Home exchange is an obscure and rare activity that has been transformed by the Internet. There are few independent experts on this subject. Most information about home exchange is found on the websites of home exchange agencies. These folks make money by charging membership fees to families hoping to trade their home. It is our opinion that they don’t provide enough advice and what they do tell you is overwhelmingly positive. There are many negatives to home exchange and it is not for everybody. Even in those countries where it is most popular the participation rate is a fraction of 1%.
The purpose of this website is to provide balanced and honest information about home exchange. The Home Exchange Guru is mostly independent but has a few friends in the business including the owners of Homeexchange.com. This may influence our judgments so please keep it in mind.
John, the home exchange guru, has traded his home 12 times. He also has extensive experience in Sister City (twin towns if you are British) and Rotary Club youth and adult exchange programs. He works in a small family business, American Lumber Company, in Modesto, California. He has a degree in Psychology from Stanford University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard. He has lived and worked in Brussels; Montreal, and New York, and speaks French. Hobbies include cycling, gardening, and wine—he’s a certified judge for the California State Fair Wine Competition. He is on the Board of Trustees for the Rotary Home Exchange Fellowship which has a commercial agreement with Homeexchange.com.
All the photos on this website were taken by the Home Exchange Guru, his family, or his home exchange partners.
Julia is John’s British wife and is responsible for the Homeexchangeguru.com logo and certain other graphics relating to this website. Guillaume Delory gets credit for designing the website. Some of the content has been edited by Gardner Rust. Ed Kushins of Homeexchange.com has provided helpful advice and information. Thanks to them all.
Homeexchangeguru.com is a commercial project of American Lumber Company, Inc.
