Home exchange New Zealand- HomeLink Home Swap & House swap N.Z. & worldwide. Members

Welcome Members
Please take time to read through Valerie & John's 10 steps to your successful Home Exchange

We want you to gain maximum benefit from your HomeLink experience and advise you to read the information carefully. Even if you are a competent computer user I am sure you will find the advice helpful and you will see at a glance the many features of our web site and that of the International Database.

Step 2

Your photos are the first impression other members will get when they are scanning listings. If they are looking for a particular area and see one with the photo of a splendid view and one with the photo of a double bed then naturally they will be drawn to the first listing first. Wouldn't you?

Loading photos. NB The images on this Help section are not LIVE!! You will have to login to perform these tasks. To get to this section click 'edit my listing' on the left menu after Login.

Its best to get photos on your listing as soon as possible. You may have up to 20 photos of your home/ your views/ your neighbourhood. A caption is useful & easy to apply. Simply type in the text box below the expanded photo and click the disk (right) to save.
You are permitted a maximum of 20 photos. These can be of any file size up to a maximum of 1MB. Very tall or wide photos can not be loaded and photos that are under about 50 kb in size will not be suitable as they are too small and would appear grainy. If you are scanning a photo then the normal sized photo is fine.
To load photos
1. Log on. This will take you to the 'list of countries'
2. Click on 'edit my listing' You will see the following

Click 'Browse' and look for you photo file which like me you may have saved in 'My Pictures' - Double Click the photo, the photo file will appear in the 'Browse' address bar. Click 'upload the photo file' and wait for photo to upload and appear .
N.B. Photos must be loaded one at a time and must be under 1mb. The optimum size for speed of loading and clarity of photo is 150kb
The Photo with the blue border is the one selected for the book. If you wish to change this just click on the arrows. Photos can be added or replaced as wished.

The main photo need not necessarily be of your house. Your view may be spectacular and you can use this. Don't have your bedroom as your number one photo!

Step 4

Search facilities

How to search:- Try not to be too specific. Below is the 'Advanced search' You will see the search parameters I have used here are simply 'Where you want to go' and 'Your country' You will notice that 'Open to Offers' and 'Seeking Europe' is unchecked. This is a basic search that will find all Canadian members who want to come to NZ. If you uncheck 'Open to offers" you will add several hundred. This is a good starting place. If you want to be more specific you can search for 'skiing' 'Americas', 'Dates' and many other things
Have a look at the Menu (below left) Under Members Option you will see all the options available for use associated with your listing including your Messaging account. Below that you can return to the NZ Web site.

Step 6

The Messaging system is simply a Web based system and not unlike Hotmail. If you are unsure how to use this type of Messaging/email you will find a complete Help on the Messaging menu

We recommend that you are proactive and send messages to a number of possible opportunities. It pays not to rely on contacting just one or two, but always remember to personalise your messages.

"Dear John & Mary" is much more likely to elicit a response than "Hi fellow exchanger"

Step 7

Forms - an essential part of your exchange- Exchange Agreement & Exchange Evaluation Form

In order to avoid any misunderstanding between you and your exchange partner, it is very important to fill in an Exchange Agreement form and a Car Exchange form. This is important especially for detailing the dates and duration of your exchange and the contact details of your exchange partner.

For HomeLink to intervene in the unlikely event that a problem should occur both Members must have current registrations with HomeLink at the time the contract is signed.

After the completion of your exchange we suggest that you complete an Exchange Evaluation form. Many members appreciate using these forms as a reference for exchange purposes. You can then advertise 'References available' on your listing.
You will find these electronic forms along with an explanation for their use on the Members Options shown in Step 5
Of course if you prefer the paper version of the forms then these are available on the NZ members page.

Step 8

Information pack for you visitors - An introduction to your home & area

We must emphasise the critical importance of your information for visiting home exchangers. It can make a huge difference to their stay to have comprehensive details. Its best to keep a filing box or clear book. A few hints below:-

Detailed information regarding use of appliances along with brochures.
Details about how your house 'works' - alarms, rubbish collection etc
Emergency numbers.- Don't forget that our emergency number is different from those overseas.
Doctors- Ambulance-Hospitals- plumbers-electricians etc......
Shops/Restaurants/
Local area attractions and walks
Name & number of a friendly neighbour
Maps, near & far Very important
Local transport timetables

Step 9

Ten International Principles for a successful HomeLink Exchange

1. Describe your home honestly in your listing and in all correspondence. You want your exchange partner to be pleasantly surprised when he or she arrives, not disappointed. Never hide the existence of pets.

2. Leave your home clean. Standards of cleanliness vary so make sure that the floors are vacuumed & mopped. Refrigerator emptied, stove & oven grease free, bath & shower free of mould & grime and surfaces dust free

3. Clear away enough of your personal belongings to leave space on shelves and in closets and drawers so that guests can empty their suitcases, arrange their things in bedrooms and bathrooms and feel at home. Any items that are precious or breakable that you are worried about can easily be stored in a locked 'no go' area of your house

4. Leave enough clean sheets and towels.

5. Compile a clear and useful "Guide to your home and surroundings" which includes local tourist in formation and household notices about the use of electrical appliances, pool maintenance, pet and plant care and when the rubbish is put out

6. Use your HomeLink Exchange contract to avoid all misunderstandings and clarify who pays for what in terms of telephone, electric bills, insurance in case of accidents and staple foods such as flour sugar, seasonings etc.

7. Make sure your exchangers have the contact number for a friendly neighbour for when they have any problems. . It is also very important to have an up to date set of emergency numbers. The NZ emergency number, your doctors number, electrician, plumber etc.

8. Leave the makings of a first meal. Just a snack to keep them going until they have time to go shopping.

9. It has become a HomeLink tradition to leave a small gift of welcome eg. A bottle of local wine. Always a nice surprise.

10. At the end of your stay, before leaving your exchange residence, don't forget to put things back where you found them and leave the house organised and clean - a welcome sight to your partners when they arrive home
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Step 3

Listing presentation. You can change your listing any time you wish by clicking 'Edit listing' and should remember to keep it up to date. Each editing area is fully explained.

The main area for attention when you are a new member is the 'free text' which is alongside 'Additional information'. You don't need to go into great detail about your house here as your area is what most people are interested in. If you stay in a hotel you are more interested in what the local vicinity offers than what the room is like and this is just the same for Home Exchangers.

You can point out the local attractions, the proximity of public transport, shopping etc. Also include details of where you are seeking an exchange and when.

Remember 'Brief is best' don't go into huge detail as this area is an introduction for you. When you make contact with other members you can go into greater detail.

You can add to and change your dates and destinations in this area also. Make sure that you keep them up to date. There is nothing worse than seeing a listing with requested dates for March and it is already September of that year. If you have secured your required exchange and don't want to be bothered any more you can click on 'Have Exchange' We don't really recommend this unless you never want to travel again.

Our faithful group of members who retain their membership (well in excess of 60%) treat our service as a way of life for holidays and simply wait for the offers to come in for their future holidays. When you become accustomed to the service you will find it as a friendly comfortable cost effective way of travelling that you would never have thought possible before.

If you have or would like to have a Personal Web Page you can add the URL for this (near the bottom) Please not that this is strictly for HomeExchange purposes and Commercial Sites are not permitted.

NB. PLEASE REMEMBER TO 'UPDATE THE DATABASE', AS INSTRUCTED WHEN YOU HAVE EDITED YOUR LISTING