You did everything right when designing your swap listing. Not only did you provide a clear description of your home and its amenities, you even attached the floor plan. That annual festival everyone in your town looks forward to all year? Described in detail. Distance to the most popular local tourist attractions? You listed the mileage as well as normal driving times. Past swaps? Check. A word about your family composition? It's there. You also listed the fact that you have a cat so folks with allergies won't waste their time or yours by contacting you. Now for the most important part of your listing: the photos. Avoid these common pitfalls when you post your home photos.
Some swap clubs estimate that listing with photos get about ten times as many offers as those without. For me, photos of the home are the most crucial part of the listing. That's because someone's impression of their home may differ from the opinion I would form on my own. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but when it comes to home exchange it is worth even more than that.
WORTH THE WAIT
Many times I have received an offer only to find that the exchanger "hasn't had time" to post photos. This is really an odd way to approach swapping. Don't ever activate your listing until it includes lots of photos. A bare listing without photos tells me several things, all of which are bad:
1) This is an inexperienced exchanger. A swapper who knows what s/he is doing would never create a listing without photos unless...
2) The home may be too shabby or messy to photograph. Clean your home. Buy a cheap slipcover for that hideous couch.
3) Someone is in a rush to set up an exchange at the last minute and can't even make it down to the drug store to buy a disposable digital camera for $20 and take a few snapshots.
4) The swappers may be extremely technophobic, which means I am not going to find convenient, if any, internet access at their home.
5) The exchangers tend to do things in a half-assed way. Details matter. Photos are an important detail.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU -- TOO WELL
This may cause controversy, but I am not in favor of including any family member in any photo, with one exception. The goal of a good listing photo is to help the potential exchange partner picture herself in your home, enjoying it as her own temporary dwelling. Having yourself in the picture reinforces that it is actually your home. To me, it sends the subtle message that the swapper is encroaching on someone else's space.
Can I be blunt here? It also looks a bit conceited to me. That's because people who add photos of their family to their listings have the natural desire to present themselves in the best light. So you often see these overly-posed group shots where everyone is straining to keep a smile going. It's fake and awkward. The alternative is "candid" photos, which really send that "you are encroaching as I try to enjoy this life moment in my home" message.
THE EXCEPTION
There is one type of "family member" who should always be included in listing photos if possible. That would be any pet you are committed to keeping in the house during the swap. In our case, that would be a cat. We tried having kitty stay with friends who love cats but who were temporarily feline-deficient on two occasions when people stayed in our home who had cat allergies. She literally became rigid with fear upon entering the new environment. The temporary cat keepers never saw her for the entire duration of our time away, except when they shined a flashlight under the bed. We no longer even offer to board her elsewhere.
Including a photo of your pet greatly reduced the number of people who make an enticing offer then withdraw it when you draw their attention to the fact that a pet will be present in your home. Few people actually bother to read the text in a swap listing, but everyone looks at the main listing photo, at the very least.
Spotlighting your pet is particularly important if you keep livestock or an exotic animal. Don't wait until you have begun serious negotiations with the swappers to mention your "tiny" tarantula that is "perfectly secure" in his cage in the living room.
GO FOR THE "WOW"
If there is something truly special about your home, highlight it. We want to see a photo of the hot tub, the garden you spent years carefully cultivating, the spectacular view from your deck, and so on.
AVOID THE GENERIC
Unless your home is on the grounds of, or within walking distance to a major tourist attraction, think twice before including a photo of it. Yes, we know you live in Southern California, and yes, it certainly is much closer to drive one hour from your home to that theme park than to drive 17 hours to it from my home, but it still isn't really all that convenient to your home. It can read as false advertising when someone checks your address and discovers that the attraction you highlight as being "just 15 miles away" is a two-hour slog over a mountain pass.
LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY
If there is something particularly unique about your home, show it right up front in those photos, whether you consider it to be great or a possible deal-breaker. As with the example above of the tarantula, you want those potential problems to be clearly visible before you even get an offer. The person who could never bear to be in the same house with a snake is not someone you want to try to convince to feed your boa constrictor a mouse or two while you are on vacation.
This caution rings true for aspects of your home that you might think of as amenities or positive features, but that someone else might see as a red flag.
You know that huge collection of ceramic Hummel figurines you are so proud of? Parents of toddlers may decide that keeping Junior's grubby paws off them is not a relaxing way to spend a vacation. Better to show them right up front that you have a possible Attractive Nuisance than to come home to a floor full of chipped porcelain.
And I know you had to special-order that Disney Princess(tm) wallpaper for your daughter's room, and yes, it perfectly matches the life-size mannequins dressed as Snow White and Cinderella. However, some of us are annoyed by this whole fascination little girls have with pretending to be royalty and are trying to keep our girls' tender minds from this particular cultural trope.
An anthropology professor might be fascinated with your valuable collection of ancient carved fertility phalluses, but some of us prefer it when our phalluses do not line the living room mantle. Show me the most interesting aspects of your home so I can determine if they interest me as well.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There is a reason that the "artwork" and "decor" in hotel rooms tends towards blandness. Lots of people stay there and they all have to tolerate the same style. Home exchange is quite the opposite. You want to pick a swap partner who really appreciates your home and will treat it with the respect and honor it deserves. Make sure the exchangers can get a complete view of exactly what they are getting into. That way, when you get an offer you can be sure the exchangers will love your home as much as you do.
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