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It's hard to know how many Bay Area residents have done home exchanges, but it's clear that the Bay Area is a hotbed of activity. Kushins said about 400 of his listings come from the Bay Area. The directors of the U.S. chapter of another home exchange company, InterVac, are based in the Bay Area.

Another Bay Area couple run a home exchange directory and rating Web site as well as a trade group for home exchange companies, complete with ethics rules and mediation for groups that feel their clients have been poached by upstart clubs.

Why is the Bay Area so popular? Simple, said Nicodemus. San Francisco is a world city.

"New York City, San Francisco and Paris are the three huge, huge areas for home exchange," she estimated. "Wherever you want to go, you can get an exchange if you live in the Bay Area. That's how we got to Paris and Mexico. It wasn't because we were looking to go. It's because people approached us. We get 10 to 20 home exchangers a week writing to us."

Overwhelmingly, though, home-exchange organizations say that negative experiences are rare, even when you consider that people often throw in bicycles or cars as part of the deal.

“By the time you make the exchanges, generally the people are not strangers

“That means that if you allow someone into
your home and they steal everything, you would not be covered.”

He points out that this applies to home swaps, too: “You can get a specialist
policy if you decide to swap homes over Christmas, or you could contact your
existing insurer to extend cover to your guest for the period of the swap.”

Don't
be afraid to offer your place for exchange. Wherever you live, even if
you think this is not an especially attractive destination, someone
might want to go just there.

2.The
same applies for the standards of your property: small apartments,
luxury houses, everything goes. You can exchange a small apartment in
a capital city for a big house in the countryside. Most of the time,
the location is more important than the type of property.

3.
Be sincere and accurate about your place. List everything about it by
including the pros and cons. Discuss important points like phone use
and the heating or cooling system.