There have been some surprising changes in the world of home exchange clubs.
HOMEEXCHANGE.COM: The largest swap club now has an impressive 30,000 listings, and a new price tag to match. HE.com caused ripples within the swap community last year when they bumped their membership cost up to $100 per year. Some insiders asked if this was the right direction during a recession, but it must have been a profitable gamble for HE.com since a year's membership is now $120. However, with this change I was excited to see another option: you can now pay about $50 for a 3-month membership. More flexibility is a good thing for our community, especially for potential swappers who are not sure if they will go through with home exchange.
Signing up for just three months could be a good deal if you want to do a very intense, focused search for a swap in a specific location. This would not be a good option if you prefer to post info on your home and wait to see who is interested in your home. Also, lots of clubs, including HomeExchange.com and RoofSwap.com promise to extend your one-year membership if you don't find an appropriate swap within the first year. Presumably, if you pay for a shorter membership a club need not honor this guaranty.
HOMEFOREXCHANGE.COM: What's up at H4E.com? Their listings have plummeted recently. They have a great policy of showing exactly how many listings are active on their site at any one time. This number is found in the upper right-hand corner of the home page, where it is hard to miss. KnowYourTrade mentions H4E's old count of about 12,000 listings. that is now down to 8,000. H4E remains a good deal if you are interested in a swap to Europe. Their $60 membership lasts 18 months for new members.
ROOFSWAP.COM: Some swap clubs are free but most of the larger ones make you pay to contact their members, and pay more if you want to post your own home listing. Bucking that trend is RoofSwap.com. It's free to post a listing on RoofSwap.com and that is a great way to get more swap offers. If you want to initiate contact with RoofSwap.com members you have to pony up for a membership.
While I don't make money from anyone joining any home exchange site, I do write an advice column for RoofSwap.com which you can read here: http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/user/newshead
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