in wanting to stick my head in the oven after clicking on the HOME SWAP link.......who was I kidding

[ssd]

am desperate to go abroad

thought maybe we could swap my small 3 bed terraced for somewhere similiar somewhere nice, with a family with kids like us hoping to save a few bob

ha ha ha (hollow laugh)

those houses are millionaires pads, they arent houses normal eg.skint/penny pinchers folk would live in

I mean seriously, if you want to be depressed, have a look

can anyone recommend a site for folk with kids, terraced houses, small gardens, etc.

I think the guardian house swap is supposed to be good - haven't used it but have had a gander and they all look very normal!

I know, it is absolutely hilarious.

You can look at property porn on Rightmove without paying £1.

Where are you wanting to go?

OP, I feel the same. We wanted to go away for a week or two this summer - even locally would be great!! (We are in Surrey but in a very ordinary 3 bed mid terraced house).

I would be too embarrased to offer my home looking at the mansions that are on offer. Our house is ordinary in the fullest sense! Magnolia walls that have marks on it, tired beige carpetting, tiny paved backyard, dated kitchen and bathroom.

We have decided just to stay at home for a few days.

ssd your op is spooky. I clicked on the link last night and thought the same myself. Am now looking for council tips in the areas I fancy on visiting in order to organise a swap.

We need bog-standard-terrace-or-semi swap site. I'd love to dwap with a nice normal family who have a cupboard of tommee tippee and a stairgate so we can have a nice cheap week somewhere different thats easy with the DC.

See, when I saw MN doing house swaps thats what I thought it would be - decent, honest "normal" people's houses. But I quite fancy making up some pictures just so I could have a fab week away

NCT house swap is pretty good, and is free if you're a member.

We swapped houses for holidays all through my childhood, and bar two holidays, all the homes we stayed in were amazing and way better than ours. I always assumed that most places were like this because other countries have more room to build big houses, but now i've grown up i realise they were just richer than us

Anyway all our swap partners had fabulous holidays, esp. The v rich Californians who were treated to a tour of black country pubs by the local CAMRA enthusiast in his vintage car

Oh it was Intervac but not sure it's still going now.

ssd.... at least you live in a house try living in a flat...the only people who would want to home swap with me would be the diy sos team!

oh I lived in a flat for years red, I don;t take this house for granted trust me!

I think I should set up a houseswap for normal folk, basing it on ages of kids and genders too

think it would do well, most of us just want somewhere to swap with toys/cots/x boxes that your kids would happily play on, but giving you a change of scene

Couldn't it be self fulfilling prophecy though? Everybody sees nice houses, and is too embarrassed to show their own so another person does the same :)

I had a look and retreated with my tail between my legs. We actually have a decent size house and garden in a very pretty village, but it's not exactly up to the standards of decorating that all the homeswap places are.

My advert would be:

Plenty of space and lovely views. Living room decorated to a good standard and bathroom looking pretty nice too. Please ignore the fact that the curtains don't match the decor in any room because we couldn't afford to buy new ones after getting the painting done. Don't use the small room - you won't get through the door anyway as it is used as a dumping ground. Under no circumstances look under the slipcover over the sofa. And if you could avoid using the kitchen for the next 5 years until we can afford to get it done, that would be helpful. Try to ignore the various extension leads due to bizarrely placed plug sockets, and never ever use the 90 degree cycle on the washing machine as it will fuse the whole downstairs. And on the subject of appliances, several freeview channels don't work when it rains.

There is a mouse somewhere. We've never been able to catch it but it is pretty friendly. Don't open the fuse box - it is spider central. The garden is currently disappearing under an infestation of giant weeds. In our defence next door's garden is effectively a field and they have given up strimming the edges. This is why we can no longer see our fence. There are potatoes somewhere in the vegetable patch but I haven't been able to find them since the weeds took over. If you fancy pulling a few weeds out of the patio during your stay that would be most appreciated. Probably best to stay off the grass - it looks nice from a distance but when you get there it is actually mainly thistles.

I can't imagine people are going to be biting my hand off.....

And how does it work? Do you approach someone, and get a reply saying "Er, no. Your house looks crap"?

I think I should set up a houseswap for normal folk

I think that would work very well. Do it!

So say 'someone' did, how would it work? Would something forum based be best?

How would you ensure people are genuine? Do you do it based on trust or is there insurance involved etc etc?

the NCT house swap forum is great, and it's free if you're an NCT member. And everyone seems very normal.

YABU if you have an electric oven

whats NCT?

Yanbu, don't worry, I am sure that 99% of Mumsnetters would feel the same way as you after looking at that site. Infact, I'm sure there were threads about it at the time it was launched and a move afoot to launch *Bog standard semi swap.com" or similar.

I can only imagine that an elite group of about 20 uber-mumsnetters are actually using the homeswap board now .

Iirc someone recommended The Guardian for good, normal, house swaps at the time.

National Childbirth Trust. Lots of bog standard semi's and nice people.

I also hear the Guardian one is good, am thinking about joining. SIL is on another big one, I cannot remember the name though - they do some amazing swaps.

It's such a great way to do a holiday when you're a bit broke.

Mine would be:

2 bed apartment in centre of city, close to Manchester.
Please ignore scratches in the "cheap" laminate, the Landlord picked it.
The main room is kitchen and living room. We have a table, only it's got my sewing machine on it and only have one chair, for the babies high chair.
Loads of books, a xbox and various games.
Clean, but lived in. Any takers?

I think it also depends on where you live, if it's somewhere scenic, or handy to london. We live in fairly big house in the country, in n Ireland, I wouldn't mind at all staying in a smaller house if it was in the place we wanted to visit

Also I would be a nervous wreck in a really fancy place with dc, I could relax more in a normal house

Where is the homeswap board? Can't find it