Home exchanges anyone?

[NYEXPAT]

YW gets one month off per year now that she has started working. She has expressed an interest in traveling over that time frame each year and it got me thinking about home exchanges in other parts of the world we would like to visit.

As we have a very desirable property in a "hot " tourist market it should be fairly to arrange a trade. We have the advantage of not living in the apartment, so the visits would not need to be concurrent. Anybody have positive or negative experiences with this?

 

[brewer12345]

How do you button down on potential liability risk?

 

[obgyn65]

I would not exchange my condo, even for a few days. But that's just me.

 

[chris2008]

I can recommend SERVAS - Home Page for staying with "real" people.
I would also like to share/ exchange homes from 2012 on. Who knows...
We do not like to stay in resorts. We are just now on Tenerife island for 10 days and are happy to have chosen an appartment not in one of the mayor touristy places here.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just cause I am a nice guy, I would exchange my LBYM abode for your house:

(see attached photo)

 

[Sarah in SC]

The liability thing is what I keep thinking about, too, Brewer. I looked at that AirBnB thing as a possibility for our boat, which comfortably would sleep 2 couples, and it sure would be nice to recoup some of that expensive dock fee every month.
But at the end of the day, all I could think about was someone slipping on dock getting aboard and falling in the water, then dragging me into court about it.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Luckily, I live in a "No-fault" country! Here, we just throw are arms up in the air, mutter "su madre" and put it off till Manana! For those that do not understand what Manana (tomorrow) means, allow me to explain.

Manana (tomorrow) does not mean Manana, it just means not today (hoy)!

 

[KB]

I don't know about a home exchange, but I am in Hawaii right now staying in an Airbnb room. This is the second place I have stayed on this island and so far so good. Airbnb is working well for me.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, KB, I love AirBnB to book places to stay, I just am not sure about the liability of renting out our place with it! I'm a fan, too!

 

[kcowan]

NYEXPAT
I think you have to get a lot more specific about your objectives. You will only attract a certain class traveler aggressive enough to go to Peru. Our friends have had luck swapping their condo in Nuevo Vallarta with people in Provence near Nice. YMMV

 

[NYEXPAT]

I can recommend SERVAS - Home Page for staying with "real" people.
I would also like to share/ exchange homes from 2012 on. Who knows...
We do not like to stay in resorts. We are just now on Tenerife island for 10 days and are happy to have chosen an appartment not in one of the mayor touristy places here.

Thanks for the "link", I have heard of this before but it is a little too "tree huggie" for our lifestyle. If I were travelling solo, I would certainly consider it.

 

[NYEXPAT]

NYEXPAT
I think you have to get a lot more specific about your objectives. You will only attract a certain class traveler aggressive enough to go to Peru. Our friends have had luck swapping their condo in Nuevo Vallarta with people in Provence near Nice. YMMV

Thanks for the advice. Our problem is our objectives and lack of time! We are trying to narrow down locations to live & invest (in the USA) in the future. We would like to spend a month each year in or around some of the "rustbelt" cities in the Midwest. Pittsburgh and Detroit area are very high on our list!

We are not interested in concurrent rentals and would rather "Bank" our time for future use. I have a very desirable "vacation rental" that may be vacant for 4-6 weeks a year and I thought I might as well exchange the lost revenue for some future value.

 

[kcowan]

I have encountered many swappers who have 2 homes and are willing to bank the time. Most often in Arizona where they have a weekend home in the canyon that they would swap most time. Also people with cottages in the lakes districts. This might be the best bet for your target areas. (Although people with cottages are very protective of them!) Even found one in PV but he was looking for Victoria BC to visit his son at UVic. We also swapped with a cat owner who would look after both of ours. Have not done any swaps in 5 years.