Like with everything that’s related to home exchange etiquette, there is one simple question that you need to bare in mind. “How would I like to be treated by them?”

So it may be that you’re tired after totally unwinding and relaxing on your home exchange. Or that you’ve spent every spare minute darting over the unexplored city, and have ended up with that happy worn-out tiredness. What with the slightly less than welcome prospect of having to return to work, it can same like the least appealing thing on your mind, to go through the whole house and give it a good rub down and thorough clean.

But it really pays off. It can be a good idea to set aside a day for the cleaning, and you can assign, for example one section of the house to each member of the family. This way you will maintain a great relation with your home exchange partner, so you’ll have the option of swapping with them again the next time.

Also, what will really make the whole thing worth while is when you finally  get back to your own home and find it dazzling brightly clean and tidy!

Home exchangers of the world unite!

Here at Homeforhome, (because we`re nice), we want to give you some tips and advice in creating a selection of photos that will help you receive more home exchange offers.

We know what it`s like. You`ve spent the time uploading your profile, and you just want to get through the process and hurry up and get home exchanging. And then you realize that you need to go and take photos of your house.

Which means finding your camera. Finding the cable. Cleaning. Tidying. Waiting until there`s some decent day light.

But it really is worth it. A good photo can give someone a real taste of all the great things about your home, and why you love living there. Which raises YOUR stakes in the home exchange system.

So firstly, let`s assume that it`s all clean and tidy and ready for action. A few “do`s” and “don`t”s.

The “Don`t”s

1) Try to avoid dark photos where you can`t see much of the house. It will give other users the impression that the house is badly lit, uncomfortable, or not very welcoming. People will just have a negative sensation and won`t feel very excited by your offer.

2) By all means you can include photos that include people. However, it is important to focus on the house. People are thinking of the space in which they will able to spend their precious holidays. The home needs to be the focus. And let`s be honest. Photos of dark rooms with a bright light shining on a young child, or a mug-shot of the owner are not likely to attract many exchange proposals.

3) Photos of you scuba diving, or dressed up in 16th century fencing costume are fine for your profile picture (each to their own!), but when it comes to photos of the home people will be put off if you don`t have some serious photos. Generally, people are a little suspicious and want to know that their prospective exchange partners are serious. If you don`t have proper photos up, then the other user does not have much to go on.

4) Don`t put up pre-saved photos that you have in your image bank. *That*pink flower or *that* sunset. It`s frustrating for other users. It`s actually worth the wait of getting your own photos up there.

5) Don´t put a photo that is larger than 3mb because it won´t load. All photos have to be 3mb or less.

The “Do”s

1) Take plenty of photos of the rooms of the house, the garden, and if you like photos of local interest points.

2) Try to stand back, for example in the door way, or stand outside of a window looking into the room in order to be able to capture a good section of the room.

3) The rule of thirds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds Imagine that the image is divided into three equal parts horizontally, and three equal parts vertically. Try put the natural lines or sections of the photo along these imaginary lines.

4) Make sure that you rotate the images first on your computer before uploading them, as you won`t be able to rotate them once they`re up on the site.