Second Porch Launches First Facebook Application for Vacation Home Renting and Swapping

Second Porch Launches First Facebook Application for Vacation Home Renting and
Swapping
Trailblazing Web Portal Helps Friends Connect for Trusted Vacation Home
Rentals and Trades

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- By harnessing the power of social
networks, a new online travel portal is helping second homeowners overcome the
biggest barriers to marketing their properties - trust and the fear of renting
to strangers.

Portland-based Second Porch today released into public beta its Facebook
application titled "Rent & Trade Vacation Homes," which is the first socially
enabled vacation home site where travelers and vacation home owners can
connect to recommend, rent, or trade vacation homes. The site sits squarely
in the intersection of two strong consumer trends: the mainstreaming of social
networking, engaging hundreds of millions of users per day and vacation home
rentals as the fastest growing segment of the lodging industry.

Second Porch fills a critical gap in this $50 billion industry, by allowing
vacation home owners to market their properties in a tasteful way to friends,
friends of friends, and, if desired, all 300 million of the social network's
members.

Second Porch launches at an ideal time for the second home market. Due to the
recession, many of the 7.5 million second home owners in the U.S. who
previously avoided renting or trading are now being forced into the market in
order to pay their mortgages. Second Porch provides a perfect entry point for
travelers and owners who have hesitated to rent vacation homes due to trust
concerns. Second Porch users can search for homes based on location, budget,
recommendations, amenities, and -- most importantly -- relationship to the
owner.

"According to a study released earlier this year by travel research firm
PhoCusWright, trust has been identified as a significant industry barrier,"
Brent Hieggelke, Co-Founder and President, Second Porch said. "Second Porch
allows people to easily and tastefully promote their second homes to a trusted
network of friends, and if desired, to other members of Facebook who like
being able to see that there is a real person connected to the home"

Proving its appeal, Second Porch has already attracted hundreds of home
listings during its private beta period, and garnered multiple 5-star reviews.
Led by seasoned professionals and advised by a board including executives with
experience in companies such as Yahoo! and Intel, Second Porch appeals to
several segments of homeowners, including those who are looking to maximize
rental revenue, as well as those who only rent to people they know and trust.
Second Porch also has major appeal to those looking to trade their second
home. 45% of all the homes already listed in Second Porch have opted in for
trading their homes with other homeowners, as well as renting.

Second Porch's attractive, easy-to-use design allows users to display property
photos, information, and updates on their profile pages. Travelers can also
post queries for specific trips and homes sought through a feature called
"friendsource."

Users can choose to "follow" a property, which allows them to bookmark the
home listing and receive updates. They can view or discuss homes their friends
are following or have recommended and decide if they want to follow those
homes as well.

Second Porch integrates with Facebook's wall stream messaging, which allows
friends to discover their friends' vacation rental homes (and the application)
through tasteful updates, photos, and teasers. Simple to use filters help
users to find homes using standard features, including rate, number of
bedrooms, and location; along with unique filters for relationship and whether
available for rent or trade.

http://secondporch.com/
http://apps.facebook.com/secondporch/

SOURCE Second Porch

Melanie Weitzner, Melanie@njfpr.com, or Matt Levison, Matthew@njfpr.com, both
of Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations, +1-212-228-1500, for Second Porch