Home Swapping: Home Exchange Programs Allow You to Vacation on a Budget
A home exchange program allows consumers to switch homes for the duration of the vacation. You simply pay the mortgage on your home as you would usually do and the people you switch with will do the same.
The basic of a successful home exchange is finding a person or family who wants to visit your city at the same time you want to visit theirs. The most important and often times difficult task is marketing your home. There are a number of subscription based Web services that allows potential swappers to meet. Theses services only give you an audience, sealing the deal is entirely up to you. A good idea is to study real estate markets to get an idea of what qualities you are looking for. Also be descriptive in your listing, make readers feel comfortable about your home and neighborhood. Post photos of your home and highlight the most appealing features such as the kitchen, landscaping or bed-bathrooms.
Of course you always ask for references, asked if the person you are considering ever swapped before. Likewise, have a set of your own references available.
Protect yourself, plan for a successful trade by drawing up contracts. Before making a swap check your home insurance policy to make sure you are covered. Finally common sense is the key, of course you won't leave the family jewels thrown around you home but you do not have to hide the china.
A Sampling of Services
www.Homeforexchange.comwww.homelink.com
Cost: $55 per year
This websit allows you see how many listing are available Company has offices in all contries it services
in select places.
www.home-exchange-us.homelink.org/
Cost: $90 per year
www.intervacus.com/
Cost: $78.88 for a web only one year membership
Cost: $126 for a book and web one year membership
Published by Lorraine Hayden
I'm a freelance writer, wife and mother. View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentIf you love traveling I found this website that has a lot of travel
information if you want to read of great vacations ideas
http://www.greatvacationspots.net/
This is a nice concept. You can also try exchanging home online at : www.RECIPLOCATION.com
Great article. With travel becoming so expensive, a home exchange makes a lot of sense.
You may also want to take a look at:
1st Home Exchange (1stHomeExchange.com).
13,000+ homes in 130 countries - definitely makes for a large number of travel possibilities!
Excellent article Lorraine.
Very well thought out, with a lot of important points addressed. Clearly you spent a lot of time with your research and you are to be commended.
In this current economic climate Home Exchange makes so much sense because it completely eliminates all the usual accommodation expenses associates with vacationing. Plus, many exchanges also include the family car - another great saving!
Your readers will find a lot of home exchange offers, member stories and general advice in the website www.homeforswap.com .
Best Wishes!
We love to exchange. We joined a few sites, but like the features at easy home exchange the best. It seems to have the most up to date listings, small community, and is easy to use. It was also free, so cost us nothing to give it a try. I don't know if I can post the link here but will try. www.easyhomeexchange.com
Got a comment our post on home exchanging?
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2008/04/12/you-may-not-fall-in-love-on-your-next-trip-but%e2%80%a6/#more-588
Just last week I added a post to my blog, which, among other things, also emphasized the importance of extensive communication with likely exchange partners before committing to a
definite arrangement. My company - ExchangeHomes.com - has been in the home exchange business since 1986 and no-one has ever reported an instance of malicious damage or theft. As you point out, it's also critical that potential home swappers join a legitimate home exchange company. One point they seriously need to consider is do they want to join a "closed", members only website where the company has a record of all of their members, or are they willing to risk an "open" site which allows literally anyone to contact their paid members. A similar situation occurs between new companies which are building their databases by offering free memberships, versus established companies that charge fees. Payments provide them with verification for all their members while the "freebie" websites don't have this luxury.
I never thought about doing this but it looks like it could work. This was a great article that you put together. I will have to think back to this article the next time I happen to go on vacation.
This is a great idea. I have never really looked into it, but will.
Hi Lorraine, Thanks for writing about home exchange - it's always great to come across excellent articles on the subject. I started Home Base Holidays in London 22 years ago and, in the past few years, growing numbers of people have become aware of the home exchange way of travelling. Please do check out my blog, http://homeexchangetravel.blogs.com for more information about swapping homes and browse 100s of current home exchange offers at http://www.homebase-hols.com
Cheers, Lois