More and more people are doing something known as home exchange for vacation instead of paying the high cost of a hotel room. The basis of home exchange is that you trade homes with someone elsewhere in the country during your vacation.
Maybe you want to go to Nashville Tennessee for vacation and someone in Nashville wants to come to your city for a visit. You sign up on any of the various websites now available for home exchange and find someone who meets your criteria.
You don't have to have a fancy home, in fact it is probably best if you don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars in rare art hanging around the house as this is a situation where you must trust a total stranger to respect and take care of your home while you are gone.
Most websites that offer this kind of vacation home exchange do not do background checks but if you want the extra assurance you can find many sites online that will do the checks for a low rate. The way this vacation works is the exchanging families share everything from the family car to the pets. If you accept a home that has fish or hamsters you might be asked to feed them. In return you get the use the entire house including kid's toys while on vacation.
It is always good to check with your insurance company about coverage when allowing someone else to use your home and vehicle during a vacation exchange but in general most insurance covers your home or vehicle no matter who is using them as long as you gave them permission.
It is always best to try to find an equal exchange of sorts. If you have young children that will need toys and a place to sleep you will not want to trade with a single person who lives in a one bedroom apartment in New York City. Consider all your needs and pick someone who has similar needs to yours.
Most websites do require a sign up fee that can vary from fifty to around one hundred dollars. Well worth it when you consider the cost of meals and lodging on an average vacation.
For a limited time http://www.ivhe.com/ is offering free registration for those seeking a vacation home exchange.
Published by TM
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2 Comments
Post a Commentsounds like a fun thing to do. Now I just need to be able to buy a vacation home... ;)
xxx