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Home Exchange Membership Discount

February 17th, 2010

This is a very active time for home exchange travelers. Many swapers are finalizing their summer vacations on JewettStreet. Come and join us! Right now we run a membership special for € 30/ US$ 30. You save 25 % with discount code Swap2010. The promotion ends on February 28, 2010. Join us now

JewettStreet’s Advantages at a Glance   

 

  • A guaranteed home exchange in your first year, or the next 6 months are on us!
  • Personal coaching how to arrange a successful home exchange.
  • Absolute discretion.
  • Membership includes up to 3 listings! (e.g. your primary home, your second home, your yacht, your RV).
  • Access to 15.000+ listings through our partner agency - for you free
  • A user- friendly and easy to navigate website.
  • A 1-click contact form allows for easy first contact between members.
  • You can load up to 7 photos for each listing.
  • We have an extensive Advanced Search function.
  • We offer you a quick response customer service by email and phone.
  • Our listings are up-to-date.
  • Our team of international travelers (of various cultural backgrounds) have lived overseas for many years. Whatever your question, rest assured you will be in good hands. We will help you find the best possible solution.

View Latest Listings


Why Should I Pay a Membership Fee if There Are Free Home Exchange Sites?

November 16th, 2009

There dozens of home exchange sites available on the Internet. Some have been around for decades, others are brand-new. There are big differences in the quality and services of home exchange clubs. Ask yourself, for instance, how easily can you navigate through their system,
how quickly do they respond to a customer question,
do they have advertisement on the site,
how do you like the overall appeal of the site?

Choose one or several clubs that feel right to you.

Home Exchange clubs that ask you for a small membership fee usually are established sites. Their members are committed home exchangers, often returning year after year. This gives you a much greater chance of finding your own home exchange.

Consider how much you pay for a simple hotel room in any metropolitan area. Just one night at you first home exchange destination will already cover the costs of your membership with an established home exchange agency.

In addition, if you don’t find a home exchange in your first year, JewettStreet, for instance, offers you an additional free six months of membership and develops a personal home exchange success strategy with you.

So, in case you still wonder if you should join a free or a fee-based home exchange club, remember, you get what you pay for!


Why Home Exchangers Make Great House Sitters

August 23rd, 2009

Last week, in the midst of dinner preparation time, a door-to-door salesman knocked at our front door. He was the second one within two days. This hadn’t happened in years and it reminded me of long forgotten times as a child, when traveling salesmen were a common sight in residential areas where I grew up in Switzerland. In the course of our 30-second conversation, he put his attention to two things mainly: He tried to get a glance at the inside of our home and gave the heirloom coral beaded necklace I wore an appraising look. I was perplexed. We live in one of the wealthiest areas of Germany, the country is in the middle of a deep recession, there are school holidays in Bavaria and all of a sudden traveling salesmen start to show up at doors again. Not during the day, but in the evening, when people who are not on vacation are more likely to be at home and therefore unoccupied residences are more noticeable. 
Maybe I overreacted and the traveling salesman was honestly trying to sell household products, but the thought of having home exchangers in our house while we will be on vacation the coming weeks made me feel much more comfortable.

Your home exchange guests make great house sitters and they can take care of your animal(s) and plants, too. What a fantastic deal!


Message from Recovered Home Exchanger in LA

July 30th, 2009

In May of 2008, an unusual home exchange request reached the larger home exchange community from Los Angeles.

A member of Home Base Holiday had been diagnosed with leukemia and she was also pregnant. She was looking for home exchange accommodation near Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills during the course of her cancer treatment immediately after her baby was born late July.
In a joined effort, several home exchange clubs among them JewettStreet, contacted their members in LA in order to help Leslie, the pregnant cancer patient, to find suitable accommodation. In the process Leslie and I developed an interesting and profound email correspondence. Needless to say the contact faded as the estimated due date was nearing.

I have been thinking ever since what happended to Leslie and her baby. This week I got mail from her:

“Thanks for checking in on me.  I am doing very well.  My baby, Merceda, just turned 1 on the 15th and both she and I are healthy.  I had chemo in Sept. and went into remission in October.  I feel entirely normal except the way I look at life is very different now.  I am extremely grateful and try very hard to live in the present moment.  I understand what a gift is each moment that I am healthy and alive.”

Leslie has written about her unusual journey in her own blog


Hospitality Exchange – for Many the First Step Toward Home Swapping

July 24th, 2009

15 % of all JewettStreet members with an own listing indicate their interest in a hospitality exchange in addition to the more popular home exchange option.  Offers are evenly spread across Europe, North America and the rest of the world and across urban, suburban and rural regions.

If you are new to home exchange, but resist the idea because of the thought of having strangers in your house, you might be a candidate for a hospitality exchange. 

Instead of exchanging homes, hospitality exchangers stay with you as your guests and then, at an arranged date, you stay at their home as their guests. It is a great first step to becoming familiar with home exchanging without leaving your possessions to strangers. As a second step after you have gotten to know your house guests better - you might like to exchange homes with them.

Why not start out with a hospitality swap in your own region for a weekend? A short stay works well, too, if your home has limited guest capacity.

Of course, there are the inveterate hospitality exchangers as well. They prefer to be hosts. It gives them the opportunity to socialize and meet interesting people from all walks of life and from all over the world. You can’t beat that!


Some Interesting Facts about Hospitality Exchangers

37 % of all JewettStreet members who like hospitality exchanges are entrepreneurs/ business owners

31 % are academics

30 % are retired/ semi-retired

25 % have kids

72 % have a home with 2 or more bedrooms

26 % have a home with 3 or more bedrooms

Here is a list of hospitality offers in your area. Use the Advanced Search and select specific criteria such as geographical region, type of residence, amenities, activities, access and much more to find your dream swap.


The JewettStreet BlogHaus

The founder of JewettStreet.com, Ursula Godwin Niesmann, maintains this blog for JewettStreet members and for anyone interested in Home Exchange.

If you have any questions, or suggestions, feel free to use the JewettStreet contact form. See you soon again!

Yours,
The JewettStreet.com Team


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