How To Set Up a Home Swap for the Holidays?

A Vacation home swap, also called a Vacation home exchange, was in the past fairly difficult to arrange, but now it can all be done quickly and easily online. Here we will describe exactly how to do it.

You first have to decide if you are comfortable with people you don’t know using your house; and if you would be comfortable being in someone else’s home. Nowadays this is the most preferred choice for most families.

Next, you need to think about the place you want to go to, and the dates you would like to travel.

Arranging a Holiday House Swap

Arranging a holiday house swap is not as simple as booking a hotel room or a holiday rental, so you will need to start the process well in advance of the dates you want to travel. Next, you need to find other members whom interested in house swapping with you.

Signing up for one of the many online home swap or vacation exchange agencies is the simplest way to achieve this. They already have a list of users who may be interested in house swapping with other members.

You can exchange homes within your own country, or abroad. I have had extremely happy home swaps with families in the Scottish Highlands, central London, the west of Ireland, central Brisbane, tropical Queensland, and a wonderful Greek island.

Joining a Home Swap Membership

When you join such a holiday house swap service you will be able to search for appropriate properties in the destination you want, then contact the owners to see if they want to come to your house. Owners quite often state their preferences, both in time and destination, so it is easy to see if you will be a good match. Others are retired or have a lot of spare time too. They are open to recommendations – in other words, they are open to the concept of visiting a new place.

When you sign up with such a service you will also get offers from other families wanting to do an exchange: you can say yes or no as you wish. Though you are able to give a certain amount of detail about your own house, and about your own city or area in your listing on the home exchange website, the other party may contact you seeking further information; and of course, you can do the same, so you are sure the property and the place are what you would like.

After you’ve established that both sides agree to go forward, you may finalize the details, such as days and hours, keys, and whether or not you want to switch vehicles as well. When the time comes, you can relax and enjoy a low-cost vacation!

Difficult Part of Organizing a Holiday House Swap

The most difficult part of organizing a holiday house swap is locating another family to trade with. Even if you use an online provider, it could take weeks or months.

Of course, if you reside in a desirable location, such as New York or Los Angeles, you should have no trouble getting offers based on your listing preferences. It may take longer to discover a match if you are in a remote location.

Home exchanges are now particularly popular in all English-speaking countries, as well as France, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Holland, and Mexico.

The financial recession may have something to do with the growing popularity of home-exchange holidays, but there are many benefits in addition to the low cost of such a holiday – good and usually spacious accommodation with the comforts of home, privacy, getting away from tourist crowds, and the chance to see how other people live – the chance to get a real feel for other cultures.

The Great Benefit of Your Home Exchange Holidays

If you have kids, having them in a private home rather than a hotel makes for a more stress-free experience. Don’t forget too that if you are in a simultaneous home exchange. Then your own home is being looked after while you are away – and your pets too if that is what you arranged.

The other great benefit of your home exchange holidays (for you are likely to do it more than once) is that because it is ‘free’ accommodation you have the chance to get to exotic or city center destinations you would never have considered before, because of their outrageous hotel prices.

The Home Exchange Services

For the most desirable destinations, you will have to give yourself enough time in the home exchange service to achieve an exchange – and it pays to be flexible with dates too, to get the exchange you really want. In the past few years, it was hard to set up a home exchange. But with the new web-based services, which are extremely easy to use. You can signup and look for your ideal exchange in minutes.