Best Vacation Home Exchange Searches

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Find a luxury home for your next vacation is easier than ever with International Vacation Home Exchange.  You can search by destination (region, country and even states), number of bedrooms, and number of guest or a wide variety of amenities like a swimming pool, WIFI, clothes washer, barbeque and many more.  In addition, you can also search by the type of activities you would like do while on vacation such as golf, skiing, beaches, fishing, hiking and many more.  Click on any of the images below to visit that location on IVHE.com.  

You can start a basic search from the home page of IVHE.com (above) or for a more detailed search  click on the full search or start at the Property page (navigate there from the top of any page – see below). 

You can select a region of the world, country or for some countries you can also search by state, region or province.  Each of these searches offers you a drop down menu that is easy to use.  Simply press the search button when you have selected the appropriate categories. 

Once you have a geographic area selected and pressed the search button, the selected properties will show below the search bar.  On the right hand side you will also see a map of approximate area where the vacation homes are located.  The following is an example for the United Kingdom.  You can either scroll down the properties to explore further or you can click on the map house icons or zoom in and out to find your best option. 

If you would like to have an even more defined search, you can click on more options.  This gives you a very wide range of options including activities, entertainment, suitability, features, property type and vacation theme.  

REMEMBER that every time you select a filter in any property search you are narrowing your options.  This will save you time in your search, but will also limit the possibilities.  

We hope that this quick guide helps you find your next vacation home faster and easier.  If you have any questions or if you would like some assistance, we would like to help you.  Please simply email us and our travel coordinators will assist you in the process.  

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New Map Search for Luxury Home Exchange

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Where do you want to go on your next vacation?  Listening to our members, we are pleased to announce that IVHE.com has a new advanced map search for properties, check it out on our property search page.  You can click on an area of the map or zoom in or out to quickly view where the listings are located. 

There are different house icons for multiple or single properties.  Once you click on a single house icon, you can quickly get a summary of the listing or link directly to the full listing page for the home.  If you use the property search box function (at the top of the page) you will see that the map will adjust to show you where the respective listings are located.  Give it a try today – we would welcome your comments too.

Of course you can search by location, bedrooms or number of guests.  But did you know that you can also search by activities, sports or amenities?  Check out the options available to you.  

Thinking of hitting the slopes for ski vacation, maybe you are a passionate golfer, hiking a trail is more your idea of fun, or maybe relaxing in a tropical paradise if best for you.  Click on the words above and you’ll quickly get a selection of listings with your choice of vacation.  

Interested in some additional facts about IVHE.com properties, watch this YouTube video and learn about additional options available for your next holiday.  

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FREE audio book: Home Exchange Guide

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How do you choose the best home exchange network for you?   This is the topic of chapter 3 in the Home Exchange Guide, just released for you to enjoy.   

There are many options in home exchanging and dozens of home swapping networks and websites. How do you choose which one is going to meet your needs?  Listen to this new podcast and learn about the different features and then choose what is best for you.  

The first two chapters were previously released and are still available.  They cover important topics like Why Home Exchange and Are all Home Exchanges the same?

In future podcasts we will cover additional chapters with the following topics:

     How do you get an exchange?
     How do you ready your home?
     How to prepare for your vacation?

Plus 10 Things to Avoid, Your Membership Checklist, and a sample Home Exchange Agreement.

The author, Larry Klimczyk shares with you useful insights from traveling the world (over 60 countries) and a decade of home swap experiences.  Subscribe to this blog or the podcast series and automatically receive an email when these future chapters are released, or download a PDF version today at Home Exchange Guide. 

Interested in listening to IVHE.com member’s experiences, go to our full range of podcasts or visit our testimonials page. 

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Promote your home exchange property!

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One of the most frequent questions we receive from our members here at IVHE is "How can I increase the number of trade requests I receive?"

Here are a few suggestions we hope you find useful!

1) Keep your availability calendar up-to-date

Our availability calendar feature makes it easy for members to see at a glance whether a property is available on the dates they wish and is a useful way to promote last-minute availability

2) Be involved

There are lots of ways to build your profile and visibility on IVHE. Why not post a message on our Facebook page or submit a blog for the IVHE blog - these are both great ways to increase your properties exposure to IVHE members. An extra bonus is that we will give five free credits for first blog you have published and two for any subsequent ones!

3) Information

The more information you can provide about your property the better. As well as details about your property it is also very useful for potential visitors if you include some local knowledge such as regional festivals and events, good restauarants in the locality and proximity to major tourist attractions. Update the map on your property page.  Add information to make it easy for your guests to choose your property.  

4) Pictures

The saying "a picture says more than a thousand words" is very true when it comes to home exchange, we receive significantly more enquiries for properties with good quality images of both the interior and exterior of the property.

5) Activities 

Update your listing with local activities.  What are fun things to do at or near to your vacation home?  IVHE now has sort options on many different types of activities including golfing, horse riding, sailing, hiking, scuba diving, skiing and many more.  If you update your listing to include the appropriate activity, your property will also appear in these searches.  Plus, you'll find more people interested in trading with you.  

6) IVHE Prime Time

Why not take advantage of IVHE's unique Prime Time offer?  You can submit up to two weeks of Prime Time. Those weeks will show on IVHE's Prime Time availabilities making it easy for members see properties that are available on set dates. As soon as you allocate the weeks and they are approved you get credited with the credit value straight away, so you do not have to wait for a trade to happen on your property before you can start travelling yourself!

As well as being an easy way to boost your credit balance this is also a great way of promoting your property as it will be highlighted in our Prime Time newsletters and Facebook page.

Are you new to home exchange, get a FREE Home Exchange Guide here.  

We hope you find these suggestions useful and would welcome any other suggestions you may have. For more information on home exchange please feel free to contact us any time. 

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Home Exchange anxiety: here is how we can help.

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A checklist to use when choosing a home exchange membership

You have embraced the idea of exploring a new location and enjoying a local home, if it is your first

exchange you will most likely at some point have some anxiety.  Will the home you are visiting really be all it is promoted to be?  Will the visitors to your home treat everything with the same care and respect you do?  These questions and feelings are natural.  Remember that anxiety can also come before a hotel based vacation; is it really like the brochure or are the pictures ten years old?  How can you overcome this anxiety?  

Look to your home exchange network for assistance.  The most reputable organisations have established methods of verifying facts about its members.  This is by identifying experienced traders and having a guestbook of comments for future traders to read about previous trades.  There are also various methods of validation of identities and property features.   While no system is foolproof, it is always good to take steps toward ensuring that you will have the best experience possible.  At IVHE we have a 4 Star Verification service that give you peace of mind about your host and your guests.  

  

If you are an owner of a second / vacation property you might specifically be interested in a home exchange network that offers its members a credit based systems.   Credits place a value on both the time of the exchange as well as the type of property.  A good example is the notion of a holiday or high seasons.  Having a beachfront home in summer is worth more than during the winter, just like a ski in ski out chalet is more valuable during the ski season.  We all know of small apartments in cities like New York, London or Paris that are worth many times more than a large countryside home.  At IVHE our unique credit system gives you great flexibility for your trades and gives you the right value for when you host another exchanger.

Would you like to exchange with only other Seniors?  This is an added option on a select number of home exchange sites.  IVHE also offers this option, see our Seniors Exchange information. 

The internet is a perfect place to start your research on the various home exchange networks.  Remember to ask yourself the above questions and think about what type of exchange community is best for you. 

Would you like a FREE Home Exchange Membership Checklist to help you determine which network is best for you, simply email us here.  We’ll email you a checklist within 24 hours.

There are many options; you might consider joining more than one exchange to expand your opportunities.  The most important of all is to start traveling and have fun!  Enjoy!

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