When I hear from new exchangers they sometimes want to know
"Do I really have to pay to join a home exchange site? Shouldn't I just put up a description of my home on [free ad site]?" I have listed items for sale on sites where it is free to post an ad. My merchandise always gets sold, but not before I have dealt with a bunch of scammers.
If I am going to hand over my apartment keys to someone, I only want to use a site that verifies the address and identity of each member. I was reminded of my policy not to rely on free classified ad sites to look for home exchange the other day when I...tried finding a home exchange on a free ad site.
Wait, let me explain. I am looking for a summer swap in an area with few home exchangers: the American Southeast. With the exception of Florida and some big cities like Atlanta, Georgia, there are few home exchange listings south of Washington, DC.
Part of this is population density, which is lower in many regions of the south. Home exchange tends to be more popular among people with progressive ideas, and much of the American south is politically conservative compared to the East and West Coasts of the United States.
We love Grandma, though, and she lives in a tiny Southern town. To improve my chances of finding a swap home near her place I tried a hybrid approach to the dangerous method of finding an exchange home on a general free ad site.
I posted a photo of my apartment and a link to my listing at a real home exchange site. I explained home exchange and asked interested people to check out the info on the home exchange site and let me know if they might be interested in swapping.
The answers I got both encouraged and scared me. They showed why using free sites can be effective, and reinforced my idea that they were a dangerous way to find someone to give your housekeys.
If you have experiences finding a home swap this way, let us know through the comments link just under this post. I'll tell you about the good and bad experiences I had using this method when I have a few more responses.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
You can subscribe to this blog to receive each day's post. Just enter your email below :
No comments:
Post a Comment