Home swapping
January 28th, 2008 by KenricEvery year it’s the same tough decision, where do we go mountain biking. This year again, it’s a 50/50 toss up between Sun Valley, Idaho and Crested Butte, CO.
While looking for vacation homes I came across a site called HomeExchange.com. A home exchange is an alternative to renting a place to stay at your vacation destination. Instead you find another family that wants to come visit your city at the same time and plan a home swap.
When you think about it, it does make sense. Nobody is living at your home while you are away for 2 weeks. What better way to save some money and make use of your home while you are gone.
Unfortunately for me, I live in Phoenix and I want to visit other places in the summer. I don’t think that my home is a valuable swapping destination when it is 110 degrees outside here. But this scenario has peaked my interest for vacation rentals again. Because if I had a second home or vacation rental in a resort town, a home exchange could be a great way for me to get away from Phoenix every summer. I bet a Scottsdale house would be a good swap candidate in the winter though. A quick search revealed about 20 homes in Scottsdale in the system.
I have one rental in Chicago which could be considered a desirable city to live in. If I have trouble renting it out this summer, I wonder if I could exchange it for a month in a resort town. I think some people would love to live in Chicago for a month during the summer. In some cases it could be a great deal for one person. If my condo rents at $1,750/mo and I can swap it for a condo in Aspen that rents for $3,000/mo, it would be a great deal for me. It could easily be slanted in the other direction too.
What this site needs desperately is an “I would like to visit” search so I can punch in Phoenix or Chicago and see a list of people who want to visit my cities. Then I can look through the list and see if I want to visit their towns. I am definitely keeping this site in mind for my next long term vacation especially if it’s abroad.
Posted in Real Estate | 7 Comments »
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What a great idea. I had never heard of this before but could see that it is a great alternative and very creative.
I have seen vacation rentals of homes before but to just switch homes. Very interesting idea!
By Daytona Beach Florida Real Estate on Jan 28, 2008
Glad to see home exchange get a good mention – thanks! Home swapping is an idea that has been around since the 1950s (started in the UK by teachers) but has increased in popularity in the last few years as the Internet makes it very easy and quick to check out potential home swaps and, once you are a member of a reputable, established home exchange agency (might I humbly suggest having a look at my own site – Home Base Holidays is based in London and has been operating since 1985: http://www.homebase-hols.com ), contact any members whose offers are of interest to suggest a swap.
If you are considering swapping a second home, that does give you some extra possibilities, i.e. if exchange partners are also able to do it, you can arrange a non-simultaneous exchange so that you both are able to have a vacation at the best time weatherwise in each area).
For more information on home exchange, please see my blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way:
http://homeexchangetravel.blogs.com
Cheers from London,
Lois
By Lois on Jan 28, 2008
I believe the plot for the romantic comedy/chick flick, “The Holiday”, had to do with a home swap…
By Rocco on Jan 28, 2008
“The Holiday” was based on the idea of a home swap but wasn’t a realistic portrayal. In the movie, an American and English woman found each other on a website, immediately agreed to an exchange (to both get over man troubles – what else!) and were winging it across the Atlantic in opposite directions the very next day!
Unlike the fictional home swap, most ‘real’ exchangers take some time to find the most suitable exchange partners, then spend lots of time exchanging emails back and forth before even agreeing to go ahead with an exchange.
By Lois on Jan 28, 2008
As I was reading the original post, the first thing that popped into mind was “The Holiday.” It’s definitely a great movie but I doubt home-swapping would bring everyone the same luck as it did those two girls! The whole home-swapping thing is interesting, though, and definitely something to consider. For everyone who still prefers vacation rentals, I definitely recommend http://www.vacationrentals.com. They have some great listings and definitely at great prices. You can always contact the vacation rental owner directly, so that’s always convenient!
Vacation Rentals
By Marcela on Jan 31, 2008
So happy to have discovered your home base – thanks. We, too, found HomeExchange and wrote about the whole notion here
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2008/04/12/you-may-not-fall-in-love-on-your-next-trip-but%e2%80%a6/#more-588
By kare Anderson on Apr 13, 2008
I’ve done a home exchange and actually used homelink.com. It was awesome! It was over 5 years ago. You might recall I live in Tucson and we swapped with a family in France for 6 weeks. It worked well. Some bugs. Nothing major and a very sweet summer deal for both families. Highly recommend it.
By Cynthia on Jan 24, 2009