Hi everyone! I'm so glad I found this forum! My boyfriend and I are considering doing our very first home exchange. We're thinking about signing up with Intervac because we've heard good things, what do you guys think?

We live in Los Angeles and will (hopefully!) be traveling to Italy soon. All of your tips and advice in this forum are so helpful.

Question, though, did you find it more difficult to do your very first exchange? Were current exchangers more reluctant to work with you since it was your first time? I'm so excited to try this! It is 100 times more appealing to us to stay in a home and live like locals than it is to be "tourists". Also, about how far in advance of your trip did you start the process?

Our home is on the ocean in Santa Monica and a good size, and we have two cars to offer, so hopefully someone will be interested! :)

Thank you!!

bookmarking

I'm an experienced HomeLink member and have had good results with them. In particular, when seeking Europe.

Recently I joined switchhomes.net as they seem very different from the other home swap sites. I'll post back when I see how this one goes.

I have been on Homelink for several years. We had one exchange and it was fabulous; we became lifelong friends, returning to visit and having their children come back for 3 summers. Otherwise, we have had difficulty arranging another. I realized I have sent 800+ requests in my time with them. One must plan way in advance (about 1-1.5 years) and that is not always possible for us. Currently, I am trying to exchange for either Aug. or Dec. and not having luck.

Just a word of warning about homexchange.com. A new website launch has resulted in a total breakdown. I never liked the site, but now I don't like it more:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...anagement.html

I belong to Homelink & Intervac which are much better.

Claudia: I've never heard of this website. I prefer to go with well-established home exchange organizations like intervac or homelink. I don't know if paying a fee is protection or not against a scam, but it feels better to me than using a free website. Also, intervac's listings now have references on their site for experienced exchangers. Good luck.

There are a lot of home exchange websites that have very few listings. I agree with annetti that the free ones are often a waste of time. Also there are some that are out and out scams with what appear to be a lot of phony listings.

They are difficult to spot and I am not saying "mytwinplace" is one of them. I had in mind another one that looks suspicious. It has a space for people to rate their home exchanges and absolutely none of the exchanges are rated. Makes you wonder.

I can only report that I have gotten deals with Intervac, Homelink and Homeforexchange--all of which I recommend based on my personal experience. I had just a terrible time with homeexchange.com and consequently think it is a total waste. Insofar as the other gazillion home exchange services are concerned, who knows? There might be some good ones out there I don't know about--and there are definitely some honest people trying to set up home exchange services, but I think you are better off going with a large service. Yes, you pay, but it is a small amount of money when you consider the number of listings.

I don't believe homeexchange.com's claims to have the most listings. There is a lot of suspicion that they do not remove very promptly members who have left (if at all). They then use the ex members to inflate their statistics. There are lots of complaints about them online--including on fodors.

Having said all of that, whichever home exchange service works for you is good for you. Be sure to research in advance the listings of the service you are considering. You don't want to sign up because you, say, want to go to Timbucktu and discover there are no listings there.

Listings in Latin America, Asia and Africa are very small in number with all the exchange services. For those countries, you really do need to consider renting if you want to visit. I have had 1 home exchange in Latin America (Costa Rica--just completed) in 24 years. That was my first inquiry in Latin America, by the way. I have never had a deal in Africa or Asia--and it is not for lack of trying.

I have traveled plenty in Europe, North America, Australia & New Zealand through home exchange. Do not get unrealistic. You won't get an exchange in Toyko, Beijing or St. Petersburg as there are almost no homes in those locations.

One to a avoid would definitely be Love Home Swap. The response rate from so called "members" is practically non existent. The odd one or two that even bother to reply tell you that the dates dont match. The company offer you a free 14 day trial, but raid your bank account prior to the 14 days, and then when you complain to them, they send you a terse reply stating that they are only legally bound to give you 7 days to "comply with the distance selling regulations" . Initially on signing up, a nice man phones you and tells you how great they are, and when you realise youre not getting anywhere, it's too late, they've already robbed you. They ignore all your e mails, and you can hardly ever get them on the phone. This company is owned by a serial entrepreneur called Debbie Wosskow, who I understand once appeared on "The Apprentice", the TV show hosted by Alan Sugar. Very fitting. They both built their empires by selling "tut" to the unsuspecting public, and then they get honoured for it. Shameful!!!!

Sounds like a similar gambit to homeexchange.com charging people's credit cards without asking and then refusing to refund the money meaning a big fuss with your credit card company. Most of the home exchange services are a total waste of time--including homeexchange.com.

I have always had good luck with Homelink and Intervac, but remember that it can be very difficult to find partners with mutual needs and you have to be open to all sorts of places to be successful. I recently joined homeforexchange.com because some friends I know belong to it and like it but, so far, I haven't had any luck.

Any home exchange that claims to be "exclusive" or "luxury" is a waste of time--as in any service with less than 5,000 members.

Here is my piece on homeexchange.com:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...anagement.html

Remember, you cannot just sit back on your tush and wait for the swaps to come to you. You need to work at it. Some years it's a lot of work (like this one for me) and others very easy. I will generally take the offer of the first person who writes to me. I regard feeling comfortable with my exchanger more important than where the home is located. If you send out 100 emails, you might get 3-5 people who exhibit some level of interest. I spend a lot of time on my listings so that it is clear what I want. I also change them frequently as my needs change.

Sorry for posting the link to my homeexchange.com piece twice. I didn't notice that it was posted earlier before I stuck it up again.

I am off on a two month trip to Europe in a couple of weeks. It will include a return of home hospitality stop in Krakow and home exchanges in Warsaw, Istanbul and Stockholm--a real mix of destinations. It will also include 6 nights in Belarus in hotels so I can visit the villages from which part of my family originated. When I do a series of home exchanges I like to group them in a compact area so that getting from one to the other is easy. That strategy obviously did not work this year.

Digging this up as we are now seriously ready to get moving on this.

www.Intervac.net - says "Domain for sale" ?? Is there a new website or is it gone??

Did they merge with homeexchange??

http://us.intervac-homeexchange.com/

It's Intervac.com not .net. They have nothing to do with homeexchange.com--thank goodness. They do have a new website.

They are all putting the words "home exchange" in their domain names so they come up on page one when people search. That is probably the reason for Intervac's web address change. All 4 of my exchanges in Europe this summer are from Intervac.

I might be doing another Australia trip for 2015. I am working on "snagging" a home in Cairns (the principal town for the Great Barrier Reef). Since I have been down under 3x, I have seen quite a bit. I won't return unless I get something in Cairns.

Thanks everyone for your input - very helpful.

We have only been home-exchanging since November 2013. Still learning the ropes and this is a little of our experience so far with 5 exchanges completed and 3 more organised.

We are using
homeexchange.com and
homeforexchange.com

Homeexchange.com had website issues which we complained about and that resulted in an extra 3 months added to our sub.

We get good response from our requests on both sites,and we always reply to received requests within 24 hours.

LoveHomeSwap was tried using their 5 free requests. (No money required for this trial). Sad to say only 1 response from 5. After reading reports on here about their practises we will leave well alone.

Not sure if we will re-subscribe with Homeforexchange as the homes we have been to have not been up to expectations. More on that later.

So far we have completed 4 exchanges through Homeforexchange and 1 through Homeexchange. We have 3 more arranged for 2015.

We were spoilt with a really nice first home exchange which was a 3 week simultaneous one with a couple from Melbourne. No complaints with this one which was organised through homeexchange.com
The couple were extremely nice and left our apartment in a very clean condition. Their house was modern and no complaint other than the kitchen having a few sticky surfaces which was easily solved with a little elbow grease. We exchanged cars - no drama there except our car mileage was a little higher than we expected, but no complaints as they left us 2 cars to choose from. We picked up their car at the airport and the fees were paid by them.

Our second exchange in New Zealand was through HFE and organised at the last minute. Disappointed we were not informed about a big fluffy cat and other animals that needed attention, and as we both suffer from minor allergic reactions to cat fur this was annoying. Another sticky kitchen - maybe thats how a lot of people live. We tend to be ultra clean in those areas.

To be continued

I just had a prospective home exchanger in The Netherlands agree to an exchange without ever discussing the need for cat care. Fortunately, I looked at his listing again and saw the need for cat care. My listing has information that states that I do not care for animals on exchanges. You do have to watch out for the pet care people. They will sometimes try and suck you in and then mention the animals just before the exchange.

I have had no luck with homeforexchange.com after a year. Two people (including the cats from The Netherlands) committed. There were some Italians who cancelled citing a sister-in-law's illness. Insofar as The Netherlands folks are concerned, I cancelled when I saw the cats. I did tell them not discussing the animals was totally dishonest. They thought putting it in their listing and never mentioning it again in the extensive correspondence was enough. I begged to differ. The exchange was for next summer, so I have plenty of time to get something else.

I do have a weekend exchange arranged for February. I will be away visiting a friend in Thailand during the holiday season, so I am not looking for Christmas. We'll see what happens for next summer.

Of our 5 exchanges so far we would rate 2 as excellent, 2 as OK, and one as not so good.

Our 3rd exchange was 2 weeks in Queensland Australia. Very nice modern house with a swimming pool. Nice couple and no complaints. We have never had a pool and now we know that pools may need constant attention - this one had overhanging trees and the leaf litter was constant. We discovered a 'spider' cleaner in the pump shed and that automatically made for easy 'look no hands' cleaning......connect it up and let it roam free - go away for the day and come back to a clean pool. One minor annoyance was that there was no internet connection and we had to visit the local library or cafes to use our laptop. There was no car exchange with this one and we hired a car at the airport for about $30 a day on 2 weeks hire. Booked through HFE. All in all a good experience.

Our 4th exchange (booked through HFE) was to the USA and a condo in a gated community, and the worst one so far. Very grimy, dirty and dusty home with a kitchen that would have given a health inspector a heart attack. We thoroughly washed all the kitchen items we would likely use and kept those separate to use during our stay. Scrubbed the tiled work top and sanitised as best we could. On the first night we were both bitten by an army of fleas, and additionally disturbed by smelly pillows. Mobile calls to the owner went unanswered. The home advertisement mentioned having 'a laundry' which turned out to be a coin operated affair in a shed some distance from the unit. The condo also did not have the essentials for any hand washing. Undaunted we headed for the nearest Walmart the following day and purchased a flea bomb, 2 budget pillows, a budget sheet/pillow set, plastic bucket, cheap travel iron ($7), small folding ironing board, and a packet of pegs. All in all we spent about $70. Fortunately the weather was good and so the condo was mainly used for sleeping and breakfast, and once the flea problem was cured the bed was very comfy with clean pillows, pillowcases and sheets. Photos on the HFE site gave the impression of a very clean and smart condo. This experience tells us we always should remember - photos can lie and owners can bend the truth. There was no car exchange with this one and we pre-booked a car from the airport. All in all we made the best of a bad situation and didn't let it ruin our holiday.

Lauren
Its interesting to hear we are not the only ones to potentially or actually get sucked in to exchanging a home with a menagerie. Fortunately a week was manageable, but we will be more cautious in future. I also forgot to mention that the exchanging couple broke a drinking glass in our apartment and neglected to replace or mention that. No major deal but out of courtesy it should have been mentioned. Exchange booked through HFE.

We had another exchange (Homeexchange) being negotiated in Australia where the owner later purchased a dog and then enquired if it would be OK for us to look after it. The list of feeding and walking requirements was horrendous. Exchange cancelled!

I'm unsure why you are not getting many exchanges through HFE. We have negotiated 5 through them (one left to do in London 2015), although I do now feel after some of our experiences there is a need to be careful with the quality of exchange properties on HFE.

Yes, my feeling was that the cat lovers were setting me up. Just listing the cats on the website is not enough. After all, I firmly state in my listing that I don't do pets. They appear to have solicited me knowing my feeling about pets. Heck, they claim to have read my blog where my views on pets are firmly stated.

Lesson: Ask about pets immediately before proceeding further in the negotiations.

Insofar as disgusting homes are concerned, I have had my share of those that belong in the Home Exchange Hall of Shame. I do have to laugh at the people who claim they have some sort of a system to avoid these homes--chiefly based on photos. Ha! There really is no way to assure that you are not walking into a garbage dump. Every time you do a home exchange, it is like walking into the abyss with your fingers crossed.

Here is my take on some of the risks:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...xchanging.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...xchanging.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...-you-nuts.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...xchangers.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...ket-dance.html

The thing I most despise is people who cancel for reasons such as "my sister in law has cancer". I would accept "I have cancer and cannot travel" but when they start using family members as excuses, that is beyond acceptable. Heck, you are talking about a 3-4 week holiday not moving to their place. As someone who once did a home exchange needing major shoulder reconstructive surgery (an old injury fix had come apart at the shoulder about 10 days before I was scheduled to leave), I have no sympathy for those who cancel. Many times they just stop communicating with you and you then get an email saying "I am sorry we are cancelling." Hopefully, you have not bought tickets. I have yet to get myself in a fix like that, but I need a good relationship with my exchangers.

All my dirty house problems have been outside North America. My take on that is that North Americans are just cleaner, but perhaps I have just been lucky. I had some experiences in Australia as well as Europe.

My trip this winter involves renting an apartment in Chiang Mai, Thailand (almost no homes for exchange in Asia), because I have a friend there. I am already booking people into mine as much as possible as I don't like to leave it empty. When the house is empty, my next door neighbor looks in and my cleaning woman cleans between people.

For the record, I am still looking for summer 2015, but it is early yet. I have had some inquiries, but nothing I want. The last one was from Victoria, BC. There are so many Canadian retirees. After awhile you go there, but I get offers from there all the time. Of course, it is been there, done that.

I am mostly concentrating on the Thailand trip now. I would not be going without a friend there. She found an apartment for me! She has really been wonderful--even to paying the downpayment for the apartment. That is a good friend. Of course, I couldn't get the money to her fast enough afterward.

I am not wedded to going to Europe every summer but that has been what happens most often. I mostly just take the first serious interesting deal I get and go from there. Home exchange works best if you are somewhat flexible--and, with me, don't have pets.