Vacation on a Budget? Try a Home Swap!
A lot of savvy friends are planning a "staycation" for their holidays this year in lieu of the allure of exotic destinations and their requisite--and pricey--air tickets, hotels and restaurant meals. While staycations can be a wonderful opportunity to sit back, relax, regroup, and tackle those projects you've been putting off (you know who you are), getting away from it all can be equally rewarding and doesn't have to blow the family budget to be worthwhile.
If you've never had the chance to do a home swap, now is a great time to consider it with many budget-minded vacationers willing to part with their home sweet homes for a week or two, saving everyone hundreds of dollars in lodging and food costs. Websites like Home Exchange and Luxe Home Swap are perfectly legitimate avenues for meeting prospective candidates (and they're a fun guilty pleasure to browse as well!)
Things to consider before doing a home swap:
- Will cars be included in the swap and does your insurance cover additional drivers?
- Does your home owners or rental insurance policy cover guests in the event of damage?
- Do you have a friend, relative or neighbor willing to be an emergency contact for your guests?
- Is there somewhere you can store valuables you don't feel comfortable leaving behind?
- Are you in agreement about cleaning before and after your stay?
- Do you have a place for Fifi and Fido to stay or will your guests assume responsibility for your pets?
If you've had an experience with a home swap, we'd love to hear your tips as well!
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Comments
It makes for a cute movie, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in The Holiday, but feeling safe about it in real life not so much.
Curious about vacation home exchanging? Go to http://KnowYourTrade.com! As the Financial Times of London puts it, “KnowYourTrade should be your first stop when considering vacation home exchanging.” Here you’ll find everything you’ll need to know about swapping residences. There are discounts for several home exchange agencies, interactive listings for countries, cities and clubs, FAQs, literally everything there is to know about vacation home exchanging can be found on the hundreds of searchable review pages, blog entries, podcasts, etc.
very interesting
interesting but i cant do that since my place is way to small, but maybe if someone has a small place to? something to think about.
I feel the same way. Not to mention, as I said before, it's a bit scary to have strangers in your home when you're not there. I have a friend who belongs to a couch surfing group where people stay at people's houses all over the world, with the person there. And you can vet them and get reviews and stuff before letting them stay with you. I think that would be more my speed. And it'd be a fun way to meet people from all over the world.
I may do a swap if I owned a smaller vacation property but I just couldn't stand the thought of swapping my "real home" out to strangers.
So clever.... and great advice to make sure you have your bases covered!
I think this is amazing in theory, but I don't think that my place equals what people think of when they think of a vacation place. Also, it's a bit scary to think of people being in your home without you there.