The answer is resoundingly, "Yes!". Many people think that they have to have a stunning model home in order to exchange homes. Truly, you don't need a perfect house. Here's a picture of my (Christmasy) family room...it's nice but not luxurious or spectacular in any sense of the word...I have a fairly typical, suburban, American home.
When people look to exchange homes they are looking for several things.
1) A home that will comfortably accommodate the size of their family or travel group.
2) A location that fits the kind of vacation they are looking for.
3) A place they can retreat to at the end of a long day where they can feel at home and relax.
4) Specific amenities in the home that fit the needs of their group. This may include a swimming pool, proximity to a specific leisure activity, or a really great kitchen if they want to cook. Some people have more requirements than others!
When we first started exchanging in 2007, we had remodeled just a few areas of our 4 bed/2 bath circa 1953 home in a suburb of Los Angeles. One bathroom was done but the other was in original condition. We had done all of the flooring and remodeled the kitchen but the windows and doors were still original. Just be sure to be honest about your home in your listing. The description of your home should be detailed and clear and the photos you post should include anything that is not perfect such as a half-remodeled bath or the fact that one bedroom will be locked and unavailable. Since our home is in southern California we don't have central heat or air conditioning. This is clearly stated on our listing so that those won't be expected! Most everything in the house has since been remodeled or improved but, as with most homes, there are always imperfections that I'm clear about! (I'll write a piece on how to create your listing for maximum impact and disclosure in an upcoming post.)
When you start browsing the listings on one of the many home exchange sites online you'll soon see that there is a huge variety of homes available. You will see everything from small apartments to chateaux, suburban homes to architectural masterpieces on the beach! You can also find unique homes such as houseboats, thatched houses on the African savanna, and homes in the remote reaches of Australia. Some homes are neat and orderly and in others there are clearly small children living in the house and their stuff is everywhere! Some people keep neat kitchens and others are more cluttered. Some houses have lots of character and others are quite plain. Some of the houses we have stayed in have been in perfect condition. Others had elements about them that were less than ideal. Each home is going to be different so you need to decide what is important to you in an exchange home.
Depending on where you home is located, you may or may not end up exchanging with homes that are comparable to yours. Many, many people want to come to southern California and, since our home is close to the beach and quite centrally located for sightseeing, we frequently get the "better" end of the deal. We've exchanged for a ski chalet in Switzerland with views that were beyond anything we expected, a very large home in Thailand with a full-time housekeeper and two swimming pools, a multi-level house outside of Prague with an indoor pool and sauna, and we rattled around a 7 bedroom house in France on the outskirts of Paris complete with a wood-beamed attic that was tricked out as a teenage hangout room with home theater. Other houses have been much more humble but we have never traded "down" into something that wasn't at least as good as our own home. Even if you're not in an extremely desirable location you can still be picky about the kind of home you are willing to exchange with. Maybe it will be smaller but you can still look for properties that are well-appointed and suit your specific needs.
The indoor pool in the house near Prague...a very nice amenity!
"OK...so I'm ready to give this a try. How do I get started?"
This is where you need to do your homework since there are many exchange listing websites available on the internet. Here is a sampling of just a few of the bigger ones.
HomeExchange.com
LoveHomeSwap.com
3rdHome.com (luxury listings only)
HomeBase-hols.com
HomeLink-usa.org
HomeForExchange.com.
The first thing you need to decide is on which one of these you want to list your home. Some of them have a fee for joining while others are free. Some of them require references while others do not. One actually has to approve your house before they will list it! Some limit the number of pictures you can post while others will let you post as many as you wish. Several have an area to not only post a listing of your house but also to create a detailed profile of who you are so that potential home exchange partners can get a sense of you, your family, and if you might be a good fit for an exchange.
Personally, I have always used HomeExchange.com. They are the largest listing service by far with over 65,000+ listings as of this blog posting. Full disclosure - I did a talk for HomeExchange.com out in LA two years ago and the owner, Ed Kushins, was nice enough to extend my membership until 2018 as thanks for my participation. That aside, I just like how many listings there are on this site and the fact that I get many offers of exchange every year via my listing. It's also well-designed and easy to navigate once you become familiar with it. At first I was listed on 4 different sites but got few offers from the other three. So I let those memberships lapse and have only used this one. Your experience may be different...I'm just sharing what I have found to be true in my own experience.
Take time to look at each one to see which you are most comfortable with. Some of the sites are more intuitive than others when it comes to building your listing. To me, it's important to be able to see clear pictures and descriptions of the listings, have a separate section for a profile of the people I am considering an exchange with, and have the ability to communicate easily with potential exchange partners.
In my next post I'll be discussing how to create your home exchange listing so that you get lots of interest in your home.
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