My wife looks up from the computer. ‘Here’s an offer from San Francisco: four-bedroom house with a pool and tennis court,’ she says. ‘Want to see the photos?’ Since we joined a home-exchange website a year ago, we’ve had dozens of these emails from around the world – mostly France, Germany, Spain, Australia and America – offering what is, effectively, a free holiday. As economic times have changed, home-swaps have boomed. Here’s how to do it.
Choosing a company
The most successful agency is HomeLink (01962 886882, www.homelink.org.uk), with about 14,000 members in 80 countries. Anyone can browse the properties online, but to add your home and contact other members, you must pay an annual fee of £115. Less expensive is Intervac (0845 260 5776, www.intervac.co.uk), which has more than 10,000 subscribers worldwide and costs £49.99 a year. The smaller Home Base Holidays (020 8886 8752, www.homebase-hols.com) charges £29 a year.
Our exchange experience
Just days after joining HomeLink and uploading details of our house in south London, we had six offers. We opted for a three-bed house in Languedoc, southwest France, for a fortnight in August. It was a cheap holiday: the train fares cost less than £300, and we borrowed the other family’s battered Renault for trips to the beach, shops and lake. Despite doubts raised by friends (‘I wouldn’t want anyone rummaging in my knicker drawer’), the exchange couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Their house was even better than in the photos, and we returned to find our own home gleaming and intact. Within a couple of weeks we’d arranged our next swap: October half-term in Paris – a huge apartment with parquet floors and high ceilings. The Parisian family told us they had enjoyed 18 exchanges in six years. Clearly, it’s addictive.
Getting started
Spend time writing an appealing description of your home and nearby attractions, and take a good set of photos on a sunny day. If you live somewhere popular with tourists, you’ll have no shortage of offers. But even if you’re nowhere near obvious hotspots you’ll still find exchanges. You can make as many offers as you like, or just wait for others to contact you.
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Best swap spots
North America tends to have spacious homes, some with large gardens and pools, and you’ll find many beautiful houses on offer in France, as well as weekend-break flats in big European cities. Be aware that a lot of properties are in suburbia, which may not sound very glam, but you’ll get a stronger sense of living like a local, something far less likely in a city centre.
Picking a pad
Study the ages of the children; if they’re similar to yours, the house is likely to be suitably equipped. If you don’t have kids, swap with people in the same position. First-timers should probably try to exchange with experienced swappers.
Pre-departure prep
Worried your home isn’t up to scratch? Just clear out some junk, give it a good clean, make some wardrobe space, provide clean sheets – and don’t forget to tell the neighbours!
Little extras
Experienced swappers provide a folder with home and neighbourhood information. Some even swap cars, but check with your insurer.
What can go wrong?
There’s no legal contract, so if the other people pull out, you could be left without a place to stay. Home-exchange companies insist that complaints are rare and usually involve nothing more serious than differing standards of cleanliness. To avoid misunderstandings, agree on a few basic rules – such as no international phone calls.