someone else.
* INAPPROPRIATE OFFERS: people who don't bother to read my listing before sending an offer sometimes have text in the own listing that shows they would not want to exchange with us. Some people note in their listing that they are allergic to cats or don't want children in their home. If they actually read the listings of the people they contacted they would save everyone a lot of time.
* UNAPPEALING OFFERS: the most basic form of swap offer that is unlikely to get a positive response is one without photos. Bad photos can be another problem. People, straighten up your home before you post pictures of it! Offers from smokers are unappealing because their home is likely to reek of smoke, and I do not want any chance that my home will do the same when I return from vacation.
* PEOPLE WHO IMPOSE: some swappers make suggestions about the swap that make it clear they are not considerate. An example would be the woman who said "there are four in our exchange party. Well, five if you count my dog, who goes everywhere with me." Everywhere except my home. Assuming one's pet will be welcome in an exchanger's home, as opposed to politely requesting such a favor, marks a swapper as someone with whom I would not want to trade homes.
* ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT NEEDED: the woman whose initial email said "my home is worth a million dollars and I am only interested in trading for comparable properties" did not have the right home exchange spirit. Most apartments in my neighborhood are worth far more than one million dollars, even in a bad real estate market. I suggested this woman contact swappers with smaller homes than mine, to ensure she was getting a comparable exchange property. People who make it clear they see home exchange only as a way to save money are also in this category, as are those who do not seem as if they will take good care of my home.
Like many Manhattan home exchangers, I get hundreds of exchange offers each year, so I am used to some of those requests falling into the categories above. Imagine my surprise when a swapper managed to send me a home exchange request that hit all of these sour notes, and added a few new twists. I'll share the excitement next time.
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One couple that just contacted me will get the 2009 prize for Creativity in Bad Home Exchange Offers. Their swap offer was one of the worst I have ever received, but for refreshingly uncommon reasons.
Most bad swap offers fall into a few common categories:
* SPAM OFFERS: these are very short, general requests for a swap that are clearly cut-and-pasted to dozens of home exchangers at a time, as evidenced by the > symbol before each line of text. An example would be "Want to visit New York. See my listing and let me know if you're interested." Often these are addressed by name to someone besides me because some swap clubs automatically add the name of the exchanger being contacted to the email, and swap spammers forget to delete the name before sending the message to someone else.
* INAPPROPRIATE OFFERS: people who don't bother to read my listing before sending an offer sometimes have text in the own listing that shows they would not want to exchange with us. Some people note in their listing that they are allergic to cats or don't want children in their home. If they actually read the listings of the people they contacted they would save everyone a lot of time.
* UNAPPEALING OFFERS: the most basic form of swap offer that is unlikely to get a positive response is one without photos. Bad photos can be another problem. People, straighten up your home before you post pictures of it! Offers from smokers are unappealing because their home is likely to reek of smoke, and I do not want any chance that my home will do the same when I return from vacation.
* PEOPLE WHO IMPOSE: some swappers make suggestions about the swap that make it clear they are not considerate. An example would be the woman who said "there are four in our exchange party. Well, five if you count my dog, who goes everywhere with me." Everywhere except my home. Assuming one's pet will be welcome in an exchanger's home, as opposed to politely requesting such a favor, marks a swapper as someone with whom I would not want to trade homes.
* ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT NEEDED: the woman whose initial email said "my home is worth a million dollars and I am only interested in trading for comparable properties" did not have the right home exchange spirit. Most apartments in my neighborhood are worth far more than one million dollars, even in a bad real estate market. I suggested this woman contact swappers with smaller homes than mine, to ensure she was getting a comparable exchange property. People who make it clear they see home exchange only as a way to save money are also in this category, as are those who do not seem as if they will take good care of my home.
Like many Manhattan home exchangers, I get hundreds of exchange offers each year, so I am used to some of those requests falling into the categories above. Imagine my surprise when a swapper managed to send me a home exchange request that hit all of these sour notes, and added a few new twists. I'll share the excitement next time.
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Sunday, December 13, 2009
THE HOME EXCHANGERS' CAR WON'T START!
Home exchange is about nothing if not logistics. Coordinating the vacation plans, travel schedule and accommodations of one family is hard enough. Try doing it for two different groups of people.
Those details will change, often on the spur of the moment. That's what our swap partners found out when they parked their car in the airport parking lot on the morning of their flight to Mexico.
If you want to start a car, you need a key. Before they left on vacation, the California swappers gave us the key to their home and car. They told us to just lock the keys in the glove compartment when we dropped off the car at the park-and-fly hotel they chose for their first night back after vacation.
But the airport parking lot insisted that the exchangers leave their only remaining copy of their car key, in case the lot attendants needed to move the car for some reason. That is the parking lot's policy so the swappers had no choice.
That means we have their car key and they don't.
Home exchange takes a lot of trust. These exchangers are counting on us to drive their car carefully, return it in good condition, and, most importantly, bring it to the place where they need to find it after their trip.
When we drop it off, the swappers now ask that we bring one set of keys to the front desk of the hotel and lock the other set in the glove compartment in case the hotel staff lose the first key.
The day the exchangers fly home, I have a flight to catch as well. I have to allow enough time to leave their home thoroughly clean, drive to the hotel they are using, and take a shuttle back to the airport.
As I have said before, home exchange is for responsible adults. It might be more convenient for me to just park the car at the airport for the owners to drive to their hotel, but that isn't what the swappers want us to do.
The least we can do for these folks, who are letting us use their home and car for two weeks, is drop off their car when and where they want it. Home exchange is a two way street. I will be driving this car on the two-way street of my swap partners' convenience.
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Those details will change, often on the spur of the moment. That's what our swap partners found out when they parked their car in the airport parking lot on the morning of their flight to Mexico.
If you want to start a car, you need a key. Before they left on vacation, the California swappers gave us the key to their home and car. They told us to just lock the keys in the glove compartment when we dropped off the car at the park-and-fly hotel they chose for their first night back after vacation.
But the airport parking lot insisted that the exchangers leave their only remaining copy of their car key, in case the lot attendants needed to move the car for some reason. That is the parking lot's policy so the swappers had no choice.
That means we have their car key and they don't.
Home exchange takes a lot of trust. These exchangers are counting on us to drive their car carefully, return it in good condition, and, most importantly, bring it to the place where they need to find it after their trip.
When we drop it off, the swappers now ask that we bring one set of keys to the front desk of the hotel and lock the other set in the glove compartment in case the hotel staff lose the first key.
The day the exchangers fly home, I have a flight to catch as well. I have to allow enough time to leave their home thoroughly clean, drive to the hotel they are using, and take a shuttle back to the airport.
As I have said before, home exchange is for responsible adults. It might be more convenient for me to just park the car at the airport for the owners to drive to their hotel, but that isn't what the swappers want us to do.
The least we can do for these folks, who are letting us use their home and car for two weeks, is drop off their car when and where they want it. Home exchange is a two way street. I will be driving this car on the two-way street of my swap partners' convenience.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
HOME EXCHANGE TRANSPORTATION
We leave for our coastal California home exchange in just one week. This is a non-simultaneous exchange. The swappers used our place over the summer. Now it's our turn.
We have a car but no one wants to drive in Manhattan so we rarely swap it. When the exchangers were here we gave them unlimited transit passes to use. To make it a mutual exchange, the exchangers are letting us use their car while we are in California.
This actually ends up benefiting them as well. They drove their car to the airport and we are bailing it out of the parking lot and paying their parking fees. When we fly home we will return the car to the same lot so the exchangers can get home.
Not only do we get a car to use instead of having to rent one, our swap partners have access to their car right at the airport without having to pay anything for airport parking. Considering that their vacation is 30 days long, that is a huge savings for them of about $600.
They won't come home to a dead car battery either, as we will be driving their car almost every day. Home exchange is convenient in so many ways. I can no longer imagine travel without it!
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We have a car but no one wants to drive in Manhattan so we rarely swap it. When the exchangers were here we gave them unlimited transit passes to use. To make it a mutual exchange, the exchangers are letting us use their car while we are in California.
This actually ends up benefiting them as well. They drove their car to the airport and we are bailing it out of the parking lot and paying their parking fees. When we fly home we will return the car to the same lot so the exchangers can get home.
Not only do we get a car to use instead of having to rent one, our swap partners have access to their car right at the airport without having to pay anything for airport parking. Considering that their vacation is 30 days long, that is a huge savings for them of about $600.
They won't come home to a dead car battery either, as we will be driving their car almost every day. Home exchange is convenient in so many ways. I can no longer imagine travel without it!
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Monday, December 07, 2009
IS HOME EXCHANGE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
Now that our California home exchange is getting closer we are in more frequent contact with the home exchangers. They sent us some great-looking restaurant recommendations and they had a request:
These folks are going away for a month. Like any vacationers, they could come home to wilted plants, burst pipes, hungry pets and a dead car battery. Or they could just swap homes. We are happy to bring in their mail and start their car while we are there.
It seems that every reporter who interviews me about home exchange wants to know what went wrong. Home exchange must be too good to be true, right? Someone must have broken our Ming vase or urinated on our sofa. Well, actually no. In fact, just having home exchangers in residence while you are away will makes it much less likely that your home will become a target of thieves. Unoccupied homes are vulnerable to all sorts of theft or damage.
Is home exchange too good to be true? No, it's even better.
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"One favor: Would you mind starting up the VW once while you’re there. We keep rocks behind the wheels to keep it from rolling down the hill so don’t move the car, but we would appreciate your starting it up to keep the battery charged for us. Thank you."
These folks are going away for a month. Like any vacationers, they could come home to wilted plants, burst pipes, hungry pets and a dead car battery. Or they could just swap homes. We are happy to bring in their mail and start their car while we are there.
It seems that every reporter who interviews me about home exchange wants to know what went wrong. Home exchange must be too good to be true, right? Someone must have broken our Ming vase or urinated on our sofa. Well, actually no. In fact, just having home exchangers in residence while you are away will makes it much less likely that your home will become a target of thieves. Unoccupied homes are vulnerable to all sorts of theft or damage.
Is home exchange too good to be true? No, it's even better.
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