How to Home Swap for Your Vacation

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By Cinda Roth
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Do you want a far away exotic vacation on a budget? One of the biggest costs of a vacation is housing so why not swap homes. This lets you get vacation housing for virtually no cost.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Be Patient: Realize that a match and exchange can be completed within days of posting a listing or it may take more time.
Step 2

Be Flexible: Insisting on a home on the beach with 3 bedrooms may result in few matches. However asking for a home near the beach with 3 rooms will likely give you a lot more options. Similarly be flexible with dates, length of stay, and accommodation type (condos, townhouse, apartments, and houses). Realize that a home exchange is a chance to broaden your horizons.
Step 3

Plan Ahead: Although it may be possible to get a last minute swap, most destinations require significant lead time. This is especially true if you live in a less desirable place (e.g. Hobunk, Idaho) or you want to go to an especially desirable place (e.g. Paris). You want to plan at least a month or two ahead of time for weekend sways and at least twelve months ahead of time for long term swaps (6 months or more).
Step 4

Act Now: Make sure that you are proactive. Do not just scan advertisements, post your own on multiple sites. This will maximize the chance that the right person will see your ad.
Step 5

Photos: Remember the old saying that a photo is worth a thousand words. Make sure to post photographs to attract perspective swappers.

Comments

lucindaroth said

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on 3/31/2009 Thank you for the comment

on 3/31/2009 We have done numerous home exchanges to date. Home exchanging has allowed us to save on accommodation costs, car rental expenses, and restaurant meals… Other benefits include the friends that we have made. We have stayed in touch with most of the people we exchanged with. And have also visited with them years later. Families with children also benefit from having a whole house rather than a single room for the duration for the holiday. We often swap with other families, which usually means our kids have new toys to play with during the holiday. For anyone serious about trying this out, we strongly recommend that you join a reputable home exchange club. There are numerous clubs you can join, but one that has worked out really well for us is www.HomeForSwap.com Finding a home exchange may require some effort but we have always found that it has been well worth it.