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This article is a travel topic.
Home exchange or house swapping is a vacation alternative where you stay at someones home while they stay at yours. A house swap may also include an automobile exchange. Other items that can be up for negotiation include the care of pets and plants.
[edit] Understand
Home exchanging has numerous advantages, including significant savings on hotel costs since neither has to pay for lodging. Additional savings can be had when an automobile is also exchanged. And who doesn't prefer a spacious house to a one-room hotel? Whether for a vacation, or a longer term sabbatical, a home exchange allows one to experience a vacation living like a native.
Unless you are exchanging a 5-star villa in the Caribbean or an apartment facing Central Park, finding a home exchange requires a little bit of effort and time. The most efficient way to arrange a home exchange is to search with a 'reverse search', which identifies who wants to come to your area.
The Internet has numerous websites that provide home exchange listings across the globe. You can determine how up-to-date the listings are by reviewing the proposed exchange dates - and good home exchange sites will include both the join and expiry dates within the descriptions so you know exactly how long each exchange offer has been in circulation. Home exchange websites provide a mechanism by which you can get in touch with other people interested in swapping homes. However, you are responsible for your own exchange arrangements.
To increase your chances of concluding an exchange you should post your home swap offer on several home exchange sites (look for those that include full contact details). Look for well established sites with a good choice of up-to-date listings in areas/countries you are interested in. Avoid free sites as home owners who list here are less likely to be committed to arranging home swaps than those who have paid a reasonable fee to be listed on a private, members only site. It is recommended to post your home exchange offer several months before the dates you want to exchange homes. Compile an enticing exchange offer that includes details about your home, yourself, your destination and proposed dates. Periodically check home exchange sites for new home swap listings. And don’t forget to contact new members as soon as possible before they are able to conclude an exchange.
Once you’ve made contact and your potential exchange partner confirms their interest in your home, get to know them better by exchanging e-mails and agreeing to speak on the telephone. To reassure yourself and your exchange partner you should ask for and offer to provide references.
Clean and tidy your home before your exchange. You may also want to fix that leaky faucet that you’ve been meaning to get to for several months now.
Create a guestbook that provides information on using your appliances, local information (e.g. hospital, restaurants, grocery stores, transportation), and contact numbers (e.g. family member or friends, dentist, car garage).
[edit] Home exchange websites
- ExchangeHomes.Com - established back in 1986. US based, British owned with listings from all around the world and very reasonably priced. All memberships are active and current. Lots of helpful information, plus a blog, forum and newsletter. Very secure, yet user friendly website. All listings can be viewed prior to joining.
- ExclusiveExchanges.com - the first home exchange created exclusively and solely for luxury homes. Owners of well-appointed homes in desirable destinations no longer need to wade through thousands of home exchange listings which may not tempt them once they join Exlcusive Exchanges. They offer a year of free membership so that all comers may give it a try before paying the membership fee.
- Global Home Exchange - long established home exchange service based in Canada with over 7000 worldwide listings and partner clubs based in the UK and France.
- Holiday Homes in the UK - although primarily dedicated to holiday homes for rent in the UK, they do have a section for home exchanges which is highlighted in their advanced search area. This site only contains houses in the UK though.
- Home Base Holidays - a long established UK based club with a large choice of exchange offers in many countries (particularly strong on the UK, Europe and Australia) with no listings older than two years. Useful information in regular newsletters and blog.
- Home Exchange Academy - don't join a club before reading this brand new ebook, written by a 25 year veteran of 40+ home exchanges! Learn how to select the club that's just right for YOU! Then how to set up and manage your listing effectively. Download sample, working exchange docs. Full money back guarantee!
- HomeExchange.com - over 9,500 home exchange listings in 88 countries. Listings semm to have more user-entered descriptions of home, people and neighborhood and more photos.
- HomeExchange.Jp - not only Europe and America but also Japan and each country of Asia will be arranged and offered. Website is available in Japanese and English, depend on a browser. It will be available in Chinese in the near future.
- HomeWelcome.com - cost effective home swap and home exchange listings supporting homes and travel locations of over 80 countries.
- Intervac - one of the early clubs, still produces a hard-copy catalog in addition to listings on its website
- Know Your Trade - unaffiliated home exchange hub that rates and reviews all 60+ home exchange clubs in addition to providing home exchange tips.
- spaceXchange.org - a good and quite new website for house swapping, clearly laid out and free membership.
- TheInnExchange.com - another niche home exchange exclusively for bed and breakfast or inn owners. Also offering a year of free membership for prospective members.
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