What exactly are home swaps and home swaps?
Home swaps (also called “home swaps” or “home swaps”) are an increasingly popular, web-based mode of luxury travel that is an alternative to uxury hotels. Participants simply live in each other’s home during their vacation.
Home exchanges can be found all over the world. But home exchanges are more popular in various countries and regions that are top travel destinations. Some of the best places for exchangers: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand. Exchange houses proliferate in vacation areas such as beaches, urban centers, ski communities, etc. The houses themselves are often spectacular: beach houses, farms, town houses, lakeside chalets, architect-designed exhibits.
The advantages of home exchanges over hotel stays
Home exchangers say they like this mode of travel for a number of reasons. The most attractive benefit of home exchanges is its frugal, free or very cheap. But there are other reasons why exchanges are a global phenomenon. They allow travelers to live like locals, in real homes typically located in residential areas, not in a tourist ghetto.
There are many more reasons why people love to trade. The home that becomes yours for your vacation is often more spacious and comfortable than a hotel suite, with homey features like kitchens, laundry facilities, closets, extensive technology, and entertainment. The home will often offer many amenities like a home gym, media / tech room, game room, library, pool, hot tub, sauna, cabana, garden, patio, deck, patio, deck, you name it. If a particular feature is important to you, you can find the home that has it.
How home swaps and home swaps work
Different home exchange and home exchange sites may have different procedures, and they may be national, regional, or global. But most home exchanges work the same way. The exchange website is a marketplace like Airbnb, which lists available properties.
Sometimes the exchange is free, and sometimes the exchange site works like a club, with members paying a fee per site or per month. In any case, the exchange sites do not match. It is up to people to find, search and organize their own home exchanges.
This process can be profound, establishing mutual trust. The two parties know each other well and establish trust through emails, phone calls, etc. Once two parties say “Yes,” they organize details like number of guests, pet stays, car / garage use, housekeeping, food and liquor use, and so on. Before the exchange happens, each party prepares their home: they repair, clean, organize, free up closet and drawer space, buy new sheets, make extra keys, and write a “house book” with instructions, contacts, menus. and more.
Many exchange partners fall in love with each other’s homes, and the exchange becomes an annual getaway and the source of a unique friendship.
How to keep your things safe in a home exchange?
How can you trust the people who stay at your house while you stay at yours? Your insurance is the relationship you have established in the planning process and you feel like a friend. Home exchange sites also go to great lengths to verify members. Additionally, the strength of exchangers’ mutual reviews keeps members on their best behavior, such as Airbnb, Amazon, and eBay.
Many exchangers simply create off-limits zones in their homes through a locked closet or room where personal, fragile, or valuable possessions are stored during the exchange. Such space is also useful for keeping items moved to make more space in drawers and cabinets for guests.
For detailed information on security, see the HomeExchange.com article, “Is Home Swapping Safe?”
Are Home Exchanges and Home Exchanges Right For You?
The answer is probably yes if: you think a free vacation spot would be awesome; you are tired of the hotel experience and tired of paying the hotel bills; you have been disappointed by Airbnb places; you are looking for new experiences; on vacation, enjoy living like a local and knowing the destination; prefers residential neighborhoods to tourist areas; You wouldn’t mind cooking for yourself occasionally on vacation; You think it’s cool to experience someone else’s home and you agree to take the time to communicate with interested swappers and make the trade go through.
The answer is probably no if: you are not comfortable with the idea of someone else living in your home (or living in theirs); you just love hotels (dead center location, adventure, status, social life, club floor, luxury hotel service); For you, a vacation means not carrying your own suitcases, deciphering the keys to the house, stocking a refrigerator or making a bed; and you don’t want to spend time and money preparing your home for strangers and composing a “house book” for your guests
Is your home suitable for an exchange?
As for offering your own home for an exchange: it should be well located and well maintained, with nice decor and amenities. You must be willing to improve and beautify your place, which will likely involve repairs, painting, deep cleaning, technology upgrade, new linens and kitchen utensils, patio and porch furniture, and possibly more. If you answer to a cooperative board, community association or similar, home exchanges should be fine for them.
Where to get more information about home exchanges and home exchanges
Visit HomeExchange.com, a leading low-cost exchange site with more than 65,000 global members; see 12 amazing exchange houses from LoveHomeSwap.com; Read why home swaps beat rent or Airbnb.
