If you’re thinking of doing a long home exchange, we recommend that you try to plan ahead as far as possible.

As bonny are the days of cheap-travel-when-you-book-early, this kind of advice is probably taken for read. But with home exchange there are other factors to consider besides the advantages of cheaper travel deals.

1) You widen your options. The longer you leave arranging your holiday, the smaller the group of available people there will be. If you get in there first, you’ll have more options.

2) If for any reason, the home exchange falls through, you’ll still have time to organize another one.

3) Organizing in advance gives you the opportunity to develop more of a relationship with your fellow exchange partners. You can get chatting on MSN or Googletalk and start to not only swap advice and recommendations of your respective local areas, but also to build up a rapport before you make the trip.

4) You can use the extra time to post a comment on the website and see what other users have to recommend about your chosen area. So you can even aument your own travel guide research with the real opinions and experiences of other users just like you! Just got to http://en.homeforhome.com and whack your idea out there!

5) You’ve got time to clean through the house bit by bit, so you don’t have to do a ginormous turn over of the entire property on the brink of doing all your packing.

Just a little post about the website etiquette at Homeforhome.com.

First of all, feel free to start up discussions in the forums. That’s what they are there for. They’re not just for fun, they’re there so that Homeforhome.com members can help each other out. It’s a good way to find people that would be interested in doing a home exchange with you, that might not have thought of it before. In the forums you can discuss anything: interests, experiences you have had, things you would like to try, tips and suggestions for other members, and most importantly of all - your questions!

Secondly, there is an internal messaging system. If someone sends you a home exchange offer that doesn’t interest you, don’t be afraid to decline it with a message. You can let them know if you’ve got other plans or are simply not interested in their area. Or maybe you couldn’t see the photos very well. It’s always good to keep the communication up, because people can always benefit from some constructive feedback (but let’s keep it positive though!). Also, you never know what other contacts or connections people may have, so don’t be afraid to just be casually in touch with people. It’s what the site is for, amongst other things!

Thirdly and finally today, the ratings. Once you have done a home exchange with someone, you get the opportunity to rate their performance as a home exchange partner, and the home that you stayed in. This is a great chance for you to let them know how much you either enjoyed the home exchange, or give some tips for the future. Nothing is static, and people are often new to the system of home exchanging, so advice and encouragement are all to the good. Also, it is another way for members to build a good profile. If you perform well (are helpful, leave the house in good condition, etc) then you will get a high rating, which means that more people will want to do home exchanges with you in the future.

So the name of the game is communication and encouragement.