Occasionally I am contacted either by phone or email by someone viewing the ExchangeHomes.com home exchange website, who is planning a trip to a very specific location and has found just one listing matching where they hope to go. When our completely revised website goes live, these people will be able to join as Associate Members and contact this listing without making any financial commitment, but until the transition is completed and in place it is still necessary for them to join as Full (paid) before they can initiate contact.

In the past I have always suggested to these people that joining is probably not a good idea. Why? because nine times out of ten they will contact the solitary listing they have their hopes pinned upon, only to receive a negative and disappointing response.

Very occasionally a lucky member will strike a bullseye straight away, but more often than not they find it necessary to contact quite a few potential home exchange partners before finding a likely exchange that they can move forward with.

Over the weekend I spoke with a lady who lives in Mobile, Alabama. She is planning a trip to Hong Kong in a very specific time frame in 2008, but the listing she was interested in indicated travel plans to the UK between December and February. Normally I encourage members to approach any listing they are interested in, but for non-members I don't consider that to be a fair proposition. They pay to join, receive a negative response and are left high and dry. Not a good situation for us, and certainly not for them.

In the scope of things, very few home exchangers are able to find a listing located exactly where they want to go, matching their dates and listing their town as their destination. A much more likely scenario involves multiple email contacts and a great deal of flexibility. That's the reality.

As we start thinking of travel plans and vacations for the year ahead, savvy home swappers are also beginning to initiate their exchange contacts. The euphemism about the early bird catching the worm always holds true for home swapping. Of course, as new members continue to join throughout the year there will always be golden opportunities appearing on a daily basis, but year's end is when the "opportunists" can strike. Let me explain.

I always advise members to search the listings paying particular attention to any and all listings located wherever they are hoping to visit. Even if a listing they are particularly attracted to indicates a destination other than their own, no harm will be done by sending them an attractive, well put together inquiry. I constantly hear reports about successful home exchanges with just such beginnings, in fact a couple of my best and most memorable swaps have commenced with emails beginning something like:

"Hello - I know you haven't listed ***** as where you want to visit, but let me tell you about our home and our location - "

In fact one of my earlier postings referred to just such an inquiry my husband and I received. Take a look at: Back Up Contingencies.

I also recall hearing from one of our ExchangeHomes.com members some time ago who was anxious to relate their story about an exchange they initiated with just such an inquiry. This pro-active approach worked for them and both parties had enjoyed a great time. As I recall, they lived in Alberta, Canada and needed to exchange with Oxford. They had located an Oxford listing, but it's owners hadn't even considered Canada, let alone Alberta. They had been enticed and won over with an exceptionally well written inquiry and a link to lots of photographs.

At this time of the year, many members who joined during the early part of 2007 will have arranged and completed their home exchanges for this year, yet it's likely that most of them won't get around to updating their listings with their 2008 plans until they receive their renewal notices. These are the true gems just waiting to be contacted and seduced!