Has anyone actually done a home exchange?
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Hells Bells
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lightning strikes
- Posts: 3
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That hardly seems like an exchange Helen B. I mean it's supposed to be fair, isn't it? Otherwise it defeats the purpose.
Clearly one has to be flexible if approaching someone to exchange. If I got 'terms & conditions' early on in the negotiations I'd be wary. I'm interested in doing exchanges with like minded individuals, but I don’t think I'm in a position to dictate terms to them. You can’t have your cake and eat it!
Who in there right mind would be interested in exchanging their holiday home at a popular time of year for another holiday home in the unpopular off season.
Come on holiday home owners if you want to trade your commodity . . . you best make a fair offer!
Niall
Clearly one has to be flexible if approaching someone to exchange. If I got 'terms & conditions' early on in the negotiations I'd be wary. I'm interested in doing exchanges with like minded individuals, but I don’t think I'm in a position to dictate terms to them. You can’t have your cake and eat it!
Who in there right mind would be interested in exchanging their holiday home at a popular time of year for another holiday home in the unpopular off season.
Come on holiday home owners if you want to trade your commodity . . . you best make a fair offer!
Niall
6 months holidays, twice a year
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harcourtv57
- Posts: 1433
- Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:14 pm
- Location: Southsea, UK, Porto Cristo Mallorca
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We offer our rental properties for swaps on two home exchange sites, but state that as they are part of our holiday letting business, they are only available out of season and we would prefer to swap with other second home owners so it doesn't have to be simultaneous. But we still get lots of enquiries for swaps during July and August and for long term swaps where they haven't read the info!
However, we have had two great exchanges, one in September to the Loire valley and one last October to Tuscany and have another one 'banked' to Cologne in Germany. They came to us earlier in the year, but so far we haven't been able to go to them.
We have been offered swaps to Sicily and France next year and are currently trying to arrange a short break with another holiday property owner in Scotland, which with Ryanair offering flights for as little as £1 from Bournemouth (we are in POrtsmouth UK) makes a very cheap break!
It worked very well but we much prefer to swap with other holiday home owners rather than stay in someone else's home.
However, we have had two great exchanges, one in September to the Loire valley and one last October to Tuscany and have another one 'banked' to Cologne in Germany. They came to us earlier in the year, but so far we haven't been able to go to them.
We have been offered swaps to Sicily and France next year and are currently trying to arrange a short break with another holiday property owner in Scotland, which with Ryanair offering flights for as little as £1 from Bournemouth (we are in POrtsmouth UK) makes a very cheap break!
It worked very well but we much prefer to swap with other holiday home owners rather than stay in someone else's home.
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harcourtv57
- Posts: 1433
- Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:14 pm
- Location: Southsea, UK, Porto Cristo Mallorca
- Contact:
We offer our rental properties for swaps on two home exchange sites, but state that as they are part of our holiday letting business, they are only available out of season and we would prefer to swap with other second home owners so it doesn't have to be simultaneous. But we still get lots of enquiries for swaps during July and August and for long term swaps where they haven't read the info!
However, we have had two great exchanges, one in September to the Loire valley and one last October to Tuscany and have another one 'banked' to Cologne in Germany. They came to us earlier in the year, but so far we haven't been able to go to them.
We have been offered swaps to Sicily and France next year and are currently trying to arrange a short break with another holiday property owner in Scotland, which with Ryanair offering flights for as little as £1 from Bournemouth (we are in POrtsmouth UK) makes a very cheap break!
It worked very well but we much prefer to swap with other holiday home owners rather than stay in someone else's home.
However, we have had two great exchanges, one in September to the Loire valley and one last October to Tuscany and have another one 'banked' to Cologne in Germany. They came to us earlier in the year, but so far we haven't been able to go to them.
We have been offered swaps to Sicily and France next year and are currently trying to arrange a short break with another holiday property owner in Scotland, which with Ryanair offering flights for as little as £1 from Bournemouth (we are in POrtsmouth UK) makes a very cheap break!
It worked very well but we much prefer to swap with other holiday home owners rather than stay in someone else's home.
holiday home swap
We have just spent a successful week in beautiful Brittany exporing the coast and enjoying the amazing weather. It was just something that came up and yes they will be coming to our gite in summer peak rate £300 but to be honest our gite is secondary income anyway and due to work commitments it was just an excuse to take a chance and get a well deserved break. Looking forward to meeting the family we swapped with in the summer and trying another (different) swap!
home is where you lay your @
We swapped one of our gites in June for a Teneriffe apartment in November. It was when we were doing a lot of renovation work and we wanted a bit of a lazy away from it all in the sun when our season was done. It worked out well except that the heated pool wasn't heated but we did get our chill in a warmer climate.
We have done lots of home exchanges and swap both our holiday home and our primary home. For us it works on a number of levels:
- 1. It's cheaper as someone already pointed out - if we rent our house we have cleaning costs, handover fees, tax to pay etc and if we rent it comes out of post tax income.
2. We don't really like resort type holidays and prefer to visit unusual destinations and travel 'unconventially'. Home exchange allows us to experience their country as a local.
3. We have also had use of their gym / theatre / club / museum passes, discount vouchers etc. We have also benefitted from the use of their car, boat, camping / ski equipment etc.
4. We get a much better quality home - primary homes usually have extensive book collections, DVD libraries,music collections, original artwork, cable TV, high quality sound systems, well equipped kitchens, high speed internet...
5. It has been the start of some lovely friendships.
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Joe Murray
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun May 23, 2010 9:22 pm
- Location: San Francisco
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Bartering for Your Vacation
Home exchange, as a practical, economical means of travel appeals to more people every day. After all, it's hard to knock the opportunity to reduce travel expenses while vacationing in a spacious home rather than a hotel room. Today, on the Internet over 60 home exchange agencies offer listings to an endless variety of travel destinations. The cost of joining an agency is often less than one night’s hotel stay. By some estimates there are over a quarter of a million home exchange “listings” in over fifty countries available at any given time and that number is growing at an astounding rate.
Let’s get down to specifics: Say you live in San Francisco and would like to spend your two week vacation in Paris. Assuming you’re a couple, round trip economy airfare will probably run about $2,000, give or take; figure about $500/day for a 2 - 3 star hotel; that’s another $7,000. At least one nice restaurant meal per day (you are from San Francisco, after all) will set you back approximately $300/day or $4,200 total. Tack on another $100/day for miscellaneous (museums, transportation, the Eiffel Tower, etc.) and you’re out about fifteen grand by the time your wheels touchdown back at SFO.
Now let’s run through the same scenario using home exchange: First, like most good things, it’s not as easy as I may have made it seem. Count on two to three months of planning and a fair amount of effort to begin the process. Think of it as creating your own Bed & Breakfast. Ninety percent of what you should accomplish before you can go swap hunting will never need to be duplicated. Once things are in place, only occasional tweaking is required for future swaps. I suggest looking at KnowYourTrade.com which offers many valuable resources including several on line books and manuals written specifically to simplify this process. They also list and review all home exchange agencies with more than 100 listings, including exclusive membership fee discounts for many of them. The Financial Times of London wrote, “For the anxious first-timer, the initial port of call should be Know Your Trade, which has a comprehensive list of sites, as well as reviews and advice.”
Now you’re ready to figure home exchange your trip cost: airfare will be the same -$2,000 (with the money you’re saving, you might consider upgrading to business); accommodations cost you $0, although you may think about leaving a $50 - $100 gift basket upon departing. You probably will want to take advantage of those incredibly delicious goodies in the Parisian shops and open-air markets (something you can’t do staying in a hotel). Enjoying these gourmet treats at your own dining room table, will not only make you feel like a Parisian, but will cut back on your expenses significantly. If your trading partner leaves you a car and/or bicycles, which is very often the case, your transportation costs drop to a tank of gas for the entire trip (unless you plan on taking a few days out in the countryside).
Let’s add it up: $2,000 for airfare, $1,000 business upgrade (you couldn’t resist), about $250/day for everything else (and you’ll find that’s generous) and wheels down back at SFO will cost you about $6,000. Net savings: around $9,000 or 60%! Seems pretty outrageous, doesn’t it? But, as a matter of fact, it’s fairly typical and in many cases, one experiences even greater savings!
In spite of this and the international variety of possible vacation sites, many prospective swappers feel that that they could be walking into a mine field, were they to arrange a home exchange. Research has shown that the greatest deterrent to home exchanging today is fear of the unknown. In reality, nearly all home exchangers are professionals: I’ve made swaps with university professors, physicians, lawyers (perhaps the most risk adverse beings on the planet), engineers, a New York theater producer; I once traded apartments with a Dutch diplomat in Paris.
So where does this apprehension stem from? Primarily from two distinct areas: fear of having a stranger in your home and concern that your swap destination may not be to your liking. The first is relatively easily mitigated with an explanation of the home exchange process. By the time you actually make your home exchange, you’ve exchanged half dozen emails, perhaps had a phone conversation or two, sent and received house and car keys. The stranger is now an acquaintance and well on their way to becoming a friend.
The second fear is not that easily explained away. In fact, just like any hotel or vacation rental, your home exchange destination will only truly reveal itself to you upon arrival. Of course you will have seen multiple pictures, even videos, on your computer screen and read all about the various amenities provided in the exchange listing’s description. But no matter how you slice it, you’re never going to be sure you like where you’re going until you get there. This however, is true of any vacation; so hotel or house swap; you still have to choose your holiday destination wisely.
As a veteran of over forty swaps, all I can tell you is that literally everyone I know who has tried vacation home exchanging once has gone back for seconds. So give residence swapping a chance; you won’t be sorry.
[/b]
Let’s get down to specifics: Say you live in San Francisco and would like to spend your two week vacation in Paris. Assuming you’re a couple, round trip economy airfare will probably run about $2,000, give or take; figure about $500/day for a 2 - 3 star hotel; that’s another $7,000. At least one nice restaurant meal per day (you are from San Francisco, after all) will set you back approximately $300/day or $4,200 total. Tack on another $100/day for miscellaneous (museums, transportation, the Eiffel Tower, etc.) and you’re out about fifteen grand by the time your wheels touchdown back at SFO.
Now let’s run through the same scenario using home exchange: First, like most good things, it’s not as easy as I may have made it seem. Count on two to three months of planning and a fair amount of effort to begin the process. Think of it as creating your own Bed & Breakfast. Ninety percent of what you should accomplish before you can go swap hunting will never need to be duplicated. Once things are in place, only occasional tweaking is required for future swaps. I suggest looking at KnowYourTrade.com which offers many valuable resources including several on line books and manuals written specifically to simplify this process. They also list and review all home exchange agencies with more than 100 listings, including exclusive membership fee discounts for many of them. The Financial Times of London wrote, “For the anxious first-timer, the initial port of call should be Know Your Trade, which has a comprehensive list of sites, as well as reviews and advice.”
Now you’re ready to figure home exchange your trip cost: airfare will be the same -$2,000 (with the money you’re saving, you might consider upgrading to business); accommodations cost you $0, although you may think about leaving a $50 - $100 gift basket upon departing. You probably will want to take advantage of those incredibly delicious goodies in the Parisian shops and open-air markets (something you can’t do staying in a hotel). Enjoying these gourmet treats at your own dining room table, will not only make you feel like a Parisian, but will cut back on your expenses significantly. If your trading partner leaves you a car and/or bicycles, which is very often the case, your transportation costs drop to a tank of gas for the entire trip (unless you plan on taking a few days out in the countryside).
Let’s add it up: $2,000 for airfare, $1,000 business upgrade (you couldn’t resist), about $250/day for everything else (and you’ll find that’s generous) and wheels down back at SFO will cost you about $6,000. Net savings: around $9,000 or 60%! Seems pretty outrageous, doesn’t it? But, as a matter of fact, it’s fairly typical and in many cases, one experiences even greater savings!
In spite of this and the international variety of possible vacation sites, many prospective swappers feel that that they could be walking into a mine field, were they to arrange a home exchange. Research has shown that the greatest deterrent to home exchanging today is fear of the unknown. In reality, nearly all home exchangers are professionals: I’ve made swaps with university professors, physicians, lawyers (perhaps the most risk adverse beings on the planet), engineers, a New York theater producer; I once traded apartments with a Dutch diplomat in Paris.
So where does this apprehension stem from? Primarily from two distinct areas: fear of having a stranger in your home and concern that your swap destination may not be to your liking. The first is relatively easily mitigated with an explanation of the home exchange process. By the time you actually make your home exchange, you’ve exchanged half dozen emails, perhaps had a phone conversation or two, sent and received house and car keys. The stranger is now an acquaintance and well on their way to becoming a friend.
The second fear is not that easily explained away. In fact, just like any hotel or vacation rental, your home exchange destination will only truly reveal itself to you upon arrival. Of course you will have seen multiple pictures, even videos, on your computer screen and read all about the various amenities provided in the exchange listing’s description. But no matter how you slice it, you’re never going to be sure you like where you’re going until you get there. This however, is true of any vacation; so hotel or house swap; you still have to choose your holiday destination wisely.
As a veteran of over forty swaps, all I can tell you is that literally everyone I know who has tried vacation home exchanging once has gone back for seconds. So give residence swapping a chance; you won’t be sorry.
[/b]
live like a local where ever you travel.