Home Exchange

September 10, 2007



Home Exchange

I had heard of the concept of “house swapping” for a number of years but did not know the details of how it worked. A search on the Internet turned up a number of websites dedicated to the practise of people in all parts of the world trading houses cars, cottages and even boats and recreational vehicles. I focused on the www.homeexchange.com website and started to review the more than 8000 listings. The listings have since increased to over 16,000. This increase occurred soon after by the issue of the movie “The Holiday” in December 2005.The concept of a home exchange is the basis of the movie. The home exchange website even featured a mini-preview of the movie for some time.

Home exchange is a website that has the properties listed alphabetically by country and it has several easy-to-use search methods. There is an alphabetical listing by country of homes that are available for exchange. Each homeowner has prepared a description of their town, the home, and a little about their family. They have also indicated their preferences fro the time and places that they would be considering for and exchange. The website has sort feature enabling a viewer to search the listings to see who is interested in coming to your area.

Once two parties are interested in making an exchange, all the arrangements are made without any further contact with Home Exchange. There is a help page with drafts of an exchange agreement for the house and vehicles. Some exchanges are done with a written agreement and others are only verbal arrangements. One posting by a former lawyer described how on his first exchange he completed a multi-page legal agreement covering every imaginable possibility. On the second and subsequently many frequent exchanges he had a one-page agreement! On their first exchange he had found his home was left in better condition than he had kept fit. He also reported that he had spent more time fixing little things around the home in 6 months than he had during a lifetime.
The annual fee was modest and has increased (since the issue of the movie!) to US$100 for the first year. This allows a new user to post the details plus photos of the interior and exterior of their home. Members then can contact each other directly by email. Non-members can browse through the listings but are not able to contact the exchange members.

We found our first exchange by searching for home exchangers interested in coming to our area. A search found a couple that were interested to be near their daughter, who lived 30 minutes from our home. We emailed each other until a suitable time was arranged. We have also had an exchange with a couple that first contacted us. They wished to attend a family wedding and searched for a suitable exchange about 6 months before the wedding date.

The benefits of the exchange program vary but the main one is; that the cost of accommodation while travelling is fixed and it is much lower than using hotels while travelling. Other benefits include; with more space in a furnished and equipped home than that available in hotels, meals can be prepared at home, additional family members or friends may also stay in the new destination. The comfort levels can be better that at home. Homes may have swimming pools, gardens, entertainment centers that are better or different from your own home. In addition to the exchange of homes many exchange offer the exchange of vehicles. This is an additional saving compared to using rental vehicles while on holidays. In some exchanges recreational vehicles, boats and motor homes are also offered.

The home exchange parties pay the utilities, telephone bills, taxes and repairs in their own homes while away. If cars are included in the exchange the license and insurance costs are paid by the car owners. Normal service and fuels costs are paid by the user during the exchange. Major repairs would be paid by the owner. The insurance companies need to be notified that the car will used when you are away A letter with your permission for the named party should be placed in the car.

The experiences of exchangers that are posted on the website are very positive. Some people have made new friends; others say that they have never made so many repairs to their house in such a short time, because they “don’t want to leave it for the folks coming”.

We are often asked if we are worried about leaving our home to strangers. Although there is a concern when leaving your home to strangers, the experiences reported on home exchange website state that people take good care of each other’s homes. Good judgement much be taken to find a suitable exchange and the website provides that exchangers can specify their wants. For example; no smoking in the house, no pets, and no children are preferences that are often posted.

We have had one poor experience, as the home we went to was not as clean as we wished. Our home was also much less clean that we had left it and there were a few small items missing. But other homes and apartments in very good condition and in very attractive locations followed this one poor experience.

Armchairs travellers will enjoy visiting countries and homes. It is an easy way to travel without leaving home! Non-members can browse through the home listings and see the beautiful properties and interesting details about the surrounding areas.

Rental properties are also available, some of the homes are second homes or they have bed and breakfast operations. We rented apartments in Venice and Florence and a beautiful riad (house) in Marrakech that were listed on homeexchange.com.
We have completed a 5 month home exchange in England and a 1 month exchange in Mexico.