House-swap holidays - has anybody tried it?

[WanderleyWagon]

I am not sure if this is the right forum but I'm hoping to hear from some fellow mumsnetters about their experiences of swapping homes for foreign travel.

I rent out a holiday home in Europe in a fairly nice spot and it's potentially available to use for a swap, but I've never tried swapping.

I'm planning a few weeks' trip to the USA in spring 2024, and for part of the time I'd like to be in a big, expensive city, think Chicago or San Francisco.

I'm wondering whether it might be possible to 'swap' the holiday home in Europe for the chance to stay for a week or two in this US city, and if so, what sites might be good, what the pitfalls might be, etc. I see that the Guardian has a home exchange site, and I'm aware there are other sites that are popular.

Would there be anybody on this forum who's done this, and who might have advice about what (not) to do, what sites (not) to use, etc.?

If I should post it on a holiday forum instead I am happy to ask MN to move it over.

I check reviews and generally get to know them as much as I can. Obviously can never be sure but it works both ways ( I could trash their house). Expectations are clear and expect to leave house in same condition as I got it. Think there is insurance cover with the schemes and if I have anything I am precious about I put it away. Have never had any issues. Suppose if they left it a mess I would clean it up or get a cleaner and write a bad review. Has never happened.

We used to do alot of house exchanges - probably 8or 9 times when our three children were growing up. We used Homelink and had some fabulous holidays.
These exchanges allowed us to travel as a large family without spending a fortune to really nice destinations. We also exchanged cars and even a boat! We had homes in France 3 different places and exchanged with families in the US, Ireland, Majorca, Norway, the Canary Islands and Singapore.

My best advice is to exchange with people who have similar family ages and income levels. Get to know the people you are planning to exchange with to be sure you are comfortable doing this. You have to be somewhat daring, courageous and able to trust.

We never had major problems but did have a few cars accidented, furniture damaged and swimming pools go green... However we always decided that the minor inconveniences were worth the experiences we were able to have.

I could write a book or two about our exchanges . Feel free to ask other questions or PM me.

To answer your question @WanderleyWagon, about exchanging your European place for one in Chicago or San Francisco, yes you should try it. You'll never know until you do.
We exchanged a time or two in non- simultaneous circumstances- we in autumn , they in winter. And several years with the same families. Anything is possible just find the right people...
Plan as far ahead as possible to allow for getting acquainted.

Best of luck!

Thanks to everybody who has responded! I am encouraged that you all had positive experiences. I'll look up Homelink. I'm glad to hear non-simultaneous swaps are possible - that should make things a lot easier.

I've often wondered about this but worry my house needs to be tidy to a hotel standard. Is that the case? I've got three kids and it'd be a huge stress to have the house spotless before the swap.

We use HomeExchange and have never had a problem. Just finalised an exchange for Easter today. It’s a great way to travel. It’s like a dating website for houses.

Hotel standard..no, but clean..def yes. You also should leave space for them to hang your clothes. We put clothes in a bin bag and leave in the attic for that one. We exchange our home rather than a holiday home. We would normally spend a full day cleaning and get an oven guy out to do that. Worth it for free accommodation.