Has anyone done a holiday house swap?

[Kikithecat]

We're thinking about doing this to save money - anyone tried it? What was it like and would you recommend any particulare websites?

I did one a few years ago and to be honest, I wouldn't do it again.
There is a section on here under classified that has house-swops

mumoverseas - why wouldn't you do it again? I'm curious as, like kikithecat I've been thinking of this for next year?
my friend uses ownersdirect to let her holiday home, she hasn't done swaps but there is an option on there, I believe the website costs about £100pa but I haven't used it. Also another friend has used intervac for a house swap very successfully and you could have a look at that one, again I haven't used it

Don't want to say too much on here but it was quite stressful worrying about the house. We swopped our UK house and weren't back to it for a while afterwards and we found out that the people we swopped with had a lot of other people staying in the house which we hadn't known about when we agreed the swop. When we finally got back there was a bit of damage which was upsetting. Bearing in mind your house is your most valuable asset, its a big risk in my opinion.

thank you, that sounds grim
we have a holiday house and I was wondering about swapping that (perhaps a bit less personal attachment) rather than our main home; perhaps an exchange of letters like a booking form for a regular letting would be a good idea so everyone is clear about what is expected eg number of people staying, no smoking/pets if appropriate, level of cleaning expected - do others think this is too formal?

yes, swop the holiday home! We also have a holiday home which I would probably swop (looked into linking in with a timeshare swop company such as RCI) as like you say, less personal attachment and you are used to people going there if you already rent it out.

Where are you (holiday home) and where do you want to go?

I can swop a 4 bed in Orlando with a private pool
I agree its a good idea to formalise it all.

Yes, we regularly swap our holiday apartment in Turkey and its been great. We have used NCT houseswap and geenee.com and swapped both to people's main home and holiday houses. There is also a section on laymyhat.com where you can offer up your holiday house for swaps. Sometimes we've used a contract, sometimes not. To be honest I tend to have a fair bit of contact with the people I swap with so that decides how formal or not I tend to be about it all. I do find it far less stressful than renting it out 'though.

We're thinking of swapping our main home, my concerns being us (or our children) having minor accidents in their home (spilling drinks etc) and the family breaking things here. Is it a good idea or not?

I use www.exchangeholidayhomes.com as they only have private holiday homes , not time share and they do a credit system so don't have to directly swap with anyone and that makes it much easier. It is free to register too!

well I'll be letting all you mumsnetters know about our potential swap place in due course as the renovations are ongoing - so yes it'll be beautifully done, as new etc but most importantly its in a lovely part of the world ie by Loch Lomond in central Scotland; sorry no pool but epic scenery and hopefully the sort of place people would consider a swap to

Funnily enough I have I have use the club I mentioned earlier (EHH) for exchanges to Scotland for the past 3 years as my daughters are at uni there, so we go twice a year!

It is a wonderful place and I have enjoyed getting to know Scotland, I will be sad when I wont have an excuse to go so often!

I am going there in May and will be staying this time in Fife!

dabs thanks for that information, most useful. Have been thinking of trying to do something like that for a while.

I'd be interested in any success/horror stories. We live in SW France, and my DH has suggested putting it up for a house swap. I'm not sure if I could cope with the idea, never mind the reality! Still thinking about it, but the holidays are looming. Have we missed the summer holiday boat already, do you think?

No I don't think you have, I own a holiday home and I am still getting enquiries for summer, so should be OK I am sure!

We have done it a few times in the UK only through the NCT. It has always been fine, although we did pull out of one swap once we saw detailed photos of the house and that felt a bit awkward
I think you are either the type of family that feels comfortable with it or you aren't, and if it is the latter then you shouldn't do it.

We swapped our holiday home in Scotland with a home in Copenhagen 2 years ago. It was brilliant, DD had lots of toys to play with as the Danish family had a DD the same age (and a rabbit in the garden!) and I could cook pasta for the kids at 5pm if I needed to. They left us lots of tips of good restaurants and what to see and do. Our costs were flights, car rental and food - a great holiday (and MIL and BIL joined us for a few days too).

We've done several in our main home and holiday cottage on Conwy Marina. Out of 8 only one bad one to France (dirty), slept on the sofas and moved out the next day. Tip get photos of every rooms (especially the bedrooms) and do a like for like. If there are 4 of you get an exchange with a similar number. We have exchanged cars at the airport and looked after their animals. We did ours thru homeforexchange.com

We've just come back from a home swap for the Easter holidays with a family in Germany. We are members of Homelink. It went really well and we would highly recommend. The downside is you need to be very organised and do A LOT of cleaning and tidying away before you go on holiday (on top of the usual packing for the family and getting out of the door on time you need to leave everything in pristine condition). The upside is there is someone looking after your home AND you come back to a lovely clean tidy home after your holiday.