Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 7 (of 7) - Locality Features

Tip 7 : Locality Features.

When people are looking for a home to exchange, they are also interested in what is around the area. Schools, churches, golf courses, sports centres, shops and shopping centres and whatever else your area has of interest. If it’s a distance away from features, then you might show public transport such as nearest bus stop, station or airport. If you are prepared to make your car, bike or whatever available for your exchange partners' use, then make the suggestion. Add photos of these areas and also any places of interest in your neighbourhood.

Examples from current home exchange listings:

Photo, left: house in Juneau, Wisconsin, USA, HE19814

Photo, above: cottage in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, HE19812

Photo, above: apartment in Marina del Este, Andalucia, Spain, HE17147

Photo, right: house in Blackwood, Gwent, Wales, HE14267

In conclusion ...

Tell a story with your photographs. People want to know more than how many beds you have, and whether you have a dining area. These (provided the exchange party can be comfortably accommodated in your home) are not as important as the lifestyle you are offering to share with your home exchange partners.

Looking through the photos Lois sent as possible examples of the tips I've covered, I have realised that family personalities do come out in the photos and that is great. For example, in the photos used in this listing (house in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, HE19765), I like the child influence and the family sounds fun.

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M-carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 6 (of 7) - Pets, Gardens, Pools, Services

Tip 6 : Are there pets or garden routines, or services that your home exchange guests would need to attend to? A pond or pool may require maintenance as does solar systems and lawns. Show photographs of these so the member knows to ask questions about what may be involved in terms of time and commitment. You may offer to leave the internet on, and stop external calls on the telephone. If these items are negotiable for your exchange partner's use, aim to show them in photographs. I would be lost without the Internet, for instance, so that needs to be discussed and negotiated.

Examples from homes currently available for exchange:

Photo, above: cottage in Monda, Malaga, Spain, HE19632

Photo, right: (same as above)

Photo, left: cottage in Dorsington, Warwickshire, England, HE13149

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M-carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 5 (of 7) - Using Unusual Angles and Portrait Shots

Tip 5: Unusual angles and portrait shots give different dimensions. If it’s a high-rise apartment or an unusual building, show this in the photo to entice the viewer. If there are extra features such as a pool, patio, barbecue area or pagodas and atriums, show these as you want to highlight the living features of the house, not possessions, for here you are selling a lifestyle to potential home exchange partners, not simply the house.

Examples for current homes available for exchange:

Photo, above: house in Sherfield English, Hampshire, England, HE19800

Photo, right: house in Maple Bay, BC, Canada, HE17794

Photo, above: house in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England, HE12989

Photo, right: house in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, HE15545

Note to Home Base Holidays members: by all means use a variety of photos, including portrait shots, but choose a photo in landscape format as Picture 1. This photo is also included as a small thumbnail in your summary listing shown in search results (using a landscape photo avoids distortion in the thumbnail photo).

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M-carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 4 (of 7) - Include Different Outside Views

Tip 4: Include a rear and maybe side view of the house too. This shows whether there is a garden, the locality, the back features and sets a location and perspective to the property. Use flash to avoid dark corners and areas, or take the photograph when the light is good. If you have a garden that your home exchange partners would need to maintain, make sure this is also shown.

Examples of different outside views of current homes available for exchange:

Photo, above: house in Chaco del Palo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, HE18764

Photo, right: cottage in Appleby, Cumbria, England, HE19593

Photo, left: house in Honeoye, New York, USA, HE19763

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M-carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 3 (of 7) - Full View of Entrance

Tip 3: Include a full photograph of the home from an entrance point. This also helps your home exchange guests to find the home when they first come. They also get an idea of what the house or apartment block actually looks like from the street, whether there is a garage and parking, and maybe the garden and the general appearance. It also sets a standard for what you expect the house to be maintained like in neatness, order, and presentation.

Examples of good front views of homes:

Photo, above: cottage in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England, HE18628

Photo, right: house in Oliver, BC, Canada, HE18776

Photo, left: house in Haines City, Florida, USA, HE19644

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M-carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz

Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 2 (of 7) - Focus on an Area

Tip 2: Focus on an area. By adding a person or people you can show the size and dimensions of the room and area, using the photograph to share a story with potential home exchange partners. This can be more effective, and better understood, than actually showing the whole room, especially if there are features associated with an area.

Examples of photos that focus on one area or use a person or objects (the set table) to give an idea of the size of a room:

Photo, above: cottage in Haworth (Bronte Country), Yorkshire, England, HE19812

Photo, right: house in Sharnford, Leicestershire, England, HE14668

Photo, left: house in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, HE13370

Marguerite Carstairs 2007©

http://M-carstairs.com http://M.carstairs.com/ebooks http://Activeenglish.biz