After Kelley and I finished redecorating her apartment a few months back, we began working on Phase II of our summer plans: Finding an appropriate home swap in London. Believe me when I say this: Finding a home swap isn't as easy as plopping in front of a computer and chatting away to Kate Winslet about the male population in Cotswold. No, finding a home swap feels like what online dating must feel like: The tentative introductory email with photos...the waiting on tenterhooks for a response...and then the feelings of inadequacy when your home has been rejected...or elicited no response at all. We tried out not one, not two, but three total home exchange sites: HomeExchange.com, HomeLink.org, and Home Base Holidays. If you've ever been interested in home swapping, check out our reviews of these three sites after the jump...
Going On Holiday? Finding a Home Swap
• HomeExchange.com
Perhaps the most famous one of all, HomeExchange.com is indeed the site featured in The Holiday. (And in case you don't pick up on that immediately, there's a rather prominent photo of Jack Black and Kate Winslet on the home page). This site is probably the most user friendly of the lot: Clean layout, easy searches, and each home's summary has all the necessary facts (people in the party, home accommodations, destination, dates, what kind of exchange, etc). Oh, and there's no online chat service offered on the site, despite what was depicted in the movie. However, despite all the nice features that HomeExchange does offer, we got the least luck on this site. Most people we contacted didn't respond at all, but the ones that did were friendly and helpful. HomeExchange has different tiers of membership, but the standard one is $99.95/yr.
• HomeLink.org
HomeLink may not have all the bells and whistles that HomeExchange does, but they do have a lot of little features that proved to be extremely useful. Firstly: You can map out exactly where the home is located versus relying on a description. So many places we looked at would say, "Close to Central London," before we found out that it was more like a 45 minute tube ride to get to Regent St. Secondly, you can actually see the response rate of each member. And thirdly, their messaging system kept track of all the people we contacted, even while we were searching through listings. We received responses from 90% of the people we contacted, and even though we didn't find an exchange on this site, we'd rank this site higher than HomeExchange. There are different membership packages available on HomeLink (you can opt to get a printed directory every year); and they do offer a free membership the second year if you don't find an exchange within the first year.
• Home Base Holidays
A few weeks had gone by, and both Kelley and I were getting depressed about home swapping. In fact, if you are wanting to do a swap, start planning as early as possible. Most homes are settled on swaps a good year in advance, especially those with families. Thankfully, one of our coworkers in London, Denzyl, sent us a link Home Base Holidays, a site that he and his wife had listings on. This site organizes information like HomeExchange, but it does include a few of the same useful features that HomeLink has, especially the email threads. While HomeLink has more family-friendly users, Home Base Holidays seems like it caters to a younger crowd: There were more 1 and 2 person listings than the other two sites--and lo and behold: We found a swap with Kelley's flat within the first 10 minutes of signing up and posting photos! Home Base Holidays is about $80/yr, depending on the currency rate (£49).
Have you done a home exchange before? Share your experiences with us in the comments--what site did you use? Did you have any pre-negotiations before the swap? Was it better or worse than you expected?
(Image: Columbia Pictures)
Comments (15)
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I've never warmed up to the house swap idea, because you're trying to match two people's ideas of the ideal living situation and it is just hard (like you said - like dating!).
I think it is probably far simpler to approach this as two separate transactions and use craigslist. That way, everyone gets what they are looking for. Find a renter for your place and then do a short term rental where you want to go. I've rented out my place several times to people on craigslist when going on longer vacations and have always had good experiences.
view brooklyn_kate's profile
It's an interesting idea.... question though: Did your friend notify her landlord that she was doing a home swap?
view dmh's profile
Don't forget intervac.com - one of the best sites. I've done this 8 or 9 times all over Europe and it has been great.
view liebs's profile
i don't think you need to tell the landlord. it's like giving the keys to a friend or relative or housesitter.
i've been warming up to the idea of apartment swapping brooklyn for paris.
view Lady J's profile
dmh has a very good point. I don't think a lot of landlords would like this idea.
view ChrisGal's profile
RE: HomeLink and the listing saying its close to central London but is 45 minutes away, I think that IS close. From what I understand from my friends who live there, an hour plus commute within the city is de rigueur
view tabithacat's profile
re: landlord issue, my contract states that I have to inform my landlord if anyone stays for longer than 10 days.
view flobo's profile
Done it twice. Worked well both times. My friends started doing it too.
view josie6's profile
How good are the listings for places outside Europe? I am going to South Africa ( Jo'burg and Cape Town) and would like an apartment swap. Tried Craigslist with no luck. And couch surfing and those other sites seemed a bit too scary for me.
view Trumystique's profile
This is fantastic information! I have house swapped before, but it was friends of friends (who are now good friends of ours!) so didn't use one of these sites. It went beautifully, and was wonderful to have a such a real feeling of how someone else lives in a different city. We have just bought a wonderful inner city apartment, and once we have done all the work we need to on it, I want to go on a holiday, and will use one of these sites. Thank you.
view RedOrangePink's profile
Home exchanging is a fantastic way to experience new cultures. Right now I am on a 6 month home exchange in Europe with my husband and 2 kids, ages 14 and 5. We're doing 3 consecutive swaps with 3 different families. Read about our adventures at http://HomeRoamers.com
view jencarroll01's profile
flobo -- People are talking about going on holidays to places like Europe - where more than likely you might be gone more than a week. With our lease, I either have to inform the landlord or pray they don't check since we are allowed to have guests, but not allow guests keys to the apartment.
view ChrisGal's profile
Not a home exchange but not a hotel either, check out www.cobblestay.com for stylish apartments to stay in while visitng Paris.
view Seaside's profile
Please be aware that if you do do such a thing, you're using your property for a commercial purpose, and may be voiding your tenant's / homeowner's insurance, so if something does happen, you may not be covered.
view anaximander's profile
I didn't even know people did this until the movie came out. It's actually a great idea. I would love to.
Maybe we should start a Continental AT Club plan....anyone want to come to the Disney World area for a week? LOL!
view baileyb's profile