Welcom, I would like to exchange home for vacations because of really low cost's. But I don’t know If I would feel well knowing that somebody that I don't know very well would live in my house. What's your opinion on it. Is there a way to be certain about our new, time householder?

We used house exchanges in Australia and New Zealand, with people coming to stay in our house in France. (http://www.homeexchange.com/)

It was very successful - you need to read the listing carefully, and communicate with the owners to make sure that you both understand what is being offered, and the commitments on either side. In one case we actually had a contract that laid this out, and in others it was more informal.

Some people put a lot of personal things away, others left the house as if they had just left for an hour or two.

For us it was a great way to spend time in places we might not have been able to afford, in a comfortable setting. We would happily do it again.

If you search for Sprin2's trip reports you can read about her experiences. She is a pretty experienced home exchanger.

Yeah I think it's a great way to travel! I'm quite a seasoned home swapper and have never had a problem. Get to know your exchange partners first - I always message them for 1 or 2 months and call them 2 or 3 times so that we feel comfortable that we know the people staying in our home (and they feel comfortable staying in our home!). As I said I've never had a problem and just been lots of good experiences. I've been a member of http://www.homebase-hols.com for about 10 years now and am happy with it.

Um, aren;'t they letting you live in their house.

Naturally you want to get to know them - but the trust runs both ways.

The biggest issues can be pets and cars.

A friend has tried to do this with her apartment in NYC and been unsuccessful so far. She though she had a trade in London this summer - then found out the couple SMOKED! Good thing she thought to ask.

Parents have done this for 40+ years with great results. Best place for them was a villa in Mallorca with huge pool on hill overlooking the island. Works best if you're in a destination that incoming travelers want to be -- e.g., aforementioned parents live in NYC.

Yeah it's important to get to get to know the people you're swapping with (do they smoke? do they have pets? etc).

'She thought she had a trade in London this summer - then found out the couple SMOKED! Good thing she thought to ask'

In fact if you use a good web site, this kind of thing is discussed up front. We indicated that we did not accept smokers, that our house was not suitable for young children - all things that are on the listing for the house. Normally a good site will have thought of all of this beforehand - and usually there is a draft contract, should you want to use one, which lays out who cleans before and after, which supplies are provided, how to get keys, etc.

I have done 42 exchanges and 43 starts in Istanbul in less than 2 weeks!

You do get to know your home exchangers before the swap because there are a lot of emails.

After Turkey, I have nothing planned until November 2012. I have a tentative deal in Tasmania. I went there on a side trip from Melbourne during a home exchange and thought Tasmania was fantastic. 4 days was not enough so I am returning to see the island in depth.

I might have some short deals where we both drive before I get to Tasmania. I am actually looking for a second deal in Australia or NZ so I can stay 2 months.

Traveled many time by home exchange with this site http://www.homeexchange24.com and never had any bad situations. At beginning I also was uncertain but after much talk with other house holder It disappeared. I think that’s the best way. If you want more security you can buy inurnment but I don't think it's necessary. Good luck.

Depends on how you feel bout someone mucking up your home
there are many issues and horror stories but works if flexible.
Have done it a couple of times with a condo folks lied about
smoking still cannot get the smell out so I am not currently
a fan.

Anyone who has done many home exchanges and "never had any bad situations" is simply not being honest. All experienced home exchangers have had some bad experiences. Sometimes you can smell it coming, but not always.

When someone has only one post on fodors saying he/she "has never had any bad situations" and then mentions a home exchange site, my hunch is the person is advertising his own site.

I have done 54 exchanges. Thinking back, there were 3 bad homes in Europe and 3 in Australia that had problems. The problems generally involve filth and or insect infestations that the exchangers knew about before the exchange and chose to ignore. I look at it this way: I could have made hotel reservations and had a lousy hotel too. With a home exchange, once it begins, however, you are pretty well "stuck" unless you want to spend a lot of money to move out.

Be well aware that almost no homes in Europe have air conditioning and many, even in warm areas, don't even have fans. You need to be able to cope with that if you are going to exchange in Europe during the summer.

Any reason you topped such an old thread?

To generate interest and provide accurate information.

>>Anyone who has done many home exchanges and "never had any bad situations" is simply not being honest.<<

"Bad" is a subjective judgement, of course. I've been lucky enough not to have to put up with filth or infestations, but I've been to some oddly laid-out kitchens, one rather old and student-y flat in Amsterdam which had a terrazzo-floored shower room with no heating and no mat on the floor (in a very cold March), and a bathroom with a very lime-scaled shower-screen that I just had to get to grips with (well, they said to use up the lemons they'd left). And I've never come home to a disaster (save the time I got back to find the exchange partner trying to cope with the dishwasher conking out on him, but it was probably on its last legs anyway).

But, what the heck, all I'd paid out was the fare (and the effort of an extra clean and tidy at home); and one of the pleasures of home exchange is the chance to daydream "If I had this place, I'd do X, Y, and Z", or conversely, to pick up ideas for one's own place.

I'm interested in this, so thanks for revisiting it, Lauren.

Haven't done any exchanges yet but have been looking at a couple of home exchange websites, with a view to joining one next year.

Exchange & airBnB seem like a good option for cutting costs & having accommodation in residential areas. This appeals to me when I have a couple of weeks to explore a place.

Patrick I've had a few homes that go into the Home Exchange Hall of Shame, but I've done 54 exchanges. I have had some messes at home--twice. One was the unspeakable Germans (They are supposed to be clean, right?). They left me a filthy house and a car that had a raft of things wrong with it. My house was left in a bit of a shambles. The bathrooms were disgusting. The people were in their 80's and were too old to be home exchanging. They did know all about their car problems before they left. The mechanic told them to buy a new one (I found out from the mechanic). That was the worst exchange mess.

Some French people north of Paris took the knowledge that I had a cleaning woman as an excuse to do NO cleaning. That included dumping a bag of dried peas in the kitchen and not cleaning up. Now I have much more clear instructions as to what is expected.

My home exchange "problem" homes basically homes that do not meet my standards for being "well tended". Perhaps I am too clean, but I'd rather think it was because the others are slobs.

In 54 exchanges of course there are going to be problems. You are exchanging for someone's home. I do get a laugh from people who think the solution to this sort of problem is examining photographs. Photographs on websites are all staged and pretty much useless. No one's home looks bad because they don't photograph the things they do not want you to see.

I do agree with you Patrick, that you have to balance the good with the bad--and the fact you are staying for free. After all, I have home exchanges 55-58 already set up. I will be going to Costa Rica for 4 weeks in a couple of months. Next summer's haj to Europe includes 2 home exchanges in Poland and a 3rd in Frankfurt, Germany. I don't plan to stop until my health tells me I must.

At some point everyone has to stop traveling. Now that I have retired, I have the time, but, of course, there is the question of health. So I have to do as much as I can while I can.

Insofar as airbnb is concerned, home hospitality is a bit more awkward than exchanging because you are a house guest. When I tried the site, I couldn't get it to verify my name and finally--after several tries--gave up.